Part 3

Variation.--Throughout the range of this subspecies the posterior body-blotches are brown and noticeably lighter than the anterior ones. Juveniles are colored like adults. Specimens from the northern part of the range (Nuevo Le['o]n and Tamaulipas) have 21 to 28 (average 24.0) dorsal body-blotches and 7 to 11 (average 8.9) scales in the interspace between the first and second dorsal body-blotches, as compared with specimens from the southern part of the range (Hidalgo, Queretaro, and San Luis Potos['i]), which have 24 to 31 (average 27.7) dorsal body-blotches and 6 to 10 (average 7.8) scales in the first interspace. Likewise, there is a difference in the number of ventrals between the northern and southern samples; those from the north have an average of 228.8 ventrals, and those from the south have 222.0. In all of these characters the southern sample shows trends towards the southern subspecies, deppei, which has fewer ventrals, fewer scales in the first interspace, and more dorsal body-blotches.

Distribution.--Eastern part of the Mexican Plateau and lower leeward slopes of the Sierra Madre Oriental from Hidalgo and Queretaro northward to southeastern Coahuila.

Specimens examined.--Total of 28, as follows: Coahuila: Buena Vista, USNM 1522; 50 km. W of La Rosa, EHT-HMS 5374. Hidalgo: Ixmiquilpan, USNM 110890-1; 24 km. S of Ixmiquilpan, EHT-HMS 5373; Jacala, UMMZ 80937; 35 km. E of Pachuca, UMMZ 99552; 16 km. E of Tulancingo, KU 40357. Nuevo Le['o]n: Ojo de Agua near Galeana, CNHM 33564-5. Queretaro: Cadereyta, UMMZ 99791-3. San Luis Potos['i]: Charcas, UMMZ 77256-8; San Diego, UMMZ 77254-5; 24 km. NE of San Luis Potos['i], UIMNH 18711; 30 km. NE of San Luis Potos['i], UIMNH 27150, 28135. Tamaulipas: Miquihuana, MCZ 19544-50.

=Pituophis lineaticollis lineaticollis= Cope, new combination

Arizona lineaticollis Cope, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, p. 300, 1861.

Pituophis lineaticollis, Stull, Occas. Papers Mus. Zool. Univ. Michigan, no. 250, p. 2, October 12, 1932, Bull. U. S. Natl. Mus., no. 175, p. 47, April 23, 1940.

Pituophis deppei lineaticollis, Smith, Proc. U. S. Natl. Mus., vol. 93, p. 460, 1943; Smith and Taylor, Bull. U. S. Natl. Mus., no. 187, p. 108, 1945.

Pituophis deppei brevilineata Schmidt and Shannon, Fieldiana-Zool., vol. 31, p. 79, February 20, 1947.

Type.--No type specimen is known. Cope (1861: 300 and 1887: 72) stated that the specimen was from the southern Mexican Plateau and that it was collected by Carlos Sartorius. Smith and Taylor (1945: 108 and 1950: 348) gave the type locality as Jalapa, Veracruz. Although this locality was the source of many specimens sent to the United States by Sartorius, it is not within the known range of lineaticollis, and therefore cannot appropriately be thought of as the type locality. In the absence of a type specimen and a justifiable type locality, I hereby designate as a neotype, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, No. 114668. This specimen was collected 24 kilometers northwest of Ciudad Oaxaca, Oaxaca, on February 29, 1956, by William E. Duellman. It is an adult female having 229 ventrals, 67 caudals, and long black neck-stripes followed posteriorly by 23 light-centered dorsal body-blotches.

Diagnosis.--This subspecies is characterized by the presence of continuous dark paravertebral stripes on the anterior part of the body, and light-centered dorsal body-blotches and lateral intercalary spots (Pl. 45, Fig. 2). There are 229 to 258 ventrals, 54 to 72 caudals, and 23 to 45 dorsal body-blotches posterior to the neck-stripes. The young are colored like the adults.

Variation.--Specimens from the southern part of the range in Oaxaca have 229 to 245 ventrals (average 238.3); to the north on the Mexican Plateau in the state of Michoac['a]n seven specimens have 231 to 243 (average 237.1) ventrals. In the relatively isolated mountain ranges of the Sierra del Sur in Guerrero and the Sierra de Coalcom['a]n in southern Michoac['a]n the ranges of variation and average numbers of ventrals are, respectively, 234 to 258 (245.8) and 236 to 246 (242.2). The longest neck-stripes are found in specimens from Oaxaca and Guerrero; nevertheless, some specimens from the Mexican Plateau in Michoac['a]n and three of the four specimens from the Sierra de Coalcom['a]n have neck-stripes equally long. One specimen from 40 kilometers north of Ciudad M['e]xico and several from the vicinity of Tanc['i]taro, Michoac['a]n, have rather shorter neck-stripes. One specimen from Dos Aguas, Michoac['a]n, has the neck-stripes partially fragmented into rows of spots as in gibsoni.

