Herpetology Notes, volume 3: 139-140 (2010) (published online on 13 May 2010)

Observation of mating in the Calico Snake

Oxyrhopus petola Linnaeus, 1758
Rogério Loesch Zacariotti1*; Rodrigo del Rio do Valle2,3

Abstract. Oxyrhopus petola is a common colubrid snake, widely distributed throughout South America and in parts of Central
America. However, information about its reproductive biology is scarce. The present communication is the first observation of
mating in Oxyrhopus petola.

Keywords. Squamata, Pseudoboini, reproduction.

Information about ovarian or testicular cycles is
available for several Neotropical species of snakes
(Marques et al., 2009). However, descriptions about
courtship, mating or combative behaviours are still
scarce and most information available comes from
extratropical species (Sasa and Curtis, 2006). Herein we
describe the first observation of a courtship and mating
in the Calico snake Oxyrhopus petola.
1 Laboratório de Ecologia e Evolução, Instituto Butantan.
Avenida Dr. Vital Brasil, 1500, 05503-900, São Paulo, Brazil;
e-mail: rogeriozacariotti@yahoo.com.br
2 Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia, Departa-
mento de Cirurgia, Universidade de São Paulo, Av Prof. Dr.
Orlando Marques de Paiva, 87, 05508-270, Sao Paulo, Brasil.
3 Wildlife Management Consultoria Veterinária Ltda.
*corresponding author
Oxyrhopus petola is a common colubrid snake, widely
distributed throughout South America and in parts of
Central America (Savage and Villa, 1986; Markezich,
2002; Lynch, 2009, Palmuti, Cassimiro and Bertoluci,
2009). However, MacCulloch et al. (2009) suggest
that the wide distribution of O. petola could represent
more than one species. In Brazil, it is found in different
habitats like Gallery forests and Brazilian Savannah
(Vaz-Silva et al., 2007), Atlantic forests (Santana et al.,
2008) and Amazon forests (Bernarde and Machado,
2000). Information about its reproductive biology is
scarce in the scientific literature. Lynch (2009) found in
Colombia, a clutch of eight near-term eggs in October,
2006 (early spring) and describes O. petola as having
a markedly seasonal reproductive pattern. Test et al.
(1966) presented information about a captive female

Figure 1. Calico snakes (Oxyrhopus petola) mating.

140
Figure 2. Detail of Calico snakes (Oxyrhopus petola) mating.
that laid seven eggs in June, 1960 (late fall). There is
no information available in the scientific literature about
the mating behavior of O. petola.
On 31st October 2008 (mid-spring), during a
herpetofaunal survey in disturbed forest fragments
along Rio Sapucaí Mirim (20°49´E, 47°86´S),
southeastern Brazil, two adults of Oxyrhopus petola
(male 760 mm SVL, 243 mm tail length, mass 86g;
female 1050mm SVL, 277 mm tail length, mass 105g)
were captured, around 23:20, in the same locality (a dirt
road between two forest fragments), with 5 minutes
between captures. The snakes were placed together in
a plastic container for measurement and marking (PIT
tags #5709204, male and #5483245, female). As soon as
the male was in contact with female, it started to display
courtship behaviours with head and chin movements
over the female’s body. After approximately 10 minutes
of courtship, the male penetrated the female and mating
continued for at least 240 minutes (figures 1 and 2). Both
individuals were released in capture locality following
their observation.
We describe a mating event during mid-spring in
Brazil, but Lynch (2009) found near-term eggs in early
spring in Colombia and Test et al. (1966) observed egg
laying in captivity in late fall. This apparent asynchrony
between events of mating and egg laying found
between ourselves and other authors could be a result
of geographic differences along the wide distribution of
O. petola.
Acknowledgements. �������������������������������������
We thank Dr. Selma M. Almeida-Santos
for comments on early version of this manuscript. We also thank
CELAN – Central Elétrica Anhanguera S. A. and WLM – Wildlife
Management Consultoria Veterinária Ltda. for financial support.
Collecting permit was issued by Instituto Brasileiro do Meio
Ambiente e dos Recursos Naturais Renováveis (IBAMA/ permit
127/2008-SUPES/SP).
Accepted by Zoltán
Rogério Loesch Zacariotti & Rodrigo del Rio do Valle
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