New prey records for the Atlantic Central American Milksnake Lampropeltis polyzona (Serpentes: Colubridae)

Full text

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Phyllomedusa - 19(1), June 2020
Received 11 September 2019
Accepted 10 May 2020
Distributed June 2020
Short CommuniCation
New prey records for the Atlantic Central
American Milksnake Lampropeltis polyzona
(Serpentes: Colubridae)
Víctor Vásquez-Cruz
PIMVS Herpetario Palancoatl. Avenida 19 número 5525, Colonia Nueva Esperanza, C.P. 94540, Córdoba, Veracruz, México.
E-mail: victorbiolvc@gmail.com.
Phyllomedusa 19(1):107–111, 2020
© 2020 Universidade de São Paulo - ESALQ
ISSN 1519-1397 (print) / ISSN 2316-9079 (online)
doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.11606/issn.2316-9079.v19i1p107-111
The Atlantic Central American Milksnake
(also known as the Mexican false coral snake),
Lampropeltis polyzona Cope, 1860, is a New
World taxon with a complicated taxonomic
history. Formerly, it was considered a subspecies
of the widespread and polytypic Lampropeltis
triangulum (Lacépède, 1789), but recent
phylogenetic analyses by Ruane et al. (2014)
and Chambers and Hillis (2020) indicate that the
taxon likely warrants species-level recognition.
Although these two works differ in the
geographic ranges they ascribe to L. polyzona,
both indicate that the snake ranges widely along
both the Pacic and Atlantic coasts of Mexico,
from southern Sonora and northern Veracruz
south to at least northern Guerrero and northern
Oaxaca. Across this range, L. polyzona occurs in
a wide array of vegetation types including spiny
subtropical forest, seasonal evergreen forest,
cloud forest, pine-oak forest and tropical
Keywords: Anolis sagrei, diet, ophiophagy, Sceloporus variabilis, Scincella.
Palabras claves: Anolis sagrei, dieta, oofagismo, Sceloporus variabilis, Scincella.
Palavras-chave: Anolis sagrei, dieta, oofagia, Sceloporus variabilis, Scincella.
deciduous forest (Heimes 2016, Uetz et al.
2019). The recent species-level recognition of L.
polyzona merits an update of the food items
known to compose the diet of this snake. Herein
I report seven new prey items in wild-caught L.
polyzona from central Veracruz, Mexico; these
data were obtained through eldwork and
dissection of museum specimens. I also provide
an updated list of the diet items recorded in the
literature for this species. My observations reveal
the rst cases of ophiophagy in L. polyzona and
demonstrate an interesting food web linkage
involving the non-native lizard Anolis sagrei.
During eldwork across central Veracruz
from 2014–2019, I opportunistically gathered
dietary data from six Lampropeltis polyzona. In
each case, I deposited either a specimen voucher
at the Colección Herpetológica del Museo de
Zoología “Alfonso L. Herrera,” Facultad de
Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de
México (MZFC-HE), or a digital photographic
voucher at the Natural History Museum of Los
Angeles County (LACM PC). Additionally, I
dissected and gathered dietary data from a

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Phyllomedusa - 19(1), June 2020
preserved specimen of L. polyzona in the
collection of the Instituto Tecnológico Superior
de Zongolica (ITSZ-R). Subsequently, I
compiled a database of prey items of L. polyzona
based on an exhaustive literature review and
included only those records that mentioned at
least the genus of the prey (Table 1). Each
previously unpublished dietary record of L.
polyzona is detailed below.
On 21 August 2014 at approximately 20:00
h, in the Colonia Agrícola Rincón de las Flores
(18°42'48.79'' N, 96°51'6.75'' W; WGS 84; 1,259
m a.s.l.), municipality of Tezonapa, I salvaged a
dead juvenile Lampropeltis polyzona (MZFC-
HE 34402) that contained a partially digested
adult Scincella sp. (Figure 1A). On 04 September
2015 at approximately 10:00 h, in a mixed coffee
plantation at the same locality, I salvaged a dead
adult L. polyzona (MZFC-HE 34403) that
contained a partially digested adult Sceloporus
variabilis Wiegmann, 1834 (Figure 1B).
On 14 April 2016 at approximately 20:00 h
in the tourist center of Rancho Fermín
(18°54'6.45'' N, 96°48'16.42'' W; WGS 84; 590
m a.s.l.), municipality of Atoyac, I observed and
photographed an adult L. polyzona eating an
adult Coniophanes ssidens (Günther, 1858)
(Figure 1C) in a shade-grown coffee plantation.
On 17 June 2017 at approximately 02:02 h
near Los Túneles Ferroviarios, 1 airline km NW
of Atoyac (18°55’13.15” N, 96°46’12.79” W;
WGS 84; 489 m a.s.l.), municipality of Atoyac, I
captured and subsequently released an adult male
Lampropeltis polyzona [snout–vent length (SVL)
850 mm, tail length (TL) 100 mm] in an area
planted with palm (Chamaedorea sp.) and mango
trees (Mangifera indica L.). Prior to release, this
snake regurgitated a juvenile Leptodeira
septentrionalis (Kennicott, 1859) (Figure 1D),
which given its good condition, probably had
been ingested only a few hours earlier.
On 23 May 2017 at approximately 18:00 h in a
greenhouse in an industrial area on the outskirts of
the town of Yanga (18°50'10.78'' N, 96°48'25.27''
W; WGS 84; 540 m a.s.l.), municipality of
Yanga, Veracruz, I observed a juvenile Lampro-
peltis polyzona feeding on a sub-adult male
Anolis sagrei Duméril and Bibron, 1837 (Figure
1E). I did not observe the capture of the Anolis.
On 09 December 2019 at approximately
10:00 h in a small area of secondary vegetation 2
km NW of Coatepec (19°27'32.0'' N, 96°56'39.0''
W; WGS 84; 1,179 m a.s.l.), municipality of
Coatepec, I found a dead adult Lampropeltis
polyzona (LACM PC 2495: SVL 700 mm, TL
83 mm) that contained a Sceloporus variabilis
tail and a reptile eggshell in its stomach (Figure
1F).
In the ITSZ-R collection, I examined four
preserved specimens of Lampropeltis polyzona;
only one (ITSZ-R-109, male, SVL 1056 mm)
contained identiable stomach contents. These
consisted of hair and a lower mandible from a
Mus musculus (Linnaeus, 1758) (Figure 1G).
In total I recorded seven novel prey items,
adding to the 13 prey items for Lampropeltis
polyzona previously recorded in the literature.
The composition of the updated diet of this
species is, as follows: 9 (45%) of the 20 types of
prey items consumed are lizards; 4 (20%) are
mammals; 3 (15%) are reptile eggs; 2 (10%) are
snakes; and 2 (10%) are birds (Table 1). Authors
of previous reports stated that the diet of L.
polyzona is mostly composed of small mammals
(e.g., Heimes 2016, Rorabaugh and Lemos-
Espinal 2016), but this expanded dataset
(although small) suggests that the snake feeds
primarily on reptiles (55%), occasionally on
mammals (20%) and rarely on birds and reptile
eggs (25%). Although the genus Lampropeltis is
known to be ophiophagous (e.g., Fitch and Fleet
1970, Ernst and Ernst 2003, Cotten et al. 2008),
there were no reported cases of snake predation
by L. polyzona until the present study. The lizard
Anolis sagrei is considered a non-native, invasive
species in Veracruz, Mexico, and has become
widely established worldwide. The ecological
impact of introduced A. sagrei is usually
considered negative (e.g., Delaney et al. 2014,
Thawley et al. 2019), but my data suggest that A.
sagrei represents a potentially common and
valuable food resource for L. polyzona in the
vicinity of Yanga, Veracruz.
Vásquez-Cruz

