Queen Snake
(Regina
septemvittata) |
 |
DESCRIPTION: 16-36 3/4" (40.6-93.3 cm). Tan
to olive-brown or chocolate-brown, to almost black, with a
yellow stripe on lower side of body. Belly yellow with 4
distinct brown stripes; 2 near midline, 2 along sides. Sometimes
3 faded, indistinct stripes on back. Scales keeled, in 19 rows.
Anal plate divided.
STATUS: The Queen Snake is declining
due to the reduction or loss of crayfish, their primary food
source, as a result of siltation from urban and agricultural
runoff.
RANGE: South Great Lakes region and
southeast Pennsylvania south to Gulf Coast. Isolated populations
in n. Michigan and southwest Missouri and northwest Arkansas.
HABITAT: Queen Snakes live in or near
shallow, warm wetlands. Their diet consists almost entirely of
crayfish. They bask on branches or roots above or near the
water’s edge.
SPECIAL HABITAT:
FOOD: Feeds almost entirely on crayfish,
particularly those recently shed and soft-bodied. |
