FOOD HABITS OF THREE SPECIES OF STRIPED WHIPSNAKES, MASTICOPHIS (SERPENTES: COLUBRIDAE)

摘要

The food habits of the striped whipsnake (Masticophis taeniatus), the Sonoran whipsnake (Masticophis bilineatus) and Schott's whipsnake (Masticophis schotti) were studied by examining the stomach contents of museum specimens. All three species ate lizards most frequently. Lizards of the genera Cnemidophorus and Sceloporus were the most abundant in the sample. Only larger whipsnakes ate mammals. Snakes, frogs and insects were found in low frequencies in the diet of striped whipsnakes. Geographic variation in the diet of M. Taeniatus based upon a comparison of the two subspecies showed that the more northerly M. Taeniatus taeniatus fed more frequently upon phrynosomatid lizards and less frequently upon Cnemidophorus and Crotaphytus than the southern populations assigned to M. taeniatus girardi. A positive relationship between prey mass and snake mass was found for the striped Whipsnake.