# Storeria

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{{Short description|Genus of snakes}}
{{Hatnote|"Red Belly Snake" redirects here. It is not to be confused with the [:red-bellied black snake](/source/%3Ared-bellied_black_snake).}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| image = Storeria dekayi texana.jpg
| image_caption = Texas brown snake, ''Storeria dekayi texana''
| taxon = Storeria
| authority = [Baird](/source/Spencer_Fullerton_Baird) & [Girard](/source/Charles_Fr%C3%A9d%C3%A9ric_Girard), 1853
| synonyms = ''[Coluber](/source/Coluber), Ischnognathe, Ischnognathus, Tropidonotus''
| synonyms_ref = <ref>[Wright AH](/source/Albert_Hazen_Wright), Wright AA (1957). ''Handbook of Snakes of the United States and Canada''. Ithaca and London: Comstock Publishing Associates, a Division of Cornell University Press. 1,105 pp. (in two volumes). (Genus ''Storeria'', pp. 696-697).</ref>
}}
thumb|North American brown snake
[[File:Brown Snake in Clarksville Tennessee 2013.jpg|thumbnail|A brown snake in [Clarksville, Tennessee](/source/Clarksville%2C_Tennessee)]]

'''''Storeria''''' is a [genus](/source/genus) of [snake](/source/snake)s in the [subfamily](/source/subfamily) [Natricinae](/source/Natricinae) of the [family](/source/Family_(taxonomy)) [Colubridae](/source/Colubridae). The genus is [endemic](/source/Endemism) to [North America](/source/North_America) and [Central America](/source/Central_America). The genus consists of five [species](/source/species), four of which are known as '''brown snakes''', and one of which is known as the '''redbelly snake'''. These snakes, which are non-venomous, are not to be confused with highly [venomous](/source/Venomous_snake) Australian brown snakes from the genus ''[Pseudonaja](/source/Pseudonaja)''.

==Geographic range==
Species in the genus ''Storeria'' are found in the eastern half of the [United States](/source/United_States) and southern [Canada](/source/Canada) and range south through [Mexico](/source/Mexico) and northern [Central America](/source/Central_America).<ref name=CAAR>{{cite journal|last=Ernst|first=Carl H.|title=''Storeria ''|url=https://archive.org/details/catalogue-american-amphibians-and-reptiles-900-001-014|journal=Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles|year=2012|issue=900|pages=900.1–900.14}}</ref>

==Etymology==
The genus is named in honor of American physician and naturalist [David Humphreys Storer](/source/David_Humphreys_Storer) (1804–1891).<ref name=CAAR/><ref>Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. {{ISBN|978-1-4214-0135-5}}. (Genus ''Storeria'', p. 255).</ref>

==Description==
As their common names imply, most snakes of the genus ''Storeria'' are a variant of [brown](/source/brown) in color. The brown can vary depending on locale, to be almost a brick [red](/source/red) in color, to nearly [black](/source/black). They sometimes have a lighter-colored stripe down the center of the back, and small [black](/source/black) blotches along the body, and just behind the head. The underside is usually lighter brown-colored, yellow, or in the case of the redbelly snake, reddish in color. They rarely grow beyond {{convert|13|in|cm|abbr=on}} in total length (including tail).
One of the best means of identification is by scalation. The [dorsal scales](/source/dorsal_scales) are [keeled](/source/keeled_scales), the head has no [loreal scale](/source/loreal_scale), and the [postnasal scale](/source/postnasal_scale) touches the [preocular scale](/source/preocular_scale). So, only two scales are between the nasal opening and the eye. Sexually mature males will reach a SVL of 118&nbsp;mm and females will reach 126&nbsp;mm.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Semlitsch |first1=Raymond D. |last2=Moran |first2=Gary B. |date=January 1984 |title=Ecology of the Redbelly Snake (Storeria occipitomaculata) Using Mesic Habitats in South Carolina |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2425539 |journal=American Midland Naturalist |volume=111 |issue=1 |pages=33 |doi=10.2307/2425539 |jstor=2425539 |issn=0003-0031|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

==Ecology==
Within their ranges, brown snakes are a very commonly found species of snake. They are most frequently found under [leaf litter](/source/leaf_litter) or debris piles, and are sometimes turned up during gardening. They will also be found under rocks, along riversides, and ravines. They are a species that tends to stay near moist environments that have high amounts of earthworm beds.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=McAllister |first1=Chris T. |last2=Seville |first2=R. Scott |last3=Connior |first3=Matthew B. |date=January 2016 |title=A new coccidian (Apicomplexa: Eimeriidae), from midland brown snake, Storeria dekayi wrightorum Trapido (Ophidia: Colubridae) from Arkansas, USA |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11230-015-9606-8 |journal=Systematic Parasitology |volume=93 |issue=1 |pages=77–82 |doi=10.1007/s11230-015-9606-8 |pmid=26739289 |pmc=4754964 |issn=0165-5752}}</ref> They consume a variety of [invertebrate](/source/invertebrate) prey, including [earthworm](/source/earthworm)s, [snail](/source/snail)s and [slug](/source/slug)s. Their only means of defense are flattening of the body and excretion from the anal scent glands.<ref>[Schmidt KP](/source/Karl_Patterson_Schmidt), Davis DD (1941). ''Field Book of Snakes of the United States and Canada''. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. 365 pp. (Genus ''Storeria'', pp. 227-230).</ref><ref>[Conant R](/source/Roger_Conant_(herpetologist)) (1975). ''A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern and Central North America, Second Edition''. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. xviii + 429 pp. {{ISBN|0-395-19979-4}} (hardcover), {{ISBN|0-395-19977-8}} (paperback). (Genus ''Storeria'', p. 153).</ref> Brown snakes give birth to live young.<ref name=CAAR/>

