Corn snake (Pantherophis guttatus) — species profile (taxonomy, geographic range, habitat, physical description, behavior, wild diet, reproduction, lifespan)
Authoritative first-hand species account (Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan). All bullet facts are verbatim from the cited source and C1-substring verified.
Geographic Range
- Corn snakes are found throughout the eastern and southern central United States, into northern Mexico.
- Two subspecies, Pantherophis guttatus guttatus (corn snake) and P.
- guttatus emoryi (Great Plains rat snake) are currently recognized.
- Corn snakes are found from southern New Jersey to Florida and westward through Mississippi to Louisiana.
Habitat
- Corn snakes can be found in a wide variety of terrestrial habitats, preferring deciduous forests and rocky regions where crevices and logs provide nests.
- They can also be found in fields, grassy areas, and in suburban areas near homes and barns.
- This species has been found in mountainous regions up to about 1800 m in elevation but typically prefer lower elevations.
Physical Description
- Corn snakes are mild-tempered, non-venomous snakes.
- Large spots run along dorsal side of the body, while the flat underside commonly has a black and white checkered pattern.
- The body tends to be brown and red-orange, but colors vary with region and can include gray and yellow.
- In captivity, breeders have created a wide variety of color patterns, or morphs.
Behavior
- Corn snakes climb trees or bushes to hunt for prey.
- In areas in which the primary diet is rodents, they also spend time underground in the burrows of their prey.
- When they are not hunting, they spend much of their time basking on rocks.
- When shedding their skins, corn snakes become aggressive and reclusive.
- They first rub their nose against rocks and sticks to loosen the skin from the head.
Food Habits (Wild Diet)
- Corn snakes are carnivorous and do not need to eat often.
- They eat every few days in the wild.
- They kill prey by constriction and consume anything smaller than they are, including other corn snakes.
- Over half of their diet consists of rodents such as hispid cotton rats , white-footed mice and other mammal prey, such as eastern moles .
- In Florida, their diet consists mainly of reptiles and amphibians, which this may be a cause for this region's smaller snake sizes.
Reproduction
- Not much is known about the mating systems of corn snakes.
- During mating season, the snakes locate each other using pheromones.
- Males fight each other for dominance, with the dominant male earning mating rites to the female.
- Mating System polygynous polygynous Corn snakes reach sexual maturity at 16 to 18 months of age.
Development
- Juvenile corn snakes are fully developed when hatched.
- This species has ZZ/ZW sex determination, with the male snake contributing only Z chromosomes, while the female contributes the Z or W chromosome that determines the gender of the hatchlings (ZZ=male, ZW=female).
- As they grow, juvenile corn snakes shed their skin several times, and will continue to shed after reaching adulthood.
Ecosystem Roles
- The biggest impact that corn snakes have on their ecosystem is their ability to control populations of small mammals and birds.
- Several species of apicomplexan parasites infect corn snake blood cells, liver, and lung tissue.
- Hepatozoon guttata (named for its host) is thought to be exclusive to red corn snakes and has been identified in individuals from southeast Florida.
- It is not known how the parasites spread from individual to individual.
Predation
- Corn snakes have few natural predators, mostly larger snakes and birds of prey.
- Carnivorous mammals may also eat corn snakes.
- Larger snakes, such as eastern kingsnakes and black racers , will consume corn snakes.
Conservation Status
- Although some natural habitat has been lost to human development, corn snakes show no sign of being a threatened species.
- Recent phylogenetic studies have suggested that the name Pantherophis guttatus should be applied to this species, New World rat snakes appear to be more closely related to species of the tribe Lampropeltini (which includes kingsnakes ) rather than Old World rat snakes (for which the generic name Elaphe still applies).
- Additional Links Encyclopedia of Life BioKIDS Critter Catalog Contributors Sarah Hogrefe (author), Radford University, Karen Powers (editor), Radford University, Kiersten Newtoff (editor), Radford University, Melissa Whistleman (editor), Radford University, Jeremy Wright (editor), University of Michigan-Ann Arbor.
Lifespan
- The longest recorded lifespan of this species in captivity was just over 32 years.