Brown Snake in Clarksville Tennessee 2013

''Storeria'' is a genus of snakes in the

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end subfamily botanical names with "-oideae", and zoologi ...

Natricinae of the family

Colubridae Colubridae (, commonly known as colubrids , from la, coluber, 'snake') is a family of snakes. With 249 genera, it is the largest snake family. The earliest species of the family date back to the Oligocene epoch. Colubrid snakes are found on ever ...

. The genus is endemic to

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

and Central America. The genus consists of five species, four of which are known as brown snakes, and the other of which is known as the redbelly snake.

Geographic range

Species in the genus ''Storeria'' are found in the eastern half of the United States and southern Canada and range south through Mexico and northern Central America.

Etymology

The genus is named in honor of American physician and naturalist David Humphreys Storer (1804–1891).

Description

As their common names imply, most snakes of the genus ''Storeria'' are a variant of brown in color. The brown can vary depending on locale, to be almost a brick red in color, to nearly black. They sometimes have a lighter-colored stripe down the center of the back, and small black blotches along the body, and just behind the head. The underside is usually lighter brown-colored, yellow, or in the case of the redbelly snake, reddish in color. They rarely grow beyond in total length (including tail). One of the best means of identification is by scalation. The dorsal scales are keeled, the head has no

loreal scale The lore (adj. loreal) is the region between the eyes and nostrils of birds, reptiles, and amphibians. Ornithology In ornithology, the lore is the region between the eye and bill on the side of a bird's head. This region is sometimes featherles ...

, and the

postnasal scale In reptiles, the nasal scale refers to the scale that encloses the nostril.Mallow D, Ludwig D, Nilson G. 2003. True Vipers: Natural History and Toxinology of Old World Vipers. Malabar, Florida: Krieger Publishing Company. 359 pp. . Sometimes thi ...

touches the preocular scale. So, only two scales are between the nasal opening and the eye. Sexually mature males will reach a SVL of 118 mm and females will reach 126 mm.

Ecology

Within their ranges, brown snakes are very commonly found species of snake. They are most frequently found under leaf litter or debris piles, and are sometimes turned up during gardening. They consume a variety of invertebrate prey, including, earthworms, snails and

slug Slug, or land slug, is a common name for any apparently shell-less terrestrial gastropod mollusc. The word ''slug'' is also often used as part of the common name of any gastropod mollusc that has no shell, a very reduced shell, or only a smal ...

s. Their only means of defense are flattening of the body and excretion from the anal scent glands. Conant R (1975). ''A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern and Central North America, Second Edition''. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. xviii + 429 pp. (hardcover), (paperback). (Genus ''Storeria'', p. 153). Brown snakes give birth to live young.

Species and subspecies

*''

Storeria dekayi ''Storeria dekayi'', commonly known as De Kay's brown snake, De Kay's snake, and simply the brown snake (along with many others), is a small non-venomous species of snake in the family Colubridae. The species is native to North America and Centr ...

'' ( Holbrook, 1836) – brown snake **'' Storeria dekayi anomala'' Dugès, 1888 **'' Storeria dekayi dekayi'' ( Holbrook, 1836) – northern brown snake **'' Storeria dekayi limnetes'' Anderson, 1961 – marsh brown snake **'' Storeria dekayi temporalineata'' Trapido, 1944 **''

Storeria dekayi texana The Texas brown snake ''(Storeria dekayi texana)'', a subspecies of '' Storeria dekayi'', is a nonvenomous snake in the family Colubridae. It is endemic to North America. Geographic range It is found from southern Minnesota to eastern Texas an ...

'' Trapido, 1944 – Texas brown snake **'' Storeria dekayi tropica'' Cope, 1885 **'' Storeria dekayi wrightorum'' Trapido, 1944 – midland brown snake *'' Storeria hidalgoensis''

Taylor Taylor, Taylors or Taylor's may refer to: People * Taylor (surname) **List of people with surname Taylor * Taylor (given name), including Tayla and Taylah * Taylor sept, a branch of Scottish clan Cameron * Justice Taylor (disambiguation) Plac ...

, 1942 – Mexican yellowbelly brown snake *''

Storeria occipitomaculata ''Storeria occipitomaculata'', commonly known as the redbelly snake or the red-bellied snake, is a species of snake endemic to North America (Canada and the United States). Description ''S. occipitomaculata'' is a small woodland species that ...

'' (

Storer Storer is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Arthur Storer, a 17th-century American astronomer *Bellamy Storer: **Bellamy Storer (1796–1875), U.S. Representative from Ohio, served in the 24th Congress **Bellamy Storer (1847–19 ...

, 1839) – redbelly snake **''

Storeria occipitomaculata obscura ''Storeria occipitomaculata obscura'', the Florida redbelly snake, is a subspecies of the redbelly snake that ranges from the northern peninsula to southern Florida. they are found in pinelands, bogs, marshes, ponds, and swamps. They will grow ...

'' Trapido, 1944 – Florida redbelly snake **'' Storeria occipitomaculata occipitomaculata'' (Storer, 1839) – northern redbelly snake **''

Storeria occipitomaculata pahasapae ''Storeria'' is a genus of snakes in the subfamily Natricinae of the family Colubridae. The genus is endemic to North America and Central America. The genus consists of five species, four of which are known as brown snakes, and the othe ...

'' H.M. Smith, 1963 – Black Hills redbelly snake *''

Storeria storerioides ''Storeria storerioides'', the Mexican brown snake, is a species of nonvenomous snake in the family Colubridae Colubridae (, commonly known as colubrids , from la, coluber, 'snake') is a family of snakes. With 249 genera, it is the largest sn ...

'' (Cope, 1866) – Mexican brown snake *''

Storeria victa ''Storeria'' is a genus of snakes in the subfamily Natricinae of the Family (biology), family Colubridae. The genus is Endemism, endemic to North America and Central America. The genus consists of five species, four of which are known as brown ...

'' O.P. Hay, 1892 – Florida brown snake '' Nota bene'': A

binomial authority In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

or trinomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species or subspecies was originally described in a genus other than ''Storeria''.

Gallery

Image:BrownSnake_BrandonDempster.jpg Image:BrownSnake1_BrandonDempster.jpg Image:BrownSnake2_BrandonDempster.jpg Image:BrownSnake3_BrandonDempster.jpg Image:BrownSnake4_BrandonDempster.jpg Image:BrownSnakeSM BrandonDempster.JPG

References

External links

Brown Snake (''Storeria dekayi'' )
Species account from the Savanna River Ecology Laboratory Herpetology Program (University of Georgia). Accessed April 6, 2014. *
Brown Snake - ''Storeria dekayi''
Species account from the Iowa Reptile and Amphibian Field Guide. {{Taxonbar, from=Q310717 Storeria Extant Pleistocene first appearances Snake genera Taxa named by Charles Frédéric Girard Taxa named by Spencer Fullerton Baird