Virginia valeriae
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| Smooth Earth Snake | ||||||||||||||||
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| Virginia valeriae Baird & Girard, 1853 |
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Carphophis harperti |
The Smooth Earth Snake (Virginia valeriae) is a species of non-venomous colubrid snake native to the eastern half of the United States, from Texas and Iowa to Pennsylvania and Florida. It is a small, fossorial species which spends most of its time buried in loose soil or leaf litter, and eats primarily earthworms and other soft-bodied arthropods. The epithet valeriae is in honor of Valeria Biddle Blaney, cousin of Spencer Fullerton Baird, who collected the first specimen in Kent County, Maryland.[1]
[edit] Subspecies
Some sources list two subspecies of Virginia valeriae:
- Western Earth Snake, Virginia valeriae elegans (Kennicott, 1859)
- Eastern Earth Snake, Virginia valeriae valeriae (Baird & Girard, 1853)
[edit] References
- Species Virginia valeriae at The Reptile Database
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