Agkistrodon contortrix

Agkistrodon contortrix
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Subphylum: Vertebrata Class: Reptilia Order: Squamata Suborder: Serpentes Family: Viperidae Subfamily: Crotalinae Genus: Agkistrodon Species: A. contortrix
Binomial name
Agkistrodon contortrix Linnaeus, 1766
Synonyms
Boa contortrix - Linnaeus, 1766 Scytale contortrix - Sonnini & Latreille, 1801 Scytale Cupreus - Rafinesque, 1818 Scytale cupreus - Say, 1819 Tisiphone cuprea - Fitzinger, 1826 [Cenchris] marmorata - F. Boie, 1827 Acontias atro-fuscus - Troost, 1836 [Toxicophis atro-fuscus] - Troost, 1836 T[rigonocephalus]. cenchris - Schlegel, 1837 Trigonocephalus Contortrix - Holbrook, 1838 Trigonocephalus atro-fuscus - Holbrook, 1842 Cenchris contortrix - Gray, 1842 Cenchris atrofuscus - Gray, 1849 Agkistrodon contortrix - Baird & Girard, 1853 T[rigonocephalus]. histrionicus - A.M.C. Duméril, 1853 Ancistrodon contortrix - Baird, 1854 Agkistrodon contorting - Abbott, 1869 Ancistrodon atrofuscus - Cope, 1875 Agkistrodon atrofuscus - Yarrow, 1882 [Ancistrodon contortrix] Var. atrofuscus - Garman, 1884 Ancistrodon contortrix - Boulenger, 1896 Agkistrodon contortirix - Keim, 1914 Agkistrodon mokasen cupreus - Gloyd & Conant, 1938 Agkistrodon contortrix contortrix - Klauber, 1948 Ancistrodon contortrix contortrix - Schmidt, 1953[1]

Common names: copperhead (snake), chunk head, death adder, (dry-land) moccasin,^[2] more.

Agkistrodon contortrix is a venomous pitviper species found in North America. Five subspecies are currently recognized, including the nominate subspecies described here.^[3]

Contents 1 Description 2 Common names 3 Geographic range 4 Habitat 5 Conservation status 6 Behavior 7 Feeding 8 Reproduction 9 Venom 10 Subspecies 11 See also 12 Gallery 13 References 14 External links

Description

Adult specimens have a coppery colored head and neck. They are moderately sized snakes, with adults normally reaching 2–4 feet (0.8–1.2 meters), with thick, heavy bodies, although the body is more slender than most other pit vipers.

There are five clearly defined subspecies, all of which have distinctive light and dark brown or greenish banding: A. c. mokasen, A. c. contortrix and A. c. phaeogaster have bands that tend to narrow dorsally, giving them an hourglass shape, whereas A. c. laticinctus and A. c. pictigaster generally have bands of uniform width. The patterned underside of A. c. pictigaster, with its white and black banding, is especially distinctive. Intergrading occurs in areas where the geographic ranges of the subspecies overlap, and so pattern variations are commonplace.

Common names

Copperhead (snake), chunk head, death adder, highland moccasin, (dry-land) moccasin, narrow-banded copperhead, northern copperhead, pilot snake, poplar leaf, red oak, red snake, southeastern copperhead, white oak snake,^[2] American copperhead,^[4] southern copperhead,^[5] cantil cobrizo (Spanish).^[3]

Geographic range

Found in the United States in the states of Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, West Virginia, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Iowa, Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey, Delaware, New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts. In Mexico it occurs in Chihuahua and Coahuila. The type locality is "Carolina." Schmidt (1953) proposed that the type locality be restricted to "Charleston, South Carolina."^[1]

Habitat

Within its range it occupies a variety of different habitats. In most of North America it favors deciduous forest and mixed woodlands. They are often associated with rock outcroppings and ledges, but are also found in low-lying swampy regions. In the states around the Gulf of Mexico, however, it is also found in coniferous forest. In the Chihuahuan Desert of west Texas and northern Mexico, it occurs in riparian habitats, usually near permanent or semipermanent water and sometimes in dry arroyos.^[6]

Conservation status

This species is classified as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (v3.1, 2001).^[7] Species are listed as such due to their wide distribution, presumed large population, or because it is unlikely to be declining fast enough to qualify for listing in a more threatened category. The population trend is stable. Year assessed: 2007.^[8]

Behavior

Like all pit vipers, A. contortrix is an ambush predator: it takes up a promising position and waits for suitable prey to arrive. In the southern United States, they are nocturnal during the hot summer months, but are commonly active during the day during the spring and fall.

