Tantilla is a large genus of harmless New World snakes in the family Colubridae. The genus includes 66 species, which are commonly known as centipede snakes, black-headed snakes, and flathead snakes.Wilson, Larry David (1982). Tantilla. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles. Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles. 303: 1–4.Wilson, Larry David, and Vicente Mata-Silva (2015). Mesoamerican Herpetology 2: 418–498.
Description Tantilla are small snakes, rarely exceeding 20 cm (8 inches) in total length (including tail). 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.
Diet The diet of snakes of the genus Tantilla consists primarily of invertebrates, including scorpions, centipedes, spiders, and various insects.
Species Tantilla albiceps Barbour, 1925 – Barbour's centipede snake – Panama Tantilla alticola (Boulenger, 1903) – Boulenger's centipede snake – Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia Tantilla andinista Wilson & Mena, 1980 – Andes centipede snake – Ecuador Tantilla armillata Cope, 1876 – Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama Tantilla atriceps (Günther, 1895) – Mexican blackhead snake – US (Arizona, Texas, New Mexico), northern Mexico Tantilla bairdi Stuart, 1941 – Baird's black-headed snakeBeolens, Bo, Michael Watkins, and Michael Grayson (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (Tantilla bairdi, p. 14; T. bocourti, p. 29). – Guatemala Tantilla berguidoi Batista, Mebert, Lotzkat & Wilson, 2016 – Chucantí centipede snake – Panama Tantilla bocourti (Günther, 1895) – Bocourt's black-headed snake – Mexico Tantilla boipiranga Sawaya & Sazima, 2003 – Brazil Tantilla brevicauda Mertens, 1952 – Mertens's centipede snake – El Salvador Tantilla briggsi Savitzky & H.M. Smith, 1971 – Briggs's centipede snake – Mexico Tantilla calamarina Cope, 1876 – Pacific Coast centipede snake – Mexico Tantilla capistrata Cope, 1876 – Capistrata centipede snake – Peru Tantilla carolina Palacios-Aguilar, Fucsko, Jiménez-Arcos, Wilson & Mata-Silva, 2022 – Carolina's little snake – Mexico Tantilla cascadae Wilson & Meyer, 1981 – Michoacán centipede snake – Mexico Tantilla ceboruca Canseco-Márquez et al., 2007 – Mexico Tantilla coronadoi Hartweg, 1944 – Guerreran centipede snake – Mexico Tantilla coronata Baird & Girard, 1853 – southeastern crowned snake – southeastern United States Tantilla cucullata Minton, 1956 – Big Bend blackhead snake – US (Texas), Mexico Tantilla cuniculator H.M. Smith, 1939 – Peten centipede snake – south Mexico, Belize, Guatemala Tantilla deppei (Bocourt, 1883) – Deppe's centipede snake – Mexico Tantilla excelsa McCranie & E.N. Smith, 2017 – Honduras Tantilla flavilineata H.M. Smith & Burger, 1950 – yellow-lined centipede snake – Mexico Tantilla gottei McCranie & E.N. Smith, 2017 – Honduras Tantilla gracilis Baird & Girard, 1853 – flathead snake – southwestern United States, northern MexicoHardy LM, Cole CJ (1968). "Morphological Variation in a Population of the Snake, Tantilla gracilis Baird and Girard". University of Kansas Publications, Museum of Natural History. 17 (15): 613–629. Tantilla hendersoni Stafford, 2004 – Peten centipede snake – Belize Tantilla hobartsmithi Taylor, 1936 – southwestern blackhead snake – southwestern United States, northern Mexico Tantilla impensa Campbell, 1998 – Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico Tantilla insulamontana Wilson & Mena, 1980 – mountain centipede snake – Ecuador Tantilla jani (Günther, 1895) – Jan's centipede snake – Guatemala Tantilla johnsoni Wilson, Vaughn & Dixon, 1999 – Mexico Tantilla lempira Wilson & Mena, 1980 – Mena's centipede snake – Honduras Tantilla lydia