On the basis of specimens from Tanc['i]taro, Michoac['a]n, Schmidt and Shannon (1947: 79) described the subspecies brevilineata, which they diagnosed as differing from lineaticollis in having fewer ventrals and shorter neck-stripes. The present data suggest that the characters used to diagnose the subspecies are variable not only in Michoac['a]n, but throughout the range of the species. Consequently, Pituophis (deppei) brevilineata Schmidt and Shannon (1947) is placed in the synonymy of Pituophis lineaticollis lineaticollis Cope (1861).

Distribution.--The southern part of the Mexican Plateau in the states of Michoac['a]n, M['e]xico, and Morelos, the Sierra de Coalcom['a]n in southern Michoac['a]n, and the Sierra del Sur in Guerrero and Oaxaca.

Specimens examined.--Total of 25, as follows: Guerrero: Acahuizotla, USNM 46537; Chilpancingo, CNHM 38356-9, UIMNH 35000, UMMZ 85724-5; Omiltemi, USNM 46462. M['e]xico: 40 km. N of Ciudad M['e]xico, UIMNH 36223. Michoac['a]n: Acuaro de las Lleguas, UMMZ 112565; Dos Aguas, UMMZ 118786, 119567-8; 40 km. E of Morelia, UMMZ 101932; Tanc['i]taro, CNHM 37126, 39069-72. Morelos: 1 km. W of Tepoztl['a]n, UMMZ 101931; Tres Cumbres, UIMNH 35001. Oaxaca: 25 km. N of El Soledad, UIMNH 6210; 24 km. NW of Oaxaca, UMMZ 114668; San Pedro Quiechapa, USNM 110893.

=Pituophis lineaticollis gibsoni= Stuart, new combination

Pituophis deppei gibsoni Stuart, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, vol. 67, p. 172, August 5, 1954.

Type.--University of Michigan Museum of Zoology No. 107060, obtained by Colvin Gibson. Type locality: Yepocapa, Chimaltenango, Guatemala.

Diagnosis.--This race is characterized by paired, elongated, pale-centered, paravertebral spots on the anterior part of the body. Posterior to the paired spots are 22 to 27 dorsal body-blotches; these and the lateral intercalary spots have pale centers. There are 234 to 246 ventrals and 57 to 65 caudals.

Variation.--The few specimens that are available from a small geographic area do not permit a discussion of geographic variation at this time. All of the specimens have the paired paravertebral spots and blotches with light centers. In this respect the population of lineaticollis east of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec is noticeably different from the nominal subspecies in the Mexican highlands. Smith and Taylor (1945: 108) listed a specimen from San Cristobal, Chiapas. I have not seen this specimen and so do not know to which subspecies it belongs. On geographical grounds it probably is gibsoni.

Distribution.--Guatemalan highlands and probably highlands of Chiapas. Aside from the specimens examined, two others are known--one from Volc['a]n Agua, Sacatepequez (Slevin, 1939: 400), and one from Due[~n]as, Sacatepequez (Boulenger, 1894: 65); these localities are not shown in figure 1.

Specimens examined.--Eight, as follows: Guatemala: Chimaltenango: Chichavac, CNHM 1927; Finca El Tesoro, 3 km. SE of Acatenango, UMMZ 107062-3; Finca Recreo, 4.5 km. SW of Yepocapa, UMMZ 107381; R['i]o Los Positos, 5.5 km. NE of Yepocapa, UMMZ 107061; R['i]o Sobolopop, 8 km. W of Patz['u]n, UMMZ 107064; Yepocapa, UMMZ 107060. El Quiche: Nebaj, UMMZ 89202.

LITERATURE CITED

BOULENGER, G. A.

1894. Catalogue of the snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). London, 2:xi + 382 pp., pls. 1-20.

COPE, E. D.

1860. Descriptions of reptiles from tropical America and Asia. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 1860:368-374.

1861. Contributions to the ophiology of Lower California, Mexico, and Central America. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 1861:292-306.

1887. Catalogue of the batrachians and reptiles of Central America and Mexico. Bull. U. S. Natl. Mus., 32: 1-98.