Like most North American viperids, these snakes prefer to avoid humans and, given the opportunity, will leave the area without biting. However, unlike other viperids they will often "freeze" instead of slithering away, and as a result many bites occur from people unknowingly stepping on or near them. This tendency to freeze likely evolved because of the extreme effectiveness of their camouflage. When lying on dead leaves or red clay they can be almost impossible to notice. They will frequently stay still even when approached closely, and will generally strike only if physical contact is made.

Feeding

Roughly 90% of its diet consists of small rodents, such as mice and voles. They have also shown fondness for large insects and frogs, and though highly terrestrial, have been known to climb trees to gorge on emerging cicadas.

Reproduction

A. contortrix breeds in late summer, but not every year: sometimes a female will produce young for several years running, then not breed at all for a time. They give birth to live young about 20 cm long: a typical litter is 4 to 7, but it can be as few as one or as many as 20. Their size apart, the young are similar to the adults, but lighter in color, and with a yellow-marked tip to the tail, which is used to lure lizards and frogs.

Venom

Although venomous, these snakes are generally non-aggressive and bites are almost never fatal. Copperhead venom has an estimated lethal dose of around 100mg, and tests on mice show its potency is among the lowest of all pit vipers, though slightly stronger than that of its close relative, the cottonmouth. The bite of a cottonmouth is more serious, however, as they have a much larger venom yield than a copperhead. Copperheads often employ a "warning bite" when stepped on or agitated and inject a relatively small amount of venom, if any at all. "Dry bites" involving no venom are particularly common with the copperhead, though all pit vipers are capable of a dry bite.

Bite symptoms include intense pain, tingling, throbbing, swelling, and severe nausea. Damage can occur to muscle and bone tissue, especially when the bite occurs in the outer extremities such as the hands and feet, areas in which there is not a large muscle mass to absorb the venom. A bite from any venomous snake should be taken very seriously and immediate medical attention sought, as allergic reaction and secondary infection are always possible.

Although technically the antivenin CroFab could be used to treat an envenomation, it is usually not administered for copperheads, as the risk of complications of an allergic reaction to the treatment are greater than the risk from the snakebite itself in most cases. The very few reported deaths from copperhead bites all involved multiple snakes. Pain management, antibiotics, and medical supervision in the case of complications is usually the course of action.^[1]

Subspecies

Subspecies[3]	Taxon author[3]	Common name[5]	Geographic range[5]
A. c. contortrix	(Linnaeus, 1766)	Southern copperhead	The United States, in the lower Mississippi Valley and the states bordering the Gulf of Mexico, from eastern Texas and southeastern Oklahoma to southern Illinois. On the South Atlantic Coastal Plain from the Florida panhandle to South Carolina.
A. c. laticinctus	Gloyd & Conant, 1934	Broad-banded copperhead	The United States, from south-central Texas (Victoria to Frio counties), north through central Oklahoma to the extreme south of Cowley County, Kansas.
A. c. mokasen	Palisot de Beauvois, 1799	Northern copperhead	The United States, in southern Illinois, extreme northeastern Mississippi, northern Alabama, northern Georgia northeast to Massachusetts, the Appalachian Mountain region and associates plateaus.
A. c. phaeogaster	Gloyd, 1969	Osage copperhead	The United States, in eastern Kansas, extreme southeastern Nebraska and a large part of Missouri.
A. c. pictigaster	Gloyd & Conant, 1943	Trans-pecos copperhead	The United States, in western Texas from the vicinity of the Pecos and Devils rivers to the counties of Jeff Davis and Presidio. Mexico, in northern Chihuahua and Coahuila.

See also

• List of crotaline species and subspecies
• Crotalinae by common name
• Crotalinae by taxonomic synonyms
• Snakebite

Gallery

Habitats	Isolated	Closeups
Broad-banded copperhead	Southern Copperhead	St. Louis Zoo
Copperhead crossing river in Virginia Beach	Southern Copperhead in Covington, Georgia, at Bert Adams Scout Reservation	Northern copperhead
Southern copperhead, near a cicada (in Arkansas)	Southern copperhead consuming cicada (Arkansas)	Southern copperhead close up (in Arkansas)

References

External links

• Agkistrodon contortrix at the TIGR Reptile Database. Accessed 9 August 2007.
• Reclining With Vipers at Robert Winkler's homepage. Accessed 15 June 2007.
• Copperhead - Agkistrodon contortrix at Herpnet.net, Reptiles and Amphibians of Iowa. Accessed 15 June 2007.
• A. c. contortrix image at Glades Herp. Accessed 9 August 2007.

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