{{Short description|Subspecies of snake}} {{Use mdy dates|date=August 2022}} {{subspeciesbox | name = Red milk snake | image = Red milk snake.JPG | image_caption = An adult red milk snake | status = | status_system = | genus = Lampropeltis | species = triangulum | species_link = Milk snake | subspecies = syspila | authority = [[Edward Drinker Cope|Cope]], 1889 }} [[File:Lampropeltis triangulum syspila 001.jpg|thumb|Red milk snake from [[Madison County, Iowa]]]]
'''''Lampropeltis triangulum syspila''''', commonly known as the '''red milk snake''' or '''red milksnake''', is a [[subspecies]] of the [[milk snake]] ''(Lampropeltis triangulum)''.<ref name="Grzimek">{{cite book | title = Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia| first1 = Alan H.| last1 = Savitzky| editor1-last = Hutchins| editor1-first = Michael| volume = 7: Reptiles| place = Detroit| publisher = Gale| year = 2004| page = 478|display-editors=etal}}</ref> The nonvenomous, [[colubrid]] snake is indigenous to the central United States.<ref name="repsala">{{cite book |title=The Reptiles and Amphibians of Alabama |last=Mount |first=Robert H. |year=1975 |publisher=Auburn Printing Company |location=Auburn, Alabama |oclc=1958638 |pages=204–205}}</ref>
==Geographic range== The red milk snake is found from southern [[Indiana]] through northwestern [[Mississippi]], western [[Kentucky]], southeastern [[South Dakota]] through eastern [[Oklahoma]] and [[Kansas]].<ref name="repdb">{{cite web |url=http://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Lampropeltis&species=nigra |title=Lampropeltis triangulum (LACÉPÈDE, 1789) |work=The Reptile Database |publisher=Zoological Museum Hamburg |accessdate=September 29, 2012}}</ref> An isolated population can be found in [[William B. Bankhead National Forest|Bankhead National Forest]] in northwestern [[Alabama]].<ref name="repsala"/>
==Description== Red milk snakes average {{convert|60|–|91|cm|in|abbr=off|sp=us}} in length, although specimens as long as {{convert|132|cm|in|abbr=off|sp=us}} have been measured. They have smooth and shiny [[Scale (zoology)|scales]]. Their dorsal color pattern is narrow bands of white, pale gray, cream, or tan bordered by black, alternated with red dorsal saddles. Some individuals display even greater dorsal saddle color diversity, ranging from reddish brown to grayish brown. The ventrum is usually white with a black checkered pattern. The head usually has a large red blotch edged in black.<ref name="repsala"/>
==Diet== Red milk snakes are constrictors. They consume a variety of small rodents and reptiles (especially lizards).<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.kingsnake.com/king/triangulum/syspila.html|title=kingsnake.com - The Kingsnake and Milk Snake Page - Red Milk Snake|website=Kingsnake.com - Kingsnake and Milk Snake Page - Red Milk Snake|accessdate=28 April 2023}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q6482609}}
[[Category:Lampropeltis]] [[Category:Reptiles of the United States]] [[Category:Taxa named by Edward Drinker Cope]]