''Agkistrodon laticinctus'', commonly known as the broad-banded copperhead, is a

venomous Venom or zootoxin is a type of toxin produced by an animal that is actively delivered through a wound by means of a bite, sting, or similar action. The toxin is delivered through a specially evolved ''venom apparatus'', such as fangs or a sti ...

pit viper The Crotalinae, commonly known as pit vipers,Mehrtens JM (1987). ''Living Snakes of the World in Color''. New York: Sterling Publishers. 480 pp. . or pit adders, are a subfamily (biology), subfamily of Viperidae, vipers found in Asia and the ...

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

,Frank T. Burbrink, Timothy J. Guiher (2014). Considering gene flow when using coalescent methods to delimit lineages of North American pitvipers of the genus Agkistrodon. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, December 2014. formerly considered a

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

of ''

Agkistrodon contortrix The eastern copperhead (''Agkistrodon contortrix''), also known simply as the copperhead, is a widespread species of venomous snake, a pit viper, endemic to eastern North America; it is a member of the subfamily Crotalinae in the Family (biology ...

'', which is found in the central

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, from

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

, through

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

and throughout central

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

Description

This form is typically a light tan in color, with darker brown, wide crossbands - which gives it its common name. The actual color varies, by locality, from a red-brown, to a gray-brown. It overlaps with the eastern copperhead, eastern copperhead (''A. contortrix'') in the southern reaches of its range, making specimens there difficult to distinguish, but generally ''A. contortrix'' has banding that narrows at the spine, creating

hourglass An hourglass (or sandglass, sand timer, or sand clock) is a device used to measure the passage of time. It comprises two glass bulbs connected vertically by a narrow neck that allows a regulated flow of a substance (historically sand) from the ...

shapes, whereas ''A. laticinctus'' has even bands. They grow to approximately 20-36 inches (50–90 cm) in length. As juveniles, all species of ''

Agkistrodon ''Agkistrodon'' is a genus of pit vipers commonly known as American moccasins.Crother, B. I. (ed.). 2017. ''Scientific and Standard English Names of Amphibians and Reptiles of North America North of Mexico, with Comments Regarding Confidence in ...

'' have a bright green-yellow color to their

tail The tail is the elongated section at the rear end of a bilaterian animal's body; in general, the term refers to a distinct, flexible appendage extending backwards from the midline of the torso. In vertebrate animals that evolution, evolved to los ...

tips, believed to be used as a lure to attract prey items to approach within striking range. The color fades to a grey or brown at about a year of age.

Common names

Common names for this species include: broad-banded copperhead, copperhead moccasin, copperhead snake, dry-land moccasin, highland moccasin, moccasin, rattlesnake pilot, red eye, Texas copperheadWright AH, Wright AA. 1957. Handbook of Snakes. Comstock Publishing Associates. (7th printing, 1985). 1105 pp. . and thunder snake.

Geographic range

''Agkistrodon laticinctus'' is known to populate the region between 97 degrees and 99 degrees west longitude, from Central Texas north to the southern border of Kansas and Oklahoma.

Behavior

Secretive and

nocturnal Nocturnality is a ethology, behavior in some non-human animals characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnality, diurnal meaning the opposite. Nocturnal creatur ...

, it prefers lightly wooded habitats, typically with a good amount of ground debris for cover, not far from a permanent water source. It typically avoids regions with a significant population of humans. It is an ambush

predator Predation is a biological interaction in which one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common List of feeding behaviours, feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation ...

, eating

rodent Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the Order (biology), order Rodentia ( ), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and Mandible, lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal specie ...

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

lizard Lizard is the common name used for all Squamata, squamate reptiles other than snakes (and to a lesser extent amphisbaenians), encompassing over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most Island#Oceanic isla ...

frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely semiaquatic group of short-bodied, tailless amphibian vertebrates composing the order (biology), order Anura (coming from the Ancient Greek , literally 'without tail'). Frog species with rough ski ...

s, and certain

insect Insects (from Latin ') are Hexapoda, hexapod invertebrates of the class (biology), class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (Insect morphology#Head, head, ...

s, with juveniles in particular having a taste for various kinds of insects, such as

cicada The cicadas () are a superfamily, the Cicadoidea, of insects in the order Hemiptera (true bugs). They are in the suborder Auchenorrhyncha, along with smaller jumping bugs such as leafhoppers and froghoppers. The superfamily is divided into two ...

s. Wide foraging of

caterpillar Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder ...

s has also been documented in the field.Salmon, G. T., H. W. Greene, and T. Dimler. "Biology of the Pitvipers 2." Biology of the Pitvipers 2. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA, 4–7 June 2014. Web. 19 July 2014. They are

ovoviviparous Ovoviviparity, ovovivipary, ovivipary, or aplacental viviparity is a "bridging" form of reproduction between egg-laying oviparity, oviparous and live-bearing viviparity, viviparous reproduction. Ovoviviparous animals possess embryos that develo ...

