Tantilla

Tantilla is a large genus of harmless colubrid snakes which includes 64 species commonly known as centipede snakes, blackhead snakes, and flathead snakes.

Description

Tantilla are small snakes, rarely exceeding 8 inches in length. They are generally varying shades of brown, red or black in color. Some species have a brown body with a black head.

Behavior

Tantilla are nocturnal, secretive snakes. They spend most of their time buried in the moist leaf litter of semi-forested regions or under rocks and debris. Their diet consists primarily of invertebrates, including scorpions, centipedes, spiders, and various insects.

Species

Barbour's Centipede Snake, Tantilla albiceps (Barbour, 1925) - Panama
Boulenger's Centipede Snake, Tantilla alticola (Boulenger, 1903) - Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia
Andes Centipede Snake, Tantilla andinista (Wilson & Mena, 1980) - Ecuador
Tantilla armillata (Cope, 1876) - Costa Rica, El Salvador
Mexican Blackhead Snake, Tantilla atriceps (Günther, 1895) - USA (Arizona, Texas, New Mexico), northern Mexico
Baird's Blackhead Snake, Tantilla bairdi (Stuart, 1941) - Guatemala
Bocourt's Blackhead Snake, Tantilla bocourti (Günther, 1895) - Mexico
Tantilla boipiranga (Sawaya & Sazima, 2003) - Brazil
Mertens' Centipede Snake, Tantilla brevicauda (Mertens, 1952) - El Salvador
Briggs' Centipede Snake, Tantilla briggsi (Savitzky & Smith, 1971) - Mexico
Pacific Coast Centipede Snake, Tantilla calamarina (Cope, 1876) - Mexico
Capistrata Centipede Snake , Tantilla capistrata (Cope, 1876) - Peru
Michoacán Centipede Snake, Tantilla cascadae (Wilson & Meyer, 1981) - Mexico
Tantilla ceboruca Márquez et al., 2007 - Mexico
Guerreran Centipede Snake, Tantilla coronadoi (Hartweg, 1944)
Southeastern Crowned Snake, Tantilla coronata (Baird & Girard, 1853) - southeastern United States
Big Bend Blackhead Snake , Tantilla cucullata (Minton, 1956) - USA (Texas), Mexico
Wilson's Centipede Snake, Tantilla cuesta (Wilson, 1982) - Guatemala
Peten Centipede Snake , Tantilla cuniculator (Smith, 1939) - south Mexico, Belize, Guatemala
Deppe's Centipede Snake, Tantilla deppei (Bocourt) - Mexico
Tantilla deviatrix (Barbour, 1916) - Mexico
Equator Centipede Snake, Tantilla equatoriana (Wilson & Mena, 1980) - Ecuador
Yellow-lined Centipede Snake, Tantilla flavilineata (Smith & Burger, 1950)
Tantilla fraseri (Günther, 1895) - Ecuador, Peru
Flathead Snake, Tantilla gracilis (Baird & Girard, 1853) - southwest United States, northern Mexico
Peten Centipede Snake, Tantilla hendersoni (Stafford, 2004) - Belize
Southwestern Blackhead Snake, Tantilla hobartsmithi (Taylor, 1936) - southwestern United States, northern Mexico
Tantilla impensa (Campbell, 1998) - Guatemala
Mountain Centipede Snake, Tantilla insulamontana (Wilson & Mena, 1980) - Ecuador
Jan's Centipede Snake, Tantilla jani (Günther, 1895) - Mexico, Guatemala
Tantilla johnsoni (Wilson, Vaughn & Dixon, 1999) - Mexico
Mena's Centipede Snake, Tantilla lempira (Wilson & Mena, 1980) - Honduras
, Tantilla longifrontalis (Boulenger, 1896) - Colombia, Ecuador
Blackhead Snake, Tantilla melanocephala (Linnaeus, 1758) - Mexico, Central and South America.
Tantilla mexicana (Günther, 1862) - Mexico, Guatemala
Tantilla miyatai (Wilson & Knight, 1987) - Ecuador
Blackbelly Centipede Snake, Tantilla moesta (Günther, 1863) - Mexico, Guatemala, Belize
Black Centipede Snake, Tantilla nigra (Boulenger, 1914) - Colombia
Plains Blackhead Snake, Tantilla nigriceps (Kennicott, 1860) - southwest United States, northern Mexico
Oaxacan Centipede Snake, Tantilla oaxacae (Wilson & Meyer, 1971) - Mexico
Rim Rock Crowned Snake, Tantilla oolitica (Telford, 1966) - USA (Florida)
Peters' Blackhead Snake, Tantilla petersi (Wilson, 1979)
Western Blackhead Snake, Tantilla planiceps (Blainville, 1835) - United States (California), northern Mexico
Florida Crowned Snake, Tantilla relicta (Telford, 1966)
Reticulate Centipede Snake, Tantilla reticulata (Cope, 1860) - Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia
Tantilla robusta (Canseco-Márquez Mendelson & Gutiérrez-Mayén) - Mexico
Big Bend Blackhead Snake, Tantilla rubra (Cope, 1876) - USA (Texas), Mexico
Red Earth Centipede Snake, Tantilla schistosa (Bocourt, 1883) - Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama
Ringed Centipede Snake, Tantilla semicincta (Duméril, Bibron & Duméril, 1854) - Panama, Colombia, Venezuela
Tantilla sertula (Wilson & Campbell, 2000) - Mexico
Potos’ Centipede Snake, Tantilla shawi (Taylor, 1949) - Mexico
Slavens' Centipede Snake, Tantilla slavensi (Perez-Higareda, Smith & Smith, 1985) - Mexico
Striped Centipede Snake, Tantilla striata (Dunn, 1928)
Banded Centipede Snake, Tantilla supracincta (Peters, 1863) - Nicaagua, Costa Rica, Panama, Ecuador
Central American Centipede Snake, Tantilla taeniata (Bocourt, 1883) - Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua
Volcan Tacana Centipede Snake, Tantilla tayrae (Wilson, 1983) - Mexico
Tantilla tecta (Campell & Smith, 1997) - Guatemala
Brazilian Three-lined Centipede Snake, Tantilla trilineata (Peters, 1880) - Brazil
Mexican Three-lined Centipede Snake, Tantilla triseriata (Smith & Smith, 1951) - Mexico
Three-banded Centipede Snake , Tantilla tritaeniata (Smith & Williams, 1966) - Honduras
Hallowell's Centipede Snake, Tantilla vermiformis (Hallowell, 1861) - Nicaragua, Costa Rica, El Salvator
Tantilla vulcani (Campbell, 1998) - Guatemala
Chihuahuan Blackhead Snake, Tantilla wilcoxi (Stejneger, 1902) - USA (Arizona), northern Mexico
Yaqui Blackhead Snake, Tantilla yaquia (Smith, 1942) - USA (Arizona, New Mexico), Mexico

Translation

The word "Tantilla" occurs as such in the following languages: English, Dutch.