Spilotes pullatus (Linnaeus, 1758)

enezes, Frederico de Alcantara, Abegg, Arthur Diesel, Silva, Bruno Rocha da, ranco, Francisco Luis & Feio, Renato Neves, 2018, Composition and natural history of the snakes from the Parque Estadual da Serra do Papagaio, southern Minas Gerais, Serra da Mantiqueira, Brazil, ZooKeys 797, pp. 117-160 : 117

Spilotes pullatus (Linnaeus, 1758)

Natural history notes.

A large species (n = 1), with semi-arboreal habits, and diurnal activity ( Marques et al. 2001, Marques and Sazima 2004). Both of our records were made in the same place, during the day (12:00 and 12:10 h), in September and October, respectively, indicating that it may be the same individual. On both occasions, the individuals were on the ground, in a forest area. The diet is mainly composed of mammals ( Marques et al. 2014), but S. pullatus also feeds on lizards, birds and their eggs, and anurans ( Martins and Oliveira 1998, Marques and Sazima 2004, Bernarde and Abe 2006). This species lays five to twelve eggs ( Amaral 1930, Marques et al. 2014). No defensive behavior was observed for this species.

Altitudinal variation.

In Brazil, range spans at minimum of sea level from the coast of Santa Catarina to Bahia to a maximum of 1100 m a.s.l., Brasília, Federal District ( Bérnils 2009). The maximum altitudinal record of this species for Brazil is expanded here by our observations at 1630 m a.s.l.. From the toponyms surveyed, Bérnils (2009) recorded only 8% in areas higher than 800 m a.s.l. and 57% between the range of sea level and 400 m a.s.l.

Distribution and habitat.

This species can be found in all Brazilian states, and in Argentina and Paraguay ( Wallach et al. 2014). It lives in open formations associated with riparian, dense and seasonal ombrophilous forests ( Bérnils 2009).