==Species and subspecies==
*''[Storeria dekayi](/source/Storeria_dekayi)'' <small>([Holbrook](/source/John_Edwards_Holbrook), 1836)</small> – brown snake
**''[Storeria dekayi anomala](/source/Storeria_dekayi_anomala)'' <small>[Dugès](/source/Alfredo_Dug%C3%A8s), 1888</small>
**''[Storeria dekayi dekayi](/source/Storeria_dekayi_dekayi)'' <small>([Holbrook](/source/John_Edwards_Holbrook), 1836)</small> – northern brown snake
**''[Storeria dekayi limnetes](/source/Storeria_dekayi_limnetes)'' <small>[Anderson](/source/Paul_K._Anderson), 1961</small> – marsh brown snake
**''[Storeria dekayi temporalineata](/source/Storeria_dekayi_temporalineata)'' <small>[Trapido](/source/Harold_Trapido), 1944</small>
**''[Storeria dekayi texana](/source/Storeria_dekayi_texana)'' <small>Trapido, 1944</small> – Texas brown snake
**''[Storeria dekayi tropica](/source/Storeria_dekayi_tropica)'' <small>[Cope](/source/Edward_Drinker_Cope), 1885</small>
**''[Storeria dekayi wrightorum](/source/Storeria_dekayi_wrightorum)'' <small>Trapido, 1944</small> – midland brown snake
*''[Storeria hidalgoensis](/source/Storeria_hidalgoensis)'' <small>[Taylor](/source/Edward_H._Taylor), 1942</small> – Mexican yellowbelly brown snake
*''[Storeria occipitomaculata](/source/Storeria_occipitomaculata)'' <small>([Storer](/source/David_Humphreys_Storer), 1839)</small> – redbelly snake
**''[Storeria occipitomaculata obscura](/source/Storeria_occipitomaculata_obscura)'' <small>Trapido, 1944</small> – Florida redbelly snake
**''[Storeria occipitomaculata occipitomaculata](/source/Storeria_occipitomaculata_occipitomaculata)'' <small>(Storer, 1839)</small> – northern redbelly snake
**''[Storeria occipitomaculata pahasapae](/source/Storeria_occipitomaculata_pahasapae)'' <small>[H.M. Smith](/source/Hobart_M._Smith), 1963</small> – Black Hills redbelly snake
*''[Storeria storerioides](/source/Storeria_storerioides)'' <small>(Cope, 1866)</small> – Mexican brown snake
*''[Storeria victa](/source/Storeria_victa)'' <small>[O.P. Hay](/source/Oliver_Perry_Hay), 1892</small> – Florida brown snake

''[Nota bene](/source/Nota_bene)'': A [binomial authority](/source/Binomial_nomenclature) or [trinomial authority](/source/Trinomen) in parentheses indicates that the species or subspecies was originally described in a genus other than ''Storeria''.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
Image:BrownSnake_BrandonDempster.jpg
Image:BrownSnake1_BrandonDempster.jpg
Image:BrownSnake2_BrandonDempster.jpg
Image:BrownSnake3_BrandonDempster.jpg
Image:BrownSnake4_BrandonDempster.jpg
Image:BrownSnakeSM BrandonDempster.JPG
</gallery>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
*[Baird SF](/source/Spencer_Fullerton_Baird), [Girard C](/source/Charles_Fr%C3%A9d%C3%A9ric_Girard) (1853). ''Catalogue of North American Reptiles in the Museum of the Smithsonian Institution. Part I.—Serpents.'' Washington, District of Columbia: Smithsonian Institution. xvi + 172 pp. (''Storeria'', new genus, p.&nbsp;135).
*[Powell R](/source/Robert_Powell_(herpetologist)), [Conant R](/source/Roger_Conant_(herpetologist)), [Collins JT](/source/Joseph_T._Collins) (2016). ''Peterson Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern and Central North America, Fourth Edition''. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. xiv + 494 pp., 47 plates, 207 figures. {{ISBN|978-0-544-12997-9}}. (Genus ''Storeria'', p.&nbsp;423, Figure 192).

==External links==
*[http://srelherp.uga.edu/snakes/stodek.htm Brown Snake (''Storeria dekayi'' )] Species account from the Savanna River Ecology Laboratory Herpetology Program (University of Georgia). Accessed April 6, 2014.
*{{EMBL genus|genus=Storeria}}
*[http://www.herpnet.net/Iowa-Herpetology/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=44&Itemid=26 Brown Snake - ''Storeria dekayi''] Species account from the Iowa Reptile and Amphibian Field Guide.

{{Taxonbar|from=Q310717}}

Category:Storeria
Category:Extant Pleistocene first appearances
Category:Snake genera
Category:Taxa named by Charles Frédéric Girard
Category:Taxa named by Spencer Fullerton Baird

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Storeria](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storeria) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storeria?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.