Roadless Areas
Home/Species/ Smooth Earthsnake

Virginia valeriae

Baird and Girard, 1853

Smooth Earthsnake

G5Secure Found in 14 roadless areas NatureServe Explorer →
G5SecureGlobal Rank
Least concernIUCN
MediumThreat Impact
Identity
Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.100943
Element CodeARADB39020
Record TypeSPECIES
ClassificationSpecies
Classification StatusStandard
Name CategoryVertebrate Animal
IUCNLeast concern
Endemicendemic to a single nation
KingdomAnimalia
PhylumCraniata
ClassReptilia
OrderSquamata
FamilyColubridae
GenusVirginia
Other Common Names
Smooth Earth Snake (EN)
Concept Reference
McVay, J. D., and B. Carstens. 2013. Testing monophyly without well-supported gene trees: evidence from multi-locus nuclear data conflicts with existing taxonomy in the snake tribe Thamnophiini. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 68:425-431.
Taxonomic Comments
McVay and Carstens (2013) found that Virginia is polyphyletic based on a multi-locus nuclear dataset, and resurrected Haldea for V. striatula (Crother 2017).

Subspecies pulchra was proposed as a distinct species by Collins (1991), but he did not present supporting data. Molecular data indicate that V. valeriae is closely related to Tropidoclonion lineatum; perhaps the latter should be placed in the genus Virginia, with V. striatula being moved to the resurrected genus Haldea (Lawson 1985); myological data do not conform with the molecular data and perhaps a better arrangement would be to expand the genus Virginia to incorporate T. lineatum (see Lawson 1985).
Conservation Status
Review Date2006-09-07
Change Date1996-10-30
Edition Date2006-09-07
Edition AuthorsHammerson, G.
Threat ImpactMedium
Range Extent200,000-2,500,000 square km (about 80,000-1,000,000 square miles)
Number of Occurrences81 - 300
Range Extent Comments
The range extends from New Jersey and Pennsylvania to northern Florida, and west to southern Iowa, northeastern Kansas, eastern Oklahoma, and central Texas; an isolated population occurs in peninsular Florida (Conant and Collins 1991, Powell et al. 1992, Ernst and Ernst 2003).
Occurrences Comments
This species is represented by a large number of occurrences (subpopulations).
Threat Impact Comments
No major threats are known. Locally, this species is perhaps threatened in some areas by deforestation (Mitchell 1991), and some populations appear to have been eliminated by residential, industrial, and agricultural development (Hulse et al. 2001).
Ecology & Habitat

Habitat

Habitats include deciduous woods, exposed rocky slopes in mixed deciduous-pine associations, pine woodland, grassy slopes with rocks in areas of deciduous forest, mesic hammocks, moist woodland along floodplains, wooded areas around marshes and other damp places, rocky sparse woods and forest edge, old fields, vacant lots, and wooded or brushy residential areas. In daytime, this secretive snake often shelters under logs, rocks, or other cover. It may aggregate during hibernation.