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Phyllomedusa - 19(1), June 2020
Figure 1. (A) Remains of a Scincella sp. from the stomach of MZFC 34402. (B) Remains of Sceloporus variabilis from
the stomach of MZFC 34403. (C) Adult Lampropeltis polyzona preying on an adult Coniophanes fissidens.
(D) Adult male L. polyzona with a recently regurgitated juvenile Leptodeira septentrionalis. (E) Juvenile L.
polyzona feeding on a subadult male Anolis sagrei. (F) Tail of Sceloporus variabilis and reptile eggshell from
the stomach of LACM PC 2495. (G) Lower jaw of Mus musculus from the stomach of ITSZ-R-109.
E
C
A
F G
D
B
New prey records for Lampropeltis polyzona

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Phyllomedusa - 19(1), June 2020
Acknowledgments.—I am grateful to Arleth
Reynoso-Martínez for her support in preparing
this manuscript, and I thank Adam G. Clause
and three anonymous reviewers for their
comments from which the manuscript greatly
beneted. In addition, I am indebted to Luis
Canseco-Márquez for comments and the
verication of the reptile species prey and
Helxine Fuentes Moreno for the identication
of the prey Mus musculus. Felipe A. Lara
Hernández and Cynthia G. Ramírez-González
helped prepare photos 1A and 1G, respectively.
I thank Neftali Camacho (LACM) for
cataloguing my digital photographs, Erasmo
Cázares-Hernández for allowing me to examine
specimens in the collection of the ITSZ, and
Adrián Nieto-Montes de Oca for permission to
collect under the authority of his permit
SEMARNAT FAUT-0093 Ofcial No. SGPA /
DGVS / 4755/19.
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Vásquez-Cruz

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Table 1. List of dietary items recorded for the Atlantic Central American Milksnake Lampropeltis polyzona.
Prey Observation State Reference
IGUANIDAE
Ctenosaura pectinata In situ observation Isla Isabel, Nayarit Rodríguez and Drummond 2000
C. pectinata (eggs) Dissection Isla Isabel, Nayarit Rodríguez and Drummond 2000
PHRYNOSOMATIDAE
Sceloporus variabilis Dissection Veracruz This study
Sceloporus sp. Captive observation Jalisco Mitchell 1980
SCINCIDAE
Plestiodon sp. Captive observation Jalisco Mitchell 1980
Plestiodon sp. — Veracruz Pérez-Higareda et al. 2007
Scincella sp. Dissection Veracruz This study
DACTYLOIDAE
Anolis sagrei In situ observation Veracruz This study
TEIIDAE
Aspidoscelis costata In situ observation Isla Isabel, Nayarit Rodríguez and Drummond 2000
A. costata (eggs) In situ observation Isla Isabel, Nayarit Rodríguez and Drummond 2000
Holcosus sp. — Veracruz Pérez-Higareda et al. 2007
DIPSADIDAE
Coniophanes fissidens In situ observation Veracruz This study
Leptodeira septentrionalis In situ observation Veracruz This study
Reptile egg shell Dissection Veracruz This study
AVES: SULIDAE
Sula leucogaster In situ observation Isla Isabel, Nayarit Cohen 1988
Sula nebouxii In situ observation Isla Isabel, Nayarit Rodríguez and Drummond 2000
MAMMALIA: SORICIDAE
Cryptotis parva In situ observation Veracruz Aguilar-López and Pineda 2013
Sorex saussurei Dissection Hidalgo Mendoza-Quijano and Ruíz-Piña 1995
MAMMALIA: MURIDAE
Reithrodontomys sp. Dissection Michoacán Williams 1978
Mus musculus Dissection Veracruz This study
New prey records for Lampropeltis polyzona