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Tantilla

Tantilla is a large genus of harmless New World snakes in the family Colubridae. The genus includes 66 species, which are commonly known as centipede snakes, black-headed snakes, and flathead snakes.

Description

Tantilla are small snakes, rarely exceeding 20 cm (8 inches) in total length (including tail). They are generally varying shades of brown, red or black in color. Some species have a brown body with a black head.

Behavior

Tantilla are nocturnal, secretive snakes. They spend most of their time buried in the moist leaf litter of semi-forested regions or under rocks and debris.

Diet

The diet of snakes of the genus Tantilla consists primarily of invertebrates, including scorpions, centipedes, spiders, and various insects.

Species

Nota bene: A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Tantilla.

References

Further reading

  • Baird SF, Girard CF (1853). Catalogue of North American Reptiles in the Museum of the Smithsonian Institution. Part I.—Serpents. Washington, District of Columbia: Smithsonian Institution. xvi + 172 pp. (Tantilla, new genus, p. 104).
  • Stebbins RC (2003). A Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians, Third Edition. The Peterson Field Guide Series. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin. xiii + 533 pp. (paperback). (Genus Tantilla, pp. 397–399).
  • Wright AH, Wright AA (1957). Handbook of Snakes of the United States and Canada. Ithaca and London: Comstock Publishing Associates, A Division of Cornell University Press. 1,105 pp. (in 2 volumes) (Genus Tantilla, p. 722; species and subspecies of Tantilla, pp. 723–725).

External links