, giving birth to a litter of up to eight young in the early fall.

Venom

Like most

species, ''A. laticinctus'' has a

hemotoxic Haemotoxins, hemotoxins or hematotoxins are toxins that destroy red blood cells, disrupt blood clotting, and/or cause organ degeneration and generalized tissue damage. The term ''haemotoxin'' is to some degree a misnomer since toxins that damage ...

venom Venom or zootoxin is a type of toxin produced by an animal that is actively delivered through a wound by means of a bite, sting, or similar action. The toxin is delivered through a specially evolved ''venom apparatus'', such as fangs or a sti ...

, which is delivered through hinged, hollow fangs set in the front of their jaws. The fangs work like

hypodermic needle A hypodermic needle (from Greek Language, Greek ὑπο- (''hypo-'' = under), and δέρμα (''derma'' = skin)) is a very thin, hollow tube with one sharp tip. As one of the most important intravenous inventions in the field of drug admini ...

s, injecting the venom in a single, quick striking motion. Copperhead venom is not considered to be life-threatening to an otherwise healthy adult, but it can cause localized swelling,

necrosis Necrosis () is a form of cell injury which results in the premature death of cells in living tissue by autolysis. The term "necrosis" came about in the mid-19th century and is commonly attributed to German pathologist Rudolf Virchow, who i ...

, and severe pain. Any bite from a venomous snake should be considered serious and medical treatment sought. There is no antivenin specifically manufactured for copperheads. However,

CroFab Crotalidae polyvalent immune Fab (ovine), sold under the brandname CroFab, is a snake antivenin, indicated for North American crotalid (rattlesnake, copperhead and cottonmouth/water moccasin) snake envenomation. CroFab is composed of several ...

, which makes use of the venom from the cottonmouth (''

Agkistrodon piscivorus ''Agkistrodon piscivorus'' is a species of venomous snake, a pit viper in the subfamily Crotalinae of the family Viperidae. It is one of the world's few semiaquatic vipers (along with the Florida cottonmouth), and is native to the Southeaster ...

''), can be used in cases of a severe envenomation.

Gallery

File:Kupferkopf.JPG, Broad-banded copperhead File:Agkistrodon contortrix mocassin tete cuivree 9.jpg, Broad-banded copperhead (''Agkistrodon laticinctus'') File:Agkistrodon contortrix mocassin tete cuivree 5.jpg, Closeup of a Broad-banded copperhead (''Agkistrodon laticinctus'') File:Agkistrodon contortrix-DS-2 (cropped).JPG, Belly or ventral view of a Broad-banded copperhead (''Agkistrodon laticinctus'') File:Agkistrodon contortrix laticinctus2 (cropped).jpg, A juvenile ''Agkistrodon laticinctus'' with yellow tail File:Agkistrodon contortrix mokeson 2.jpg, Broad-banded copperhead (''Agkistrodon laticinctus'') File:Dinosaur Valley State Park October 2020 09 (Texas copperhead) (cropped).jpg, A broad-banded copperhead at Dinosaur Valley State Park, Somervell Co., Texas (10 October 2020) File:Serpiente cabeza de cobre (Agkistrodon contortrix), Tierpark Hellabrunn, Múnich, Alemania, 2012-06-17, DD 01.JPG, ''Agkistrodon laticinctus'' photographed at the Hellabrunn Zoo, Múnich, Germany

References

External links

*
''Agkistrodon contortrix''
a
University of Texas
Accessed 7 December 2007.
''Agkistrodon''
at Department of Biology, Southeastern Louisiana University, Hammond, LA70402. Accessed 15 June 2021. {{Taxonbar, from1=Q106575657, from2=Q4692716 contortrix laticinctus Reptiles of the United States