>> Also one last thought, in the future, you may find thru the use of DNA, that many of these "different appearing kings" may indeed be different and will be discribed as new species. (I will put some coin on this, a bet)
>>

I would take this bet, except that it's very possible that Collins, et al, will start describing new species in the getula group, because they don't like subspecies and they will separate new species based on very little genetic variation. But I'll argue til my dying day that what you have is not only a getula, but is also a splendida, probably with some influence from one or more other subspecies.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed your discussion here, and you put forth some interesting and accurate info. However, I believe your snake is not different enough to warrant a new subspecies designation, let alone a new species. And how can you think that, if you haven't done any research yourself other than finding the snake on a porch?

It just so happens that I've done a little field work myself, and I happen to spend a little time every year in the Santa Cruz Valley, not far from s. Tucson. I've found around twenty, or so, kings that vary from typical splendida to typical nigrita. I believe that these are splendida with nigrita influence and that what you have are probably from the same population, although I'm not sure if you're saying your example is from the Santa Cruz River Valley.

I have also found that the young are typically the color/pattern of splendida and get darker with age. As I said, I've seen adults that are almost all black and some that look like splendida, with some inbetween. I've also seen a couple from Mexico that have the splendida pattern and some that are nearly all black. Remember, the hobby has bred for the all black color for years...selection

You also mentioned that you've seen them about five ft. long. I can't say I've seen any that large, probably four ft. being my largest. Isn't it possible that some californiae influence could be spreading down the Santa Cruz Valley from the northwest? That might account for the larger size. The snake you pictured doesn't look like it has any cal influence, however, except the light bands are slightly larger than normal for splendida.

Remember, everything I've mentioned is based on my meager experience, and is just my opinion, except when noted. I would remind folks that these are just conjectures, and that's how I see your information too, Frank. I do appreciate your insights too, and hope you keep it up. I love seeing wild caught specimens, especially with locality data. Hope to see you in the field sometime.

Terry

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