Earthsnakes around Earth Day



The un-glaciated forests of the Edge of Appalachia Preserve System in southern Ohio.

The southern Ohio hills of Adams County, with its large tracts of continuous forests, are the perfect place to find one of the most secretive snakes in the Eastern U.S.  Spending most of its life under the leaf litter of our forests floor, the Eastern Smooth Earthsnake Virginia valeriae valeriae, lurks slowly while searching and tasting for its primary food, earthworms.



This 200mm Eastern Smooth Earthsnake Virginia v. valeriae, was found around Earth Day of 2018.



Every April around Earth Day, I am reminded that it is time to search for these elusive snakes.  Especially since heavy rains on warm nights seem to be a perfect time for these snakes to come out of their hibernating spots to hunt worms.  Sometimes you notice earthworms exposed on the surface after heavy rainfalls, and so do Eastern Smooth Earthsnakes.  Now that it's warm and the ground is soaking,  this is a perfect time of year to go on a snake hunt.  But even though the conditions are favorable most people have never seen, nor will ever see, this snake. 



Eastern Smooth Earthsnake's are non-descript snakes that hide under debris, rarely venturing out in the open.



Earthsnakes have only been found in 12 of Ohio’s unglaciated counties: Adams, Athens, Clermont (1 record), Jackson, Pike, Scioto, Lawrence, Muskingum, (1 record), Ross, Hocking, Vinton and Gallia.  Many of these counties have very few records of the snake making this one of the least encountered snakes in the state. The lack of encounters are due to its secretive habits.  Earthsnakes could be incredibly common in the unglaciated forests of Ohio, but it’s simply just not that easy to find.  Its small size and lack of colorful markings already make it hard to detect, not to mention it prefers to be hidden under debris.  In fact, I have never found one of these snakes unless it was under some sort of cover.  And in most cases under coverboards that I have intentionally left out to survey reptiles.

This coverboard (roofing tin) used to survey reptiles in the forest produced an Earthsnake.

This snake can be grey or brownish dorsally with no markings, except possible pairs of faint dark specks running down its back.  The back color fades gradually into a pale color on the belly. It rarely reaches more than 11 inches in total length.



Notice the white chin and black longitudinal dots running down the back of this Eastern Smooth Earthsnake.

The Eastern Wormsnake Carphophis amoenus, is a similar species which also fits this profile but they have a distinct coloration change on the sides of their body between their brown back and pinkish belly, and lack any black dots on their backs.  The wormsnake's eyes appear tiny on its small head.  Every other small snake in Ohio forests have some color or markings on them that gives away their identification.

Do not confuse with the Eastern Wormsnake, notice the drastic color change between the back and belly of the snake and no black spots.

Little is known about the life history of these snakes since so few are found in Ohio (fewer than 100 Ohio records in museums).  In most states they breed in late spring/early summer and give live birth in late summer.  Since they are live birthers (viviparous), you won’t encounter eggs like some other snakes.  Knowing exactly when a female gives birth is difficult and coming across new born (neonate) Earthsnakes could prove even more onerous.



The Eastern Smooth Earthsnake spends so much of its life underground that very little is known about its habits.





Rare photo of an Earthsnake feeding on Lumbricus rubellus. Earthworms are their primary diet.

Researching this snake in captivity is difficult as it has a tendency to burrow, remaining hidden and rarely eating.  But this spring I was lucky enough to observe an Earthsnake bite, hold, then swallow a large earthworm. 
Earthsnakes are harmless to people and most other animals--except earthworms, or soft-bodied arthropods which they can eat.  It will rarely attempt to bite, if at all, and is not known for leaving a musk smell on your hands after handling. 

10 year old Lexi fearlessly holds an Earthsnake while it coils into a pretzel shape.  This is the snake's average size.

