Psomophis genimaculatus (Spirit Ground Snake). Diet and behavior.

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Herpetological Review 54(4), 2023
692 NATURAL HISTORY NOTES
60.50098°W; WGS 84; 50 m elev.). When observed, the snake
already held the bird by the head and it was later ingested in the
same position. This record represents the first case of predation
of this bird species by O. fulgidus. The specimen was in good
condition and was neither captured nor handled.
This record was authorized by Instituto Chico Mendes de
Conservação à Biodiversidade (ICMBio 88192-1).
ANDRÉ SILVA DE ARAÚJO, Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação
da Biodiversidade, Parque Nacional de Anavilhana (ICMBio); GLAUCO
CÁSSIO DE SOUSA OLIVEIRA, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Botâni-
ca Aplicada, Departamento de Biologia, Universidade Federal de Lavras,
Lavras, 37203-202, MG, Brazil (e-mail: glaucomlds@hotmail.com); CATA -
LINA N. LOPEZ, Universidade de Uberaba, 38.010-200, Uberaba, Minas
Gerais, Brasil; ALEXANDRE A. HUDSON, Programa de Pós - Graduação
em Ecologia, Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora, 36036-900, Juiz de
Fora, Minas Gerais, Brasil; BERNADETE M. SOUSA, Departamento de
Zoologia, Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora, 36036-900, Juiz de Fora,
Minas Gerais, Brasil.
OXYBELIS MICROPHTHALMUS (Thrornscrub Vinesnake).
DIET. Oxybelis microphthalmus is found from Arizona, USA,
through Sonora, Chihuahua, and the Pacific and central
states of Mexico, as far south as Oaxaca and Chiapas (Jadin
et al. 2020. Org. Divers. Evol. 20:723–746); its diet is not well
documented. Prey items include lizards: Plestiodon, Anolis,
Sceloporus, Urosaurus, and Aspidoscelis (Groschupf and Lower
1988. Herpetol. Rev. 19:85; Madrid Sotelo et al. 2011. Herpetol.
Rev. 42:298–299; Alcázar Clara and Rodríguez-Romero 2012.
Herpetol. Rev. 43:150; López-De La Cruz et al. 2016. Herpetol.
Rev. 47:314; Cid-Morav and Vázquez-Cruz. 2020. Mesoam.
Herpetol. 3:98–100; Ramírez-Bautista et al. 2020. IRCF Rept.
Amphib. 27:101–102; Bucio-Jiménez and Flores-Loyola 2021.
Rev. Latinoam. Herpetol. 4:131–132; Ramos-León et al. 2021.
Bull. Chicago Herpetol. Soc. 56:1–3; Carbajal-Márquez et
al. 2022. Herpetol. Rev. 53:700–701) and occasionally frogs
(Dendrophytes eximius; Vázquez-Díaz and Quintero-Díaz
2005. Anfibios y Reptiles de Aguascalientes. Gob. Edo. CIEMA,
Aguascalientes, Mexico. 318 pp.).
At 1420 h on 31 October 2022, GEQD and RRL found a
road-killed male O. microphthalmus (85.0 cm SVL, 52.3 cm tail
length, 56.3 g) at Presa de los Serna, Calvillo, Aguascalientes,
México (21.81272°N, 102.83583°W; WGS 84; 1837 m elev.). Upon
dissection, we found a partially digested juvenile Sceloporus
melanogaster (Central Plateau Torquate Lizard; 6.08 cm SVL)
in the stomach (Fig. 1), which represents the first record of
S. melanogaster in the diet of O. microphthalmus. The prey
was identified based on morphological characteristics and
distribution (Carbajal-Márquez and Quintero-Díaz 2016. Rev.
Mex. Herpetol. 2:1–30).
GUSTAVO ERNESTO QUINTERO-DÍAZ, Departamento de Biología,
Departamento de Biología, Centro de Ciencias Básicas, Universidad
Autónoma de Aguascalientes, C.P. 20100, Aguascalientes, Aguascalientes,
México (e-mail: gequintmxags@hotmail.com); ROBERTO ROQUE-
LOZANO (e-mail: robert.agui@gmail.com) and CAROLINA CHÁVEZ-
FLORIANO, , Conservación de la Biodiversidad del Centro de México A.
