Gray, Katherine M.

Paris, Nathan J.

Sorrell, Geoffrey G.

English

The University of Kansas: Journals@KU

	 IRCF	ReptIles	&	AmphIbIAns		•		Vol	17,	no	4		•		DeC	2010	 205CaptionpIGmy	RAttlesnAKes	In	AlAbAmAan observation of Pigmy Rattlesnakes (Sistrurus miliarius) Mating in alabamaKatherine	m.	Gray1,	Geoffrey	G.	sorrell2,	and	nathan	J.	paris11school	of	Wildlife	and	Forestry,	Auburn	University,	Auburn,	Alabama	36830	(present	address	for	KmG:	school	of	natural	Resources,	the	University	of	Arizona,	tucson,	Arizona	85721-0043;	graykat@email.arizona.edu)2the	nature	Conservancy–Fort	benning	Field	office,	p.o.	box	52452,	Fort	benning,	Georgia	31995	(gsorrell@tnc.org)because	of	the	secretive	nature	of	many	snakes,	often	little	is	known	about	their	reproductive	behavior.	pitvipers	can	be	especially	elusive	due	to	the	lack	of	movement	associated	with	their	ambush	mode	of	forag-ing	and	because	of	their	cryptic	coloration	(may	et	al.	1996).	therefore,	most	information	on	timing	of	mating	in	these	species	is	derived	from	the	accumulation	of	anecdotal	information	over	time	(Aldridge	and	Duval	2002).	these	data	have	been	used	in	attempts	to	determine	which	factors	have	led	to	the	development	of	contrasting	unimodal	(late	summer/fall)	and	bimodal	(late	summer/fall	and	spring)	mating	patterns	in	north	American	pit	vipers	(Aldridge	and	Duval	2002,	schuett	et	al.	2002).	 because	 of	 the	 increased	 number	 of	 males	 found	 during	 the	fall	 (Dalrymple	 et	 al.	 1991),	most	workers	have	 assumed	 that	pigmy	Rattlesnakes	(Sistrurus miliarius)	mate	at	that	time.	observations	of	copu-lation	in	Florida	include	three	pairs	of	S. m. barbouri	in	central	Florida	on	21	september,	28	september,	and	27	october	1992	(Farrell	et	al.	1995).	may	et	al.	(1996)	observed	four	copulating	pairs	in	central	Florida	between	late	september	and	early	november.	however,	observations	of	copulating	pairs	are	lacking	in	other	parts	of	the	range	of	the	species.	 since	 reproductive	behaviors	 can	vary	within	 a	 species	 at	differ-ent	latitudes	(Aldridge	and	Duval	2002),	reports	of	copulation	across	a	species’	range	are	necessary	to	develop	an	understanding	of	reproductive	patterns.	here	we	report	an	observation	of	a	copulating	pair	of	Carolina	pigmy	Rattlesnakes	(Sistrurus miliarius miliarius).	the	pair	was	observed	at	horseshoe	bend	national	military	park	in	east-central	Alabama	(tallapoosa	County,	Alabama;	32°	58’	15”	n,	85°	44’	18”	W)	on	25	september	2009	at	~1500	h	Cst.	the	pair	was	in	the	shade	at	an	air	temperature	of	~21	°C.	this	site	is	north	of	the	Fall	line	and	in	the	piedmont	physiographic	province	of	Alabama.	the	general	habitat	type	is	mixed	pine-hardwood,	and	this	observation	was	in	a	recently	(February	2009)	burned	stand.	 the	pair	of	snakes	was	inactive	when	we	discovered	them.	We	con-cluded	that	the	pair	was	copulating	due	to	the	close	proximity	of	the	cloa-cae.	the	snakes	remained	in	position	for	30	min	while	being	photographed.	however,	the	male	soon	began	tongue-flicking	while	rubbing	his	mental	scales	along	the	dorsum	of	the	female.	At	one	point	during	the	observation,	the	male	rattled,	at	which	point	we	discontinued	the	observation.	the	total	length	of	both	individuals	was	estimated	to	be	~30	cm.	the	body	of	the	male	was	generally	positioned	above	that	of	the	female.	the	female	had	an	olive-brown	ground	color,	whereas	the	male	was	more	brightly	marked	with	coloration	typical	of	S. miliarius.	this	difference	in	color	is	typical	in	this	species	(ernst	and	ernst	2003)	and	is	not	attributable	to	sexual	dimor-phism	(bishop	et	al.	1996).	 this	observation	is	consistent	with	other	observations	that	suggest	that	the	mating	season	of	this	species	occurs	in	the	fall.	however,	this	is	the	first	report	of	mating	in	S. m. miliarius,	and	in	this	species	outside	Florida.AcknowledgementsWe	thank	the	personnel	at	horseshoe	bend	national	military	park	for	facilitating	our	work.	this	observation	was	made	while	conducting	research	funded	by	the	national	Fish	and	Wildlife	Foundation	under	the	direction	of	s.	hermann.Literature CitedAldridge,	R.D.	and	D.	Duvall.	2002.	evolution	of	the	mating	season	in	the	pitvi-pers	of	north	America.	Herpetological Monographs	16:1–25.bishop,	l.A,	t.m.	Farrell,	and	p.G.	may.	1996.	sexual	dimorphism	in	a	Florida	population	of	the	rattlesnake	Sistrurus miliarius.	Herpetologica 52:360–364.Dalrymple,	 G.h.,	 t.m	 steiner,	 R.J.	 nodell,	 and	 F.s.	 bernardino,	 Jr.	 1991.	seasonal	activity	of	the	snakes	of	long	pine	Key,	everglades	national	park.	Copeia	1991:278–294.ernst,	 C.h.	 and	 e.m.	 ernst.	 2003.	 Snakes of the United States and Canada.	smithsonian	Institution	press,	Washington,	D.C.Farrell,	t.m.,	p.G.	may,	and	m.A.	pilgrim.	1995.	Reproduction	in	the	rattle-snake,	Sistrurus miliarius barbouri,	in	Central	Florida.	Journal of Herpetology	29:21–27.may,	p.G.,	t.m.	Farrell,	s.t.	huelett,	m.A.	pilgrim,	l.A.	bishop,	D.J.	spence,	A.m.	Rabatsky,	m.G.	Campbell,	A.D.	Aycrigg,	and	W.e	Richardson	II.	1996.	seasonal	abundance	and	activity	of	a	rattlesnake	(Sistrurus miliarius barbouri)	in	Central	Florida.	Copeia	1996:380–389.schuett	G.W.,	s.l.	Carlisle,	A.t.	holycross,	J.K.	o’leile,	D.l.	hardy,	e.A.	Van	Kirk,	and	W.J.	murdock.	2002.	mating	system	of	male	mojave	Rattlesnakes	(Crotalus	scutulatus):	seasonal	timing	of	mating,	agonistic	behavior,	spermato-genesis,	sexual	segment	of	the	kidney,	and	plasma	sex	steroids,	pp.	515–532.	In:	G.W.	schuett,	m.	höggren,	m.e.	Douglas,	and	h.W.	Greene	(eds.),	Biology of the Vipers.	eagle	mountain	publishing	lC,	eagle	mountain,	Utah.A	 copulating	pair	 of	pigmy	Rattlesnakes	 (Sistrurus miliarius miliarius)	 on	25	september	2009	at	horseshoe	bend	national	military	park	in	tallapoosa	County,	Alabama.	GeoffRey G. soRReLL

An Observation of Pigmy Rattlesnakes (Sistrurus miliarius) Mating in Alabama

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An Observation of Pigmy Rattlesnakes (Sistrurus miliarius) Mating in Alabama

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