Carphophis amoenus
| Carphophis amoenus | |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Subphylum: | Vertebrata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Suborder: | Serpentes |
| Family: | Colubridae |
| Subfamily: | Xenodontinae |
| Genus: | Carphophis |
| Species: | C. amoenus |
| Binomial name | |
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Carphophis amoenus (Say, 1825) |
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Carphophis amoenus, commonly known as the worm snake, is a species of nonvenomous colubrid endemic to the Eastern United States.C. amoenus can be found east of the Mississippi, from southwest Massachusetts south to southern Alabama west to Louisiana and then north to Illinois. This species of snake protects a large range, and normally prefers a moist habitat in the rocky woodlands, under rotten wood of logs and stumps. Though this snake is quite abundant over its range, it is rarely seen because of its dormant lifestyle and where it usually resides. This snake is most common on the edges or in the ecotonal areas of open to thick woodlands, and the borders of wetlands. It may also be found in the grasslands next to woodlands. The best chance to spot it is after heavy rains, when its small size and distinct color make it easy to spot. This species prefers moist soil inhabited by earthworms, which are its main prey, so the soil needs to be sufficiently moist. The snake’s skin naturally evaporates water; so the soil needs to be moist enough to offset this. C. amoenus is mostly found under rocks and in sufficient leaf litter during the extreme daytime heat.
The worm snake is a small snake. Adults are 19–28 cm (7.5–11.0 in) in total length, record 34 cm (13 in) . It is brown dorsally, and bright pink ventrally, with the belly color including one or two people scale rows. The dorsal scales are smooth, in 13 rows. It has five upper labials and one postocular.C. amoenus coloration is unpatterned and can be tan to dark brown in color; it has a pointed head, and small, black eyes. It has pinkish ventral pigmentation which extends dorsally onto dorsal scale rows one to two. The tail is short in comparison with its body and ends in an abrupt, spine-like scale. Females are longer than males, but have shorter tails. The head is small, conical and no wider than the neck. Other small, unpatterned brownish snakes, such as earth snakes (genus Virginia) and red-bellied snakes (Storeria occipitomaculata), both have keeled body scales, but lack the spine-tipped tail. Other ways to distinguish between C. amoenus and other species is the body scales usually occur in 13 rows and are smooth and pitless, and the anal plate is split. Another snake commonly confused with C. amoenus is the western worm snake (Carphophis vermis), which used to be considered a subspecies of C. amoenus, and has the slight ventral pigmentation extending onto the third body scale row, and a dark gray or gray-violet dorsum. The southeastern crowned snake (Tantilla coronata) has 15 midbody scale rows, a dark head, and a dark collar.
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