Many Earthsnakes I have encountered freeze in place to remain undetected.  It seems they stay rigid and motionless to appear lifeless like a stick or a root.  This video, although shaky and blurry (apologies if you get sea sick), showcases an Earthsnake's reluctance to move while I harass it, relying on crypsis rather than retreat.

Earth Day seems to be a time when folks try to get outside and enjoy their natural surroundings.  As you are out this spring keep an eye on the forest floor for this small snake.  It may be coiled like a pretzel under some leaves, or under a piece of debris.  It would be nice to increase the amount of photo records for this snake and expand its range in the state. These snakes are surely way more common than Ohio’s herpetologists are aware.  The best way to find them is to place a piece of roofing tin, metal, or wood on the edge of the forest and check underneath it on warm days.  If you find what appears to be an Eastern Smooth Earthsnake in Ohio, take a picture and send it me at mzloba@cincymuseum.org.

Posted by: Mark Zloba

Finally feels like spring in 2018

Ahh spring!  Spring of 2018 has had a rough start.  One nice warm day gets the wildflowers going then three cold days set everything back.  So things are coming along...just slower than usual.  I finally had a sunny day to take a few minutes to look for some bees.  My main goal was to find oligolectic bees associated with particular plants (see past post on oligolectic bees). 
I stopped at a big tree plum, Prunus mexicana, since it was full of flowers and many insects flying around.  Below are some interesting finds beginning with the emerald green colored Augochlora bee.

A bee, Augochlora sp. on big tree plum.



Many bees were visiting the sweet smelling flowers of the big tree plum.  It seemed to be a favorite of many bees, flies and butterflies.  Even the massive (comparatively) Eastern carpenter bee was enjoying this nectar.

Carpenter bee, Xylocopa sp., also enjoying the nectar of the big tree plum.

At last, I spotted what I believe to be an long-horned bee, Eucerni tribe, or Osmia sp.on this plant (to be determined).  Many of the Eucerna and Osmia genera are bees that come out in spring.

A bee, possible Eucerna sp. (to be determined) on big tree plum.

While photographing these bees I noticed a possible Andrena species posed in an unusual position and remaining uncharacteristically still.

Possible Andrena bee sitting in a peculiar position.

I figured something else must be keeping this bee in such a position, and sure enough there was.  Blending in to the pinkish base of the flowers was an ambush bug, Phymata sp.  This ambush bug, a kind of assassin bug, hides among flowers and grabs prey as it flies in.  It then sticks its long straw-like mouthpart (proboscis) into the exoskeleton of the prey and sucks out the juicy innards.

Ambush bug feeding on bee.  Notice the yellowish  proboscis mouth part holding up the bee.

While watching this spring drama I noticed a bee flying to a common blue violet, Viola sororia, at my feet. I remembered there was an Andrena violae which only feeds or collects pollen on violets.  I do not have this bee listed for the preserve, and hopefully after tedious microscopic keying of bee body parts, this will be a new species for the preserve.


Possible Andrena violae, oligolectic on Violets.

While laying on the ground photographing the bees visiting Violets I noticed an odd white shape in the grass.  I had to get real close for my brain to explain to my eyes what I was seeing.  The visual mystery was two falcate orangetips mating on the top of a bittercress.  If you look closely you can see the two touching abdomen tips between their wings.  When finished mating the female will lay her eggs on this cress, or another plant of the mustard family, which their caterpillar feeds upon.




Mating falcate orangetips, Anthocharis midea annikae.  You can see the hook to the tip of the wing (falcate).

When not mating, these butterflies rarely sit still very long.  They seem to hit flowers quickly for a taste and move right along.  It was tough to find a male falcate orangetip that would sit still long enough to get a picture of its orange patch.  But after much crawling around on hands and knees one finally sat still long enough to get a shot.  The females lack the orange coloration on the dorsal side of the forewing.

A male falcate orangetip, displaying why the name fits.

It's wonderful how a twenty minute search for bees on a flowering tree can produce many interesting encounters, Ahh spring!

Posted by: Mark Zloba