The original Tapalpa, Jalisco (Rancho San Francisco) ruthveni were collected by the Dallas Zoo gang. At the time, Williams had lumped Lampropeltis ruthveni into Lampropeltis triangulum arcifera (major ooops, we now know). So, the animals were called arcifera 'cause "the man" said so, despite actually being ruthveni. It was later shown by Bill Gartska that the two were very different animals and that Williams just couldn't tell them apart. Many moons passed, with hobbyists calling the Tapalpa line animals "arcifera" before it became apparent that a major mix-up had taken place.



We've had both the Tapalpa, Jalisco and Amealco, Queretaro locales of L. ruthveni here in the US since the start. Same thing with the Laguna de Chapala, Jalisco L. t. arcifera. All three lines came from Mexico to the US by collectors, and were then acquired by the European guys. Then, some cool animals from those same lines came back across the ocean.



If I remember correctly, Gerrit and the other Euro-dudes acquired Tapalpa, Jalisco stock descended from the original Dallas Zoo animals, as did everyone else (Applegate, etc.). Gerrit happened to have some cool animals that Shannon wanted (Shannon, step in and correct me if I'm wrong), but not because he couldn't get Tapalpa animals here in the US.
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-Cole

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