Antúnez-Fonseca, Castro, España, Townsend & Wilson, 2020 – Honduras Tantilla melanocephala (Linnaeus, 1758) – blackhead snake – Mexico, Central and South America. Tantilla miyatai Wilson & Knight, 1987 – Ecuador Tantilla moesta (Günther, 1863) – blackbelly centipede snake – Mexico, Guatemala, Belize Tantilla nigra (Boulenger, 1914) – black centipede snake – Colombia Tantilla nigriceps Kennicott, 1860 – plains blackhead snake – southwestern United States, northern Mexico Tantilla oaxacae Wilson & Meyer, 1971 – Oaxacan centipede snake Mexico Tantilla olympia Townsend, Wilson, Medina-Flores & Herrera, 2013 – Honduras Tantilla oolitica Telford, 1966 – rim rock crowned snake – US (Florida) Tantilla petersi Wilson, 1979 – Peters's blackhead snake Tantilla planiceps (Blainville, 1835) – western blackhead snake – United States (California), northern Mexico Tantilla psittaca McCranie, 2011 – Honduras Tantilla relicta Telford, 1966 – Florida crowned snake – US (Florida) Tantilla reticulata (Cope, 1860) – reticulate centipede snake – Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia Tantilla robusta Canseco-Márquez, Mendelson & Gutiérrez-Mayén, 2002 – Mexico Tantilla rubra Cope, 1876 – Big Bend blackhead snake – Guatemala, Mexico Tantilla ruficeps Cope, 1894 – Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Panama Tantilla schistosa (Bocourt, 1883) – red earth centipede snake – Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama Tantilla semicincta (A.M.C. Duméril, Bibron & A.H.A. Duméril, 1854) – ringed centipede snake – Panama, Colombia, Venezuela Tantilla sertula Wilson & Campbell, 2000 – Mexico Tantilla shawi Taylor, 1949 – Potosí centipede snake – Mexico Tantilla slavensi Pérez-Higareda, H.M. Smith & R.B. Smith, 1985 – Slavens's centipede snake – Mexico Tantilla stenigrammi McCranie & E.N. Smith, 2017 – Honduras Tantilla striata Dunn, 1928 – striped centipede snake – Mexico Tantilla supracincta (W. Peters, 1863) – banded centipede snake – Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Ecuador Tantilla taeniata Bocourt, 1883 – Central American centipede snake – Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua Tantilla tayrae Wilson, 1983 – Volcán Tacaná centipede snake – Mexico Tantilla tecta Campbell & E.N. Smith, 1997 – white-striped centipede snake – Guatemala Tantilla tjiasmantoi (Koch & Venegas, 2016) – Tjiasmanto's centipede snake – Peru Tantilla trilineata (W. Peters, 1880) – Brazilian three-lined centipede snake – Brazil Tantilla triseriata H.M. Smith & P.W. Smith, 1951 – Mexican three-lined centipede snake – Mexico Tantilla tritaeniata H.M. Smith & Williams, 1966 – three-banded centipede snake – Honduras Tantilla vermiformis (Hallowell, 1861) – Hallowell's centipede snake – Nicaragua, Costa Rica, El Salvator Tantilla vulcani Campbell, 1998 – Guatemala and Mexico Tantilla wilcoxi Stejneger, 1902 – Chihuahuan blackhead snake – US (Arizona), northern Mexico Tantilla yaquia H.M. Smith, 1942 – Yaqui blackhead snake – US (Arizona, New Mexico), Mexico
Nota bene: A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Tantilla.
References
Further reading Baird SF, Girard CF (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. (Tantilla, new genus, p. 104). Stebbins RC (2003). A Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians, Third Edition. The Peterson Field Guide Series. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin. xiii + 533 pp. (paperback). (Genus Tantilla, pp. 397–399). Wright AH, 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 2 volumes) (Genus Tantilla, p. 722; species and subspecies of Tantilla, pp. 723–725).
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