A couple of posts down, someone asked a question regarding Colombian Boas. Now time and time again I see the same confusion here so I though I'd put in my 2c (or 2p in my case!).
Colombia is a large country. It is one of the world's hotspots for plant and animal diversity, and has a wide variety of habitats. Two major habitats dominate Colombia, the upland area of the Andes, and the lowland area of Amazonia and the Llanos. Now as anyone who understands speciation knows, such differing habitats and physical barriers often lead to the 'creation' of new subspecies and species. Or at least, the separation of species and subspecies.
In Colombia there are two subspecies of Boa Constrictor: imperator and constrictor. It may even be possible that longicauda reaches Colombia (will leave this one out here for now!). Imperator is the form found west of the Andes, in the Pacific region and in the northern Caribbean region. Constrictor is the eastern / lowland form, present in the Llanos (Orinoco) and Amazonian regions. There is of course some intergradtion between these two forms and both have been found in the areas outside of their usual limits.
According to Perez-Santos & Moreno (1988, Ofidios de Colombia) the two subspecies can be separated by:
61-79 rows at midbody, 225-252 ventrals, 22-30 dorsal 'blotches' = imperator
75-95 rows at midbody, 227-250 ventrals, 15-20 dorsal 'blotches' = constrictor
The subspecies imperator ranges north towards (see map) Mexico, northeast to Venezuela, and south to Peru, and perhaps Bolivia. Constrictor ranges west to Ecuador, south to Peru and Bolivia, east to Brazil, Venezuela, Guyana, Surinam and French Guiana. Naturally, within such a large area, both subspecies display a huge degree of variation in both colouration, morphology, and meristics (scale counts). It is also VERY important to remember that even within a particular area, that this species is highly variable. The forms we now see in herpetoculture today, are a result of selective picking and breeding over many years. Breeders have selected for traits which THEY consider attractive, and indicative of that particular locale / population. For example, longer and highly contrasting red-tails, 'batwings,' pink colouration etc for a 'Surinam' boa. The resulting boa probably looks nothing like the average 'Surinam' boa.
Unfortunately species do not know any of our political boundaries, and tend to follow habitat / physical boundaries instead. Take the 'Brazilian' Rainbow boa for example. Epicrates c.cenchria is found all over the Amazon basin. An example that crosses over the border from Brazil to Colombia doesn't suddenly go from a stunning orange to a dull brown! Occasionally, species get described twice, by separate authors, and this furthers confusion. Look at Epicrates c. gaigeae for example. Amateurs would identify a rainbow boa from Peru as this subspecies. As a professional herpetologist I sincerely doubt the vailidity of this subspecies and foresee it's synonymy with cenchria in the near future (look at the synonymy of B.c. ortoni with B.c.c for example). Sure, it may look different than your average cenchria, but it's merely displaying the extreme end of a colouration cline. Rainbow specimens I have collected in Colombia for example look like an in-between cenchria and gaigeae for example. Do Surianm B.c.c's look particularly like those from Peru?
For many years boas have been imported from Colombia, although it's been a long time since they have left via the Amazonian region. Therefore, the majority of imports are all imperator. The common boa. The 'Colombian' Boa. This is not to say that Bcc does not occur in Colombia. That again is like saying all rainbows in Colombia are maurus! Few people in the US probably have pure B.c.c's from Colombia. Those that have probably keep it quiet! Over the last few decades the common boa has become what many may consider a mutt. B.c.i's and B.c.c's from Colombia have long since been interbred your average boa now in herpetoculture is a poor representative of either subspecies. Consequently, trying to 'key out' the Colombia boa you picked up at a show or form 99% of breeders is pointless.
I will make a brief note about the Leticia boa here. Recently a trend has started, probably driven by financial reasons, to sell a certain look of Boa constrictor as a 'Leticia' boa. Now not one of these Leticia's looks anything like a boa you'll ever see in Leticia and the name is clearly misleading. I have read various posts on this site how the Leticia boa is an integrade of B.c.c. and B.c.i., but I can assure you it is nothing of the sort. Leticia is deep within Amazonia (see map) and very close to Iquitos. I am sure nobody here that Iquitos boas were imperators? So why should the boas from Leticia be such? Many years ago many B.c.c's did leave Leticia. However, these were collected over a wide area, and not just from the vicinity of Leticia. But, the boas leaving via Leticia WERE B.c.c. Trade routes within Amazonia dictate that any B.c.i leaving Leticia would have been an unusual occurance (The majority of B.c.i's leaving Colombia come from the north (Cartagena / Barranquilla region).
Well, that's me done for now. I hope some of you find this post of some assitance. If anything, the map should make it easier for you to understand the distributions of the two Colombia boa subspecies. Let me know if you have any questions.