C. Andador Torre de Marl No. 100, C. P. 20,229 Aguascalientes, México
(e-mail: caro_azul3536@hotmail.com).
PITUOPHIS MELANOLEUCUS MUGITUS (Florida Pinesnake).
BEHAVIOR. Pituophis melanoleucus mugitus is a large North
American diurnal terrestrial colubrid that normally favors
upland habitats (Ernst and Ernst 2003. Snakes of the United
States and Canada. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington
D.C. 680 pp.). At 1413 h on 6 April 2023, we observed an
adult P. m. mugitus crossing the Suwanee River from west to
east in the Twin Rivers State Forest, Madison and Suwannee
Counties, Florida, USA, crossing from the Black Tract to the
Anderson Spring Tract (30.3553°N, 83.1917°W; WGS 84; 8 m
elev.). We approached and captured the snake, which seemed
to be in good condition, as it reached the bank. The distance
from bank to bank was ca. 50–70 m. The river was very slow
in this area with few eddies. To our knowledge, this is the first
record of swimming behavior in this usually fossorial species.
Despite the area’s proximity to a major interstate, prescribed
fire has been used on 115 acres of the Black Tract as recently
as February 2021 to promote ecosystem restoration (S. Avery,
pers. comm.), so habitat degradation is an unlikely reason to
disperse from this area.
J. ANDREW KILMER, Florida Park Service, 3266 N Sailboat Avenue,
Crystal River, Florida 34428, USA (e-mail: john.kilmer@oridadep.gov);
PHILIP SHIRK, Gainesville, Florida, USA (e-mail: philip.shirk@gmail.com).
PSOMOPHIS GENIMACULATUS (Spirit Ground Snake).
DIET and BEHAVIOR. Psomophis genimaculatus is a small
nonvenomous dipsadine colubrid distributed from northern
Bolivia, east to southwestern Brazil, and south to northern
Argentina and Paraguay (Nogueira et al. 2019. S. Am. J. Herpetol.
14:1–274; Williams et al. 2021. Revista Mus. La Plata 6:26–124). It
occurs in forested and open areas, including disturbed habitats
(Scrocchi and Giraudo 1997. Cuad. Herpetol. 11:63–68; Sousa
et al. 2010. Biota Neotrop. 10:129–138), and urbanized areas
(Rivas et al. 2023, op. cit.). This species is considered almost
exclusively diurnal (but probably crepuscular), terrestrial and
semiarboreal (Strussmann and Sazima 1993. Stud. Neotrp.
Fauna Environ. 28:157–168; Myers and Cadle 1994. Am. Mus.
Novit. 3102: 1–33; Scrocchi and Giraudo 1997, op. cit.). More
specifically, this species occurs in forested areas and savannahs
of the Chaco, Pantanal, Chiquitano dry forest and floodplains
of Argentina, Bolivia, and Brazil (Strussmann and Sazima
1993, op. cit.; Scrocchi and Giraudo 1997, op. cit.; Rivas et al.
2023, op. cit.). The diet of P. genimaculatus primarily consists
of small hylid and bufonid frogs and lizards (Strussmann and
Sazima 1993, op. cit.; Myers and Cadle 1994, op. cit.; Grundler
2020. Biodivers. Data J. 8:e49943); however, few studies have
specifically documented prey species. Information on the
natural history of P. genimaculatus is scarce throughout its
Fig. 1. A partially digested juvenile Sceloporus melanogaster con-
sumed by an Oxybelis microphthalmus from Aguascalientes, México.
PHOTO BY GUSTAVO ERNESTO QUINTERODÍAZ

Herpetological Review 54(4), 2023
NATURAL HISTORY NOTES 693
distributional range in South America, and even more so for
the Bolivian portion.
At 1055 h on 2 May 2023, we captured an adult female P.
genimaculatus (Centro de Investigación de Recursos Acuáticos
of the Universidad Autónoma del Beni José Ballivián [CIRAH]
1026: 39.4 cm total length, 9.7 g, Fig. 1A) on the floor inside
the Museo Ictícola of Centro de Investigación de Recursos
Acuáticos, Campus Universitario Hernán Melgar Justiniano,
Trinidad, Beni, Bolivia (14.81162°S, 64.89588°W; WGS 84).
