NEWS 115
25
of the coral snakes - mainly Central
America but also parts of the USA - these
predators are mainly skunks, coatimundis,
herons, and Common Collared Lizards
(
Crotaphytus collaris)
. While these species
aren't in fact specialized on snakes as food,
the snakes of the genus
Clelia
, popularly
known as mussuranas, pose a serious
threat, as they feed exclusively on other
snakes. And Common King Snakes
(
Lampropeltis getulus
) prefer snakes over
any other type of food. Both mussuranas
and Common King Snakes are immune to
the bites of venomous snakes!
Pro M
ERTENS
The most important argument for the
correctness of the hypothesis of
Mertensian mimicry lies in the life style of
the genus
Erythrolamprus
. These are the
only diurnally active species among all the
coral snakes! Both the deadly venomous
Micrurus
and
Micruroides
and the
completely harmless snakes of the genus
Lampropeltis
are nocturnal and remain in
hiding during the day. The likelihood of a
diurnally active creature coming into
contact with them is very small. In addition
the extremely venomous species hardly
ever bite during the day. The coral
coloration is pretty much irrelevant to
nocturnal creatures, as the striking colors
aren't then visible.
Contra M
ERTENS
Because the most important predators on
coral snakes are other snakes and the latter
are also immune to snake venom, it
appears rather unlikely that the coral
coloration is aimed at predators at all. In
any case the venomousness of the prey
snake species plays no significant role in
protection from predators.
Other options?
It is very probable that the coral coloration
really is mimicry, i.e. imitation, as an
interesting detail has been withheld from
you thus far, Dear Reader: within a single
snake population with the coral coloration
there may be sudden aberrations in
pattern (e.g. spotted instead of striped
individuals), and then the same is seen in
both coral snake species in the region (for
example, in both
Micrurus
and
Pliocercus
,
see K
ÖHLER
, 2003). Perhaps the coral
coloration is a defense against cannibalism
and
the
mimicry
helps
counter
ophiophagy? As one thing is very
noticeable: both the extremely venomous
Micrurus
and
Micruroides
, the moderately
venomous
Erythrolamprus
, and even the
non-venomous
Lampropeltis
eat snakes,
although in different measure and not
exclusively!
In my view whether and how snakes can
register the coloration of another snake
hasn't been studied. As a terrarium keeper,
and someone familiar with snakes, one isn't
inclined to place too much reliance on the
visual sense in snakes. Undoubtedly scent
and tactile stimuli play a larger role in
intraspecific recognition. The specialized
snake-eaters already mentioned, the
mussuranas, are uniformly black when
adult, for example. But - interestingly
enough - the completely differently
colored juveniles are red with a dark crown
followed by a yellow and then a black neck
band! Coincidence? Who knows...
Coral snakes in the terrarium
Because coral snakes are among the most
colorful of all snakes, they were maintained
in the terrarium quite early on, though the
extremely venomous species and the
moderately venomous members of the
genera
Erythrolamprus,
Plicocercus,
Because of their cannibalistic tendencies,king snakes - this is
Lampropeltis triangulum sinaloe
- are better
kept singly outside of the mating season.
Various
Lampropeltis
species, above without, below with the coral coloration.Top left to bottom right:
L. getulus californiae, L. g. floridana, L. pyromelana, L. mexicana greeri.
