Zamenis situla (Linnaeus, 1758)

Grapci-Kotori, Linda, Geci, Donard, Ibrahimi, Halil, Bilalli, Astrit, Musliu, Milaim & Sherwood, Danniella, 2025, Three new country records of colubrid snakes (Squamata, Colubridae) for the Republic of Kosovo, Herpetozoa 38, pp. 241-244 : 241-244

Zamenis situla (Linnaeus, 1758)

Remarks.

One individual (Fig. 1 C ) was observed on the same day in Kërvenik ( 42.111095, 21.256590) (Fig. 2 ), moving from the forest to a dry, open, and stony area. The congeneric species, Z. longissimus (Laurenti, 1768) , had already been reported in the Republic of Kosovo, while Z. situla is reported here for the first time. The latter is present in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Malta, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Turkey, and Ukraine ( Uetz et al. 2025). Like T. fallax , its presence in the Republic of Kosovo is not surprising, as it occurs in all neighboring countries. This species is non-venomous, with an absence of a Duvernoy’s gland; a supposed record of anaphylaxis from the bite of a congener in Serbia is not supported by objective evidence (see below).

Figures

Figure 1. Three colubrid snakes new to the Republic of Kosovo. A. Platyceps najadum (Eichwald, 1831); B. Telescopus fallax (Fleischmann, 1831); C. Zamenis situla (Linnaeus, 1758). © thephoxinus [Marko Wanke], CC BY-NC 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).

Figure 2. Map showing localities of respective snakes; the insect shows a close-up of the sites. Map made in QGIS ver. 3.34. 6 Prizren.