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Drymarchon couperi

(Eastern Indigo Snake)

Overview

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The indigo snake is a large glossy blue-black non-poisonous snake reaching lengths of up to 9 feet. It is a solid color with the exception of an occasional orange, pink white or reddish area under the chin, which may extend to the throat and cheeks. It is sometimes confused with the similar black racer or the black pine snake, but is much stockier than the slender racer, which has a white chin patch and the black pine snake, which has no chin patch and keeled rather than smooth scales . Indigos are active during the day during much of the year and prey on small mammals, lizards. birds, frogs , toads, and other snakes. They are immune to the venom of all North American poisonous snakes and readily eat them. Indigos use a variety of habitats during the year, but are almost always associated with gopher tortoises and the sandy ridges they inhabit. Indigos often share the gopher’s den during hot or cold weather. Indigos are relatively docile and slow moving, probably contributing to their decline.

Interesting Facts

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Common Names

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Common Names in English:

Eastern Indigo Snake, Indigo Snake

Description

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Family Colubridae

The family Colubridae, which includes the kingsnakes (Lampropeltis spp. ), is the largest, most widespread, and diverse family of snakes , with few physical characteristics universal among all species. The family contains 70 percent of the known species of snakes, with more than 1700 species worldwide (Pough et al. 1998). Although some colubrids are dangerously venomous , most are harmless to humans. [1]

Physical Description

Color:

These smooth-scaled snakes are glossy blue-black over the entire body. The chin, throat , and sides of the head may be reddish or orange brown. The color of young snakes is the same as the adults but is more reddish on the head and front part of the belly.

Size/Age/Growth

The Eastern Indigo Snake is the largest snake in North America. The record total length is 263 cm (103.5 in). Adults generally average between 152 - 213 cm (59.8 - 83.9 in) in length . The young are large at hatching , measuring from 43.2 - 61.0 cm (17 - 24 in).

Habitat

The Eastern Indigo Snake lives in pine - scrub oak woods , pine flatwoods, and forested sandhills and ridges in the northern part of its range . In the southern portions of its range, it can be found around wetland areas such as swamps , streams , and canals. The distribution and habitat preference closely overlap that of the Gopher Tortoise. Tortoise burrows are important retreats for the Indigo Snake. These large, diurnal snakes require from 50 - 100 hectares (123.6 - 247.1 acres ) for their home range .

Biome: Terrestrial [2].

Ecology: Its habitat includes sandhill regions dominated by mature longleaf pines, turkey oaks, and wiregrass; flatwoods; most types of hammocks ; coastal scrub ; dry glades ; palmetto flats; prairie; brushy riparian and canal corridors; and wet fields (Matthews and Moseley 1990, Tennant 1997, Ernst and Ernst 2003). Occupied sites are often near wetlands and frequently are in association with Gopher Tortoise burrows. Pineland habitat is maintained by periodic fires. Viable populations of this species require relatively large tracts of suitable habitat. Refuges include tortoise burrows, stump holes , land crab burrows, armadillo burrows, or similar sites. Eggs may be laid in gopher (Geomys) burrows (Ashton and Ashton 1981). See USFWS (1998) for further information. [2].

List of Habitats:

Biology

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Diet

The Eastern Indigo Snake eats almost any type of vertebrate it can overpower and swallow. The diet includes amphibians , reptiles , birds, and mammals. This snake is not a constrictor, but the powerful jaws and large body are used to grasp and pin the prey down until it can be swallowed.

Taxonomy

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Synonyms

Coluber couperi Holbrook 1842: 75 • Drymarchon corais couperi Conant & Collins 1991: 191 • Drymarchon corais ssp. couperi • Drymarchon couperi — Crother 2000: 61 • Georgia couperi Baird & Girard 1853: 92 ?

Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name .

Comment: BOULENGER (1894) synonymzied this species with Drymarchon corais.

Drymarchon couperi was proposed as a distinct species by Collins (1991), based on previously published (but unspecified) morphological differences and application of the evolutionary species concept. Recent checklists (e.g. , Crother et al. 2000, Collins and Taggart 2002) listed couperi as a species, although no new data supporting the split have been presented.

Wuster et al. (2001) described a new species of Drymarchon from northwestern Venezuela, bringing the species total for the genus to four (five if couperi is recognized as a species). Wuster et al. (2001) did not present data on D. couperi but nevertheless accepted it as a distinct species, based on apparently consistent differences in labial scalation (Smith, 1941). They noted, however, that further study is needed to confirm the taxonomic status of D. couperi.

This database accepts Drymarchon couperi as a species, based on similar treatment in most relevant recent literature.[2].

Similar Species

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All other blackish snakes in the range of the Indigo Snake have a divided anal scale or keeled scales or both.

Members of the genus Drymarchon

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 6 species and subspecies in this genus:

D. corais (Indigo Snake) · D. corais corais (Indigo Snake) · D. corais erebennus (Indigo Snake) · D. couperi (Eastern Indigo Snake) · D. melanurus (Central American Indigo Snake) · D. melanurus erebennus (Texas Indigo Snake)

More Info

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Further Reading

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Notes

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Contributors

Identifiers

Footnotes

  1. Painter, Charles W., Chuck L. Hayes, and James N. Stuart "Recovery and Conservation of the Gray-Banded Kingsnake. New Mexico Department of Game and Fish. May 1, 2002. [back]
  2. Hammerson, G.A. 2007. Drymarchon couperi. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 31 January 2012. [back]
Last Revised: 7/16/2012