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Reptilia    Squamata (part)    Natricidae  

Red-bellied Snake
Storeria occipitomaculata (Storer, 1839)
stor-ehr-EE-uh — ok-sip-eh-toe-mak-yoo-LAW-tuh

SSAR 9th Edition Comments:
Pyron et al. (2016. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 2016: 1-13) detected four lineages within S. occipitomaculata, three of which conform to previously recognized subspecies.

Range maps are based on curated specimens and provided gratis by CNAH.
(Created by Travis W. Taggart; Version: 2024.02.22.16.57.07)
Download GeoJSON polygon range file: - 2.2 MB

Etymology: Storeria — Named in honor of David Humphreys Storer (1804–1891), an American physician and naturalist who made significant contributions to herpetology.
occipitomaculata — From Latin: occiput, occipitis = “back of the head”; maculatus, maculata, maculatum = “spotted” or “marked”. occipitomaculata means “spotted at the back of the head”, referring to the distinctive dark markings on the snake’s nape.

First instance(s) of published English names:
Spotted-neck Snake (Coluber occipito-maculatus: Storer, D. H. 1839. Reports on the Ichthyology and Herpetology of Massachusetts. Reports on the Fishes, Reptiles and Birds of Massachusetts. Published Agreeably to an Order of the Legislature, by the Commissioners on the Zoological and Botanical Survey of the State. Dutton and Wentworth, State Printers, Boston, Massachusetts. pp.); Redbellied-snake (Storeria occipito-maculata: Baird, Spencer F. 1854. Serpents of New-York; With a Notice of a Species not Hitherto Included in the Fauna of the State. C. Van Benthuysen, Albany, New York. pp.); Spotted-necked Snake (Storeria occipito-maculata: Allen, J. A. 1869. Catalogue of the reptiles and batrachians found in the vicinity of Springfield, Mass., with notices of all the other species known to inhabit the state. Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural Hisotry 12(1868-1869):171-204); Red-bellied Snake (Storeria occipitomaculata: Jordan, David Starr. 1876. Manual of the Vertebrates of the Northern United States: Including the District East of the Mississippi River, and North of North Carolina and Tennessee, Exclusive of Marine Species. Jansen, McClurg, and Company, Chicago, Illinois.. 342pp.); DeKay's Brown Snake (Storeria dekayi: Jordan, David S. 1878. Manual of the Vertebrates of the Northern United States: Including the District East of the Mississippi River, and North of North Carolina and Tennessee, Exclusive of Marine Species. Second Edition, Revised, and Enlarged. Jansen, McClurg & Company, Chicago. pp.); Red-bellied Snake (Storeria occipitomaculata: Jordan, David S. 1878. Manual of the Vertebrates of the Northern United States: Including the District East of the Mississippi River, and North of North Carolina and Tennessee, Exclusive of Marine Species. Second Edition, Revised, and Enlarged. Jansen, McClurg & Company, Chicago. pp.); Storer's Snake (Storeria occipitomaculata: Yarrow, Henry C. 1882. Check list of North American Reptilia and Batrachia with catalogue of specimens in U. S. National Museum. Bulletin of the United States National Museum (24):1-249); Storer's Grass Snake (Storeria occipitomaculata: Beyer, George. 1900. Louisana herpetology. Proceedings of the Louisiana Society of Naturalists 1897-1899():24-46); Spotted-necked Snake (Storeria occiptomaculata: Drowne, Frederick P. 1905. The reptiles and batrachians of Rhode Island. Monograph of the Roger Williams Park Museum 15():1-24); Red Bellied Snake (Storeria occipito-maculata: Fowler, Henry W. 1907. The amphibians and reptiles of New Jersey. MacCrellish and Quigley, Trenton, N. J.. 29-250pp.); Red-bellied Storeria (Storeria occipitomaculata: Brimley, Clement S. 1915. List of reptiles and amphibians of North Carolina. Journal of the Elisha Mitchell Scientific Society 30(4):195-206); Red-bellied Snake (Storeria occipito-maculata: Stejneger, Leonhard H. and Thomas Barbour. 1917. A Checklist of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts. pp.); Red-bellied DeKay's Snake (Storeria occipitomaculata: Taylor, Edward H. 1929. A revised checklist of the snakes of Kansas. University of Kansas Science Bulletin 19(5):53-62); Little Red-bellied Snake (Storeria occipitomaculata: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Little Brown Snake (Storeria occipitomaculata: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); The Redbellied Snake (Storeria occipitomaculata: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Spotted-necked Snake (Storeria occipitomaculata: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Copper Snake (Storeria occipitomaculata: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Brown Snake (Storeria occipitomaculata: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); spot-necked Snake (Storeria occipitomaculata: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Spotted Neck Snake (Storeria occipitomaculata: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Storer's Brown Snake (Storeria occipitomaculata: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Red-bellied Brown Snake (Storeria occipitomaculata: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Red-bellied Garter Snake (Storeria occipitomaculata: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Red-bellied Ground Snake (Storeria occipitomaculata: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); The Red-bellied Snake (Storeria occipitomaculata: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Storer Snake (Storeria occipitomaculata: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Storer's Grass Snake (Storeria occipitomaculata: Wright, Albert Hazen. 1950. Common names of the snakes of the United States. Herpetologica 6(6):141-186); Red-bellied Snake (Storeria occipitomaculata: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.); Florida Red-bellied Snake (Storeria occipitomaculata obscura: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.); Red-bellied Snake (Storeria occipitomaculata occipitomaculata: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.);

