''Lampropeltis nigra'', commonly known as the black kingsnake, is a species of nonvenomous

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 ...

indigenous to the

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 ...

. It is a species of

kingsnake Kingsnakes are colubrid New World members of the genus ''Lampropeltis'', which includes 26 species. Among these, about 45 subspecies are recognized. They are nonvenomous and ophiophagous in diet. Description Kingsnakes vary widely in size and ...

Description

The black kingsnake is a large to medium constrictor. Adult specimens attain an average size of in total length, with some reaching maximum total lengths of . It is generally similar to '' L. getula getula'', although its can be distinguished by its geography and appearance. It has a black body that is interspersed with widely spaced yellow or cream-colored speckles, larger and more numerous along the sides. The dorsum in some is unpatterned and in others crossbanded. The venter displays a checked black and yellow (or cream) pattern. Ventral scales range from 197 to 222 in both sexes, with

subcaudal scales In snakes, the subcaudal scales are the enlarged plates on the underside of the tail.Wright AH, Wright AA. 1957. Handbook of Snakes. Comstock Publishing Associates (7th printing, 1985). 1105 pp. . These scales may be either single or divided (pair ...

ranging from 45 to 59 in males and 37 to 51 in females.

Geographic range

The black kingsnake is found in the southeastern quarter of the

, ranging from southern

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, then down along the foothills of the

Appalachian Mountains The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, (french: Appalaches), are a system of mountains in eastern to northeastern North America. The Appalachians first formed roughly 480 million years ago during the Ordovician Period. They ...

and the

Alabama River The Alabama River, in the U.S. state of Alabama, is formed by the Tallapoosa and Coosa rivers, which unite about north of Montgomery, near the town of Wetumpka. The river flows west to Selma, then southwest until, about from Mobile, it un ...

watershed to the northern

Gulf Coast The Gulf Coast of the United States, also known as the Gulf South, is the coastline along the Southern United States where they meet the Gulf of Mexico. The coastal states that have a shoreline on the Gulf of Mexico are Texas, Louisiana, Mississ ...

in south

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and along the coast to the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

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Habitat

Black kingsnakes occupy a wide variety of habitats and is one of the most frequently encountered species by humans in some states. Preferred habitats include abandoned farmsteads, debris piles, edges of floodplains, and thick brush around streams and swamps.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3216842 nigra Reptiles of the United States Reptiles described in 1882 Taxa named by Henry Crécy Yarrow