Reproduction

Mating may occur in spring and fall (see Green and Pauley 1987). Gives birth to litter of 2-18 young, late July-September (Behler and King 1979, Barbour 1971) (mid-August through mid-September in Pennsylvania and West Virginia).
Terrestrial Habitats
Woodland - HardwoodWoodland - MixedShrubland/chaparralGrassland/herbaceousOld fieldCropland/hedgerowSuburban/orchard
Palustrine Habitats
Riparian
Other Nations (1)
United StatesN5
ProvinceRankNative
FloridaS3Yes
MississippiS5Yes
ArkansasS4Yes
PennsylvaniaS3Yes
West VirginiaS3Yes
DelawareS1Yes
TennesseeS5Yes
LouisianaS4Yes
TexasS5Yes
District of ColumbiaS4Yes
AlabamaS5Yes
New JerseySUYes
OhioS2Yes
OklahomaSNRYes
MissouriS5Yes
IndianaS3Yes
North CarolinaS3Yes
South CarolinaS4Yes
IllinoisS4Yes
KentuckyS5Yes
KansasS3Yes
IowaS3Yes
MarylandS4Yes
GeorgiaS4Yes
VirginiaS5Yes
Roadless Areas (14)
Arkansas (2)
AreaForestAcres
Blue MountainOuachita National Forest9,755
Pedestal RocksOzark-St. Francis National Forest21,957
Florida (2)
AreaForestAcres
Gum BayApalachicola National Forest11,645
Long BayApalachicola National Forest5,726
Illinois (1)
AreaForestAcres
Burden FallsShawnee National Forest485
North Carolina (1)
AreaForestAcres
Yellowhammer Branch (add.)Nantahala National Forest1,255
Virginia (6)
AreaForestAcres
Beards MountainGeorge Washington National Forest7,505
Broad RunJefferson National Forest10,971
Hoop HoleJefferson National Forest4,652
Laurel ForkGeorge Washington National Forest9,967
Patterson MountainJefferson National Forest4,865
Price MountainJefferson National Forest9,119
West Virginia (2)
AreaForestAcres
Little MountainMonongahela National Forest8,172
Seneca CreekMonongahela National Forest22,287
References (30)
  1. Ashton, R. E., Jr., and P. S. Ashton. 1981. Handbook of reptiles and amphibians of Florida. Part One: The Snakes. Windward Publishing Company, Miami, Florida. 176 pp.
  2. Barbour, R. W. 1971. Amphibians and reptiles of Kentucky. Univ. Press of Kentucky, Lexington. x + 334 pp.
  3. Behler, J. L., and F. W. King. 1979. The Audubon Society field guide to North American reptiles and amphibians. Alfred A. Knopf, New York. 719 pp.
  4. Collins, J. T. 1982. Amphibians and reptiles in Kansas. Second edition. Univ. Kansas Mus. Nat. Hist., Pub. Ed. Ser. 8. xiii + 356 pp.
  5. Collins, J. T. 1990. Standard common and current scientific names for North American amphibians and reptiles. 3rd ed. Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles. Herpetological Circular No. 19. 41 pp.
  6. Collins, J. T. 1991. Viewpoint: a new taxonomic arrangement for some North American amphibians and reptiles. SSAR Herpetol. Review 22:42-43.
  7. Conant, R. and J. T. Collins. 1991. A field guide to reptiles and amphibians: eastern and central North America. Third edition. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, Massachusetts. 450 pp.
  8. Conant, R., and J. T. Collins. 1998. A field guide to reptiles and amphibians: eastern and central North America. Third edition, expanded. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, Massachusetts. 616 pp.
  9. Crother, B. I. (editor). 2008. Scientific and standard English names of amphibians and reptiles of North America north of Mexico, with comments regarding confidence in our understanding. Sixth edition. Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles Herpetological Circular 37:1-84. Online with updates at: http://www.ssarherps.org/pages/comm_names/Index.php
  10. Crother, B. I. (editor). 2012. Scientific and standard English names of amphibians and reptiles of North America north of Mexico, with comments regarding confidence in our understanding. 7th edition. SSAR Herpetological Circular 39:1-92.
  11. Crother, B. I. (editor). 2017. Scientific and standard English names of amphibians and reptiles of North America north of Mexico, with comments regarding confidence in our understanding. 8th edition. SSAR Herpetological Circular 43:1-104. [Updates in SSAR North American Species Names Database at: https://ssarherps.org/cndb]
  12. Dowling, H. G. 1993. Viewpoint: a reply to Collins (1991, 1992). Herpetol. Rev. 24:11-13.
  13. Ernst, C. H., and E. M. Ernst. 2003. Snakes of the United States and Canada. Smithsonian Books, Washington, D.C.
  14. Ernst, C. H., and R. W. Barbour. 1989b. Snakes of eastern North America. George Mason Univ. Press, Fairfax, Virginia. 282 pp.
  15. Fitch, H. S. 1970. Reproductive cycles of lizards and snakes. Univ. Kansas Museum Natural History Miscellaneous Publication 52:1-247.
  16. Green, N. B., and T. K. Pauley. 1987. Amphibians and reptiles in West Virginia. University of Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. xi + 241 pp.
  17. Hulse, A. C., C. J. McCoy, and E. Censky. 2001. Amphibians and reptiles of Pennsylvania and the Northeast. Comstock Publishing Associates, Cornell University Press, Ithaca. 419 pp.
  18. Lawson, R. 1985. Molecular studies of thamnophiine snakes. Ph.D. dissertation, Louisiana State Univ., Baton Rouge.
  19. McVay, J. D., and B. Carstens. 2013. Testing monophyly without well-supported gene trees: evidence from multi-locus nuclear data conflicts with existing taxonomy in the snake tribe Thamnophiini. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 68:425-431.
  20. Minton, S. A., Jr. 1972. Amphibians and reptiles of Indiana. Indiana Academy Science Monographs 3. v + 346 pp.
  21. Mitchell, J. C. 1991. Amphibians and reptiles. Pages 411-76 in K. Terwilliger (coordinator). Virginia's Endangered Species: Proceedings of a Symposium. McDonald and Woodward Publishing Company, Blacksburg, Virginia.
  22. Mitchell, J. C. 1994. The reptiles of Virginia. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C. xv + 352 pp.
  23. Mount, R. H. 1975. The reptiles and amphibians of Alabama. Auburn University Agricultural Experiment Station, Auburn, Alabama. vii + 347 pp.
  24. Palmer, W. M., and A. L. Braswell. 1995. Reptiles of North Carolina. North Carolina State Museum of Natural Sciences, University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
  25. Phillips, C. A., R. A. Brandon, and E. O. Moll. 1999. Field guide to amphibians and reptiles of Illinois. Illinois Natural History Survey Manual 8. xv + 282 pp.
  26. Powell, R., J. T. Collins, and L. D. Fish. 1992. <i>Virginia valeriae</i>. Cat. Am. Amph. Rept. 552.1-552.6.
  27. Rossman, D. A., and V. Wallach. 1991. <i>Virginia</i>. Cat. Am. Amph. Rept. 529.1-529.4.
  28. Tennant, A. 1984. The Snakes of Texas. Texas Monthly Press, Austin, Texas. 561 pp.
  29. Trauth, S. E., H. W. Robison, and M. V. Plummer. 2004. The amphibians and reptiles of Arkansas. University of Arkansas Press.
  30. Werler, J. E., and J. R. Dixon. 2000. Texas snakes: identification, distribution, and natural history. University of Texas Press, Austin. xv + 437 pp.