''Haldea striatula'' (formerly ''Virginia striatula''), commonly called the rough earth snake, is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of nonvenomous natricine

colubrid 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 ...

snake Snakes are elongated, Limbless vertebrate, limbless, carnivore, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other Squamata, squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping Scale (zoology), scales. Ma ...

native to the Southeastern

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Taxonomy

The species was first described by

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...

in 1766, as ''Coluber striatulus''. Over the next two and a half centuries its scientific name has been changed several times (see synonyms). Most recently, the

generic Generic or generics may refer to: In business * Generic term, a common name used for a range or class of similar things not protected by trademark * Generic brand, a brand for a product that does not have an associated brand or trademark, other ...

name was changed back from ''Virginia'' to ''Haldea'' in 2013.

Common names

Other common names for ''Haldea striatula'' include: brown ground snake, brown snake, ground snake, little brown snake, little striped snake, small brown viper, small-eyed brown snake, southern ground snake, striated viper, and worm snake.

Geographic range

The rough earth snake is found from southern

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

to northern

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, west along the Gulf Coast to southern

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, and north into south-central

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

and southeastern

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

. It is also present in northern parts of Oklahoma.

Description

''H. striatula'' is a small, harmless, secretive, fairly slender snake, 7–10 inches (18–25 cm) in total length (including tail). It has a round pupil, weakly keeled

dorsal scales In snakes, the dorsal scales are the longitudinal series of plates that encircle the body, but do not include the ventral scales. Campbell JA, Lamar WW (2004). ''The Venomous Reptiles of the Western Hemisphere''. Ithaca and London: Comstock Publis ...

, and usually a divided anal plate. Dorsally, it is brown, gray, or reddish, and essentially has no pattern. Females are a little longer and heavier than males, with relatively shorter tails. Young individuals often have a light band on the neck, which is normally lost as they mature. The belly is tan to whitish and is not sharply defined in color from the back, unlike in the wormsnake (''

Carphophis amoenus ''Carphophis amoenus'', commonly known as the worm snake, is a species of nonvenomous Colubridae, colubrid snake Endemism, endemic to the eastern United States. ''C. amoenus'' can be found east of the Mississippi, from southwest Massachusetts sout ...

'') or the red-bellied 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 ...

''). Keeled scales differentiate the rough earth snake from the similar smooth earth snake (''

Virginia valeriae The smooth earth snake (''Virginia valeriae'') is a species of nonvenomous natricine colubrid snake native to the eastern half of the United States. Etymology The specific name or epithet, ''valeriae'', is in honor of Valeria Biddle Blaney (1 ...

''), as well as from the wormsnake. ''H. striatula'' is most likely to be confused with De Kay's brown snake (''

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 ...

''), which is a little larger and is light brown with dark markings on the back and neck. Unlike the rough earth snake, De Kay's brown snake retains these markings into adulthood. Also, ''S. dekayi'' has a rounder snout than ''H. striatula''.

Habitat

The rough earth snake is

fossorial A fossorial () animal is one adapted to digging which lives primarily, but not solely, underground. Some examples are badgers, naked mole-rats, clams, meerkats, and mole salamanders, as well as many beetles, wasps, and bees. Prehistoric eviden ...

, hiding beneath logs, rocks, or ornamental stones, in leaf litter, or in compost piles and gardens. The species is found in a variety of forested habitats with plenty of ground cover, as well as in many urban areas. It can reach very high densities in urban gardens, parks, and vacant lots.

Reproduction

''H. striatula'' is gonochoric. It is also

viviparous Among animals, viviparity is development of the embryo inside the body of the parent. This is opposed to oviparity which is a reproductive mode in which females lay developing eggs that complete their development and hatch externally from the m ...

, giving birth to 3 to 8 live young in mid-summer. Newborns are about 10 cm (4 inches) in total length. The young somewhat resemble the ring-necked snake ('' Diadophis punctatus'') with a light-colored neck collar, but they are much drabber and lack a brightly-colored belly. Many sources refer to snakes that give birth to live young as either

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

. In reality, the distinction between these two terms is not very sharp, and the diversity of reproductive modes is better thought of as a spectrum or continuum between matrotrophy (embryonic nutrients come directly from the mother) and

lecithotrophy Oviparous animals are animals that lay their eggs, with little or no other embryonic development within the mother. This is the reproductive method of most fish, amphibians, most reptiles, and all pterosaurs, dinosaurs (including birds), and mo ...

(embryonic nutrients come mostly or completely from egg yolk).

Viviparity Among animals, viviparity is development of the embryo inside the body of the parent. This is opposed to oviparity which is a reproductive mode in which females lay developing eggs that complete their development and hatch externally from the m ...

is the most extreme form of matrotrophy, whereas

oviparity Oviparous animals are animals that lay their eggs, with little or no other embryonic development within the mother. This is the reproductive method of most fish, amphibians, most reptiles, and all pterosaurs, dinosaurs (including birds), and m ...

is the most extreme form of lecithotrophy.

Behavior

The rough earth snake is not aggressive towards humans, is not venomous, and is harmless if encountered. Although it has teeth, the rough earth snake does not bite. Its response when harassed is to remain motionless, or to try to escape. It will defecate and excrete a foul smelling musk as a defense mechanism to make itself less palatable to would-be predators. If necessary, the rough earth snake can be safely picked up by hand and relocated.Werler, J. E. and J. R. Dixon. 2000. ''Texas Snakes, Identification, Distribution, and Natural History. University of Texas Press, Austin, Texas.'' xv, 437 pp.

Diet

''H. striatula'' eats invertebrates. It feeds almost exclusively on

earthworms An earthworm is a terrestrial invertebrate that belongs to the phylum Annelida. They exhibit a tube-within-a-tube body plan; they are externally segmented with corresponding internal segmentation; and they usually have setae on all segments. Th ...

, although

slugs 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 ...

snails A snail is, in loose terms, a shelled gastropod. The name is most often applied to land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs. However, the common name ''snail'' is also used for most of the members of the molluscan class Gastrop ...

sow bugs A woodlouse (plural woodlice) is an isopod crustacean from the polyphyleticThe current consensus is that Oniscidea is actually triphyletic suborder Oniscidea within the order Isopoda. They get their name from often being found in old wood. ...

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs ...

eggs and

larvae A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. The ...

have also been found in the stomach. ''H. striatula'' is not venomous and does not constrict prey; rather, it swallows prey without subduing it. The pointed snout of the rough earth snake helps in burrowing in moist soil where prey are found.

References

External links

*
Checklist of Florida Amphibians and Reptiles: Rough Earth SnakeVirginia Department of Game & Inland Fisheries: Rough Earth Snake