Tantilla hobartsmithi

Tantilla hobartsmithi, commonly known as Smith's black-headed snake and the southwestern blackhead snake, is a species of small snake in the subfamily Colubrinae of the family Colubridae. The species is native to the southwestern United States and adjacent northern Mexico.

Tantilla hobartsmithi
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Colubridae
Genus:	Tantilla
Species:	T. hobartsmithi
Binomial name
Tantilla hobartsmithi Taylor, 1936
Synonyms[2]
Tantilla hobartsmithi Taylor, 1936 Tantilla utahensis Blanchard, 1938 Tantilla hobartsmithi — Stebbins, 1985

Etymology

The specific name or epithet, hobartsmithi, is in honor of American zoologist and herpetologist Hobart M. Smith (1912–2013).^[3]

Taxonomy and systematics

Tantilla hobartsmithi was first described by Edward Harrison Taylor in 1936.

Description

The southwestern blackhead snake is a small snake, growing to a maximum total length (tail included) of 15 in (38 cm),^[4] but typically averaging around 8 in (20 cm) in total length.

Dorsally, it is uniformly brown in color, except for the black-colored head, which gives it its common name, and a cream-colored or white collar. On the belly, there is a broad reddish stripe, which runs down the center of the ventral scales.^[4]

Venom

Tantilla hobartsmithi is rear-fanged, having enlarged rear teeth and a modified saliva, which while harmless to mammals, is believed to be toxic to arthropods, its primary prey.^[4]

Behavior

Blackhead snakes (genus Tantilla) are primarily nocturnal and fossorial, spending most of their time hiding in loose soil, leaf litter, or under ground debris.^[4]

Diet

Blackhead snakes eat most varieties of soft-bodied insects, centipedes, millipedes, and spiders.^[4]

Reproduction

Tantilla hobartsmithi is oviparous.^[2] Clutch size is only one to three eggs, which are laid in June, July, or August.^[4]

Geographic range

The southwestern blackhead snake is found in the southwestern United States, in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, and Utah, as well as in northern Mexico, in Chihuahua, Coahuila, and Sonora.^[5]

Habitat

The preferred natural habitats of Tantilla hobartsmithi are desert, grassland, shrubland, and forest,^[1] at altitudes from sea level to 1,981 m (6,499 ft).^[2]