Following collection, this specimen regurgitated a semi-
digested adult Scinax nasicus (Lesser Snouted Treefrog; CIRAH-
1026p, Fig. 1B). This is the first report of S. nasicus as prey of P.
genimaculatus. Scinax nasicus is an abundant species around
the city of Trinidad and is strongly associated with urban
structures (Rivas et al. 2023, op. cit.).
Additionally, at 1141 h on 13 January 2022 we observed
another specimen of P. genimaculatus climbing the trunk of
a coquito tree (Guazuma ulmifolia) to a height of ca. 2.5 m
in the Módulo de Píscicultura of the Centro de Investigación
de Recursos Acuáticos, Trinidad, Beni, Bolivia (14.81079°S,
64.89973°W; WGS 84). This observation demonstrates that this
species exhibits semiarboreal habits, as indicated in previous
studies (Strussmann and Sazima 1993, op. cit.).
We thank Lady Barba and Carlos Alberto Fernandez for
communicating the presence of the snake in the Museo Ictícola
and Módulo de Píscicultura del Centro de Investigación de
Recursos Acuáticos, respectively. This work was conducted
under a permit from the Dirección General de Biodiversidad
y Áreas Protegidas, permit #CAR/MMAYA/VMABCCGDF/
DGBAP/MEG No. 0120/2022.
LUIS ROLANDO RIVAS, Centro de Investigación de Recursos
Acuáticos (CIRA). Universidad Autónoma del Beni “José Ballivián”.
Trinidad, Beni, Bolivia (e-mail: luisrivas301280@gmail.com); CORD B.
EVERSOLE, Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture, Stephen
F. Austin State University, Nacogdoches 75965, Texas, USA; RANDY L.
POWELL, Department of Biological and Health Sciences, Texas A&M
University-Kingsville. Kingsville, Texas 78363, USA.
RHINOCHEILUS LECONTEI (Long-nosed Snake).
PREDATION. Rhinocheilus lecontei is a medium-sized colubrid
that ranges from Idaho to central Mexico (Ernst and Ernst
2003. Snakes of the United States and Canada. Smithsonian
Institution Press, Washington, D.C. 680 pp.). Despite its
widespread distribution and often striking coloration, little is
known about the ecology of R. lecontei. Only a fraction of its
likely predators have been formally documented, including
Buteo jamaicensis (Red-tailed Hawk; Fitch 1949. Am. Midl.
Nat. 41:513–579; Steenhof and Kochert 1985. Oecologia 66:6–
16), Ictidomys parvidens (Rio Grande Ground Squirrel; Kasper
2014. Herpetol. Rev. 45:344), Hadrurus arizonensis (Giant Hairy
Desert Scorpion; De Luna et al. 2021. Herpetol. Rev. 52:676–
677), Scolopendra heros (Giant Desert Centipede; Easterla
1975. Southwestern Nat. 20:411; though the author was unsure
if this was a case of predation or road-kill scavenging), and
several snakes including Lampropeltis californiae (Litiatco,
pers. comm. in De Luna et al. 2021. Herpetol. Rev. 52:676–677),
Masticophis flagellum (Kasper 2013. Herpetol. Rev. 44:334),
Micruroides euryxanthus (Rex, pers. comm. in De Luna et
al. 2021. Herpetol. Rev. 52:676–677), Micrurus distans (Loc-
Barragán et al. 2023. Herpetol. Rev. 54:140–141), as well as other
R. lecontei (Lane 2009. Herpetol. Rev. 40:358). In one instance,
a R. lecontei was killed by the bite of a Diadophis punctatus,
Fig. 1. a) Psomophis genimaculatus (CIRAH-1026) collected in the
Museo Ictícola, Centro de Investigación de Recursos Acuáticos,
Campus Universitario Hernán Melgar Justiniano, Trinidad, Beni,
Bolivia; B) Scinax nasicus (CIRAH-1026p) regurgitated by the P. geni-
maculatus.
Fig. 1. A young Vulpes macrotis arsipus carries the remains of a Rhi-
nocheilus lecontei in the Mojave Desert, California, USA.
Fig. 2. A young Vulpes macrotis arsipus moves away from its parent
with the remains of a Rhinocheilus lecontei in the Mojave Desert,
California, USA.