Reptile & Amphibian Forums

What are the difference between a milk vs. a kingsnake. What classifies a snake as one or the other. I've never quite understood.

Peace - Matt
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Matt from Minnesota
Cornsnake, Eastern Kingsnake, IL Bullsnake - all girls.
0.1 Crested Gecko "Camey"; 1.0 Crested Gecko "Spots" RIP

Matt:

All snakes of the genus Lampropeltis are “kingsnakes.” Members of one species, L. triangulum, are referred to as “milksnakes.” However, L. triangulum, as presently constituted, ranges from Canada to Ecuador and is a taxonomic mess. In reality, there are a number (who knows how many) of distinct species hiding under the name L. triangulum, but it will take a considerable amount of research to determine where these species boundaries fall. Further complicating matters is the probability that some Mexican members of L. “triangulum” are more closely related to snakes of the L. mexicana complex than they are to U.S. milksnakes. Bottom line is that they’re all “kingsnakes.” The next few years should see increased research into the relationships among species of Lampropeltis and a likely increase in the number of reconigized species. Hope this helps.

Cheers,

Bob Hansen
rwh13@csufresno.edu

Thanks for the history on them, Bob! My friend's Sinaloan just seems so much different than my Eastern King, I started wondering just what divides any specific boundary between the labeled kings and milks. An Eastern Milk on the other hand seems a lot more similar to my Getula than many of the central american milks.
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Matt from Minnesota
Cornsnake, Eastern Kingsnake, IL Bullsnake - all girls.
0.1 Crested Gecko "Camey"; 1.0 Crested Gecko "Spots" RIP