Taxon Links:

  
Catalog of American Amphibians and Reptiles
  
The Reptile Database
  
NatureServe
  
iNaturalist
  
GenBank
  
USGS - Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database

Selected References:
1839 Storer, D. H. Reports on the Ichthyology and Herpetology of Massachusetts. Reports on the Fishes, Reptiles and Birds of Massachusetts. Published Agreeably to an Order of the Legislature, by the Commissioners on the Zoological and Botanical Survey of the State. Dutton and Wentworth, State Printers, Boston, Massachusetts. pp.
1847 Hallowell, Edward and T. A. Conrad. Description of a new species of Coluber inhabiting the United States. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia 3(11):278-280
1939 Trapido, Harold. Studies on the Taxonomy and Natural History of the Snakes of the Genus Storeria in the United States and Canada. Thesis. Cornell University, Ithaca, New York. 100pp.
1944 Trapido, Harold. The snakes of the genus Storeria. American Midland Naturalist 31(1):1-84
1948 Dundee, Harold A. Storeria occipitomaculata in Oklahoma. Copeia 1948(3):216
1963 Smith, Hobart M. The identity of the Black Hills population of Storeria occipitomaculata, the red-bellied snake. Herpetologica 19(1):17-21
1974 Ernst, Carl H. Taxonomic Status of the Red-Bellied Snake, Storeria occipitomaculata, in Minnesota. Journal of Herpetology 8(4):347-351
1980 Rossman, Douglas A. and R. L. Erwin. Geographic variation in the snake Storeria occipitomaculata (Storer) (Serpentes: Colubridae) in Southeastern United States. Brimleyana 4:95-102
1993 Miller, Larry L. and Joseph T. Collins. History, distribution and habitat requirements for three species of threatened reptiles in eastern Kansas. Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, Pratt. 29pp.
2002 Ernst, Carl H. Storeria occipitomaculata (Storer) Red-bellied Snake . Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (759):1-8
2003 Smith, Brian E. and Nathan T. Stephens. Conservation assessment of the Black Hills Redbelly Snake in the Black Hills National Forest, South Dakota and Wyoming. United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Custer, South Dakota. 18pp.
2012 Ernst, Carl H. Storeria. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (900):14
2016 Pyron, R. Alexander, Felisa W. Hsieh, Alan R. Lemmon, Emily M. Lemmon, and Catriona R. Hendry. Integrating phylogenomic and morphological data to assess candidate species-delimitation models in brown and red-bellied snakes (Storeria). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 177(4):1-13
2022 Somma, Louis A. Provenance of the Red-bellied Snake, Storeria occipitomaculata (Storer) (Squamata: Natricidae), collected from eastern Nebraska, U.S.A., in the 19th Century. Breviora (575):1-10

THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY — Accessed: Tuesday 17 June 2025 11:31 CT