Grass snakes
| Grass snakes | ||||||||||||
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Rough grass snake ( Opheodrys aestivus ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Opheodrys | ||||||||||||
| Fitzinger , 1837 |
The grass snakes ( Opheodrys ) are a genus of the snakes. The genus is composed of two types with five subspecies.
The species live mainly in the USA , southern Canada and northern Mexico . The snakes can be recognized by their rich grass-green color and their cream-colored or yellow underside. They have a thin body and hardly get longer than 90 cm. Grass snakes often live in the thick undergrowth near a body of water. They rely on their camouflage and will try to escape if threatened. They usually feed on soft arthropods such as crickets , spiders , moths , butterflies, and grasshoppers . The genus belongs to the egg-laying snakes.
species
- The "Raue Grasnatter" ( Opheodrys aestivus ( Linnaeus , Coluber aestivus 1766))
Opheodrys aestivus has been a monotypical species since the revision by Ernst / Ernst in 2000, i. H. there are no subspecies of the rough grass snake. The subspecies Oa aestivus, Oa carinatus, Oa conanti and Oa majalis valid until 2000 are no longer valid. Terra typica: Charleston, South Carolina (Schmidt, 1953) Family: Colubridae (Adders) Subfamily: Colubrinae (True Adders) Genus: Opheodrys Species: O. aestivus Subspecies: none (monotypical)
- The "smooth grass snake" ( Opheodrys vernalis ( Harlan , Coluber vernalis 1827))
Opheodrys vernalis briefly had its own genus status and was taxonomically classified as Liochlorophis vernalis , meanwhile this scientific name is again the usual one.
The so-called "Chinese grass snake" ( Cyclophiops sp. ), Which appears again and again in the trade, is not related to the North American grass snake ( Opheodrys or Liochlorophis ).
literature
- T. Schmidt: Grass snakes. Natur und Tier Verlag GmbH, 2002, ISBN 3-931587-37-1 .
