Kenneth L. Krysko photo.
Scientific name: Coluber constrictor.
The following key will separate the three subspecies of racer that are found in Florida. If you are not sure about the color patterns referred to in the key, you can probably identify the subspecies by geographic location.
| 1a | Back uniform bluish, greenish, or slate-gray; Everglades region of south Florida and Cape Canaveral. | Everglades
racer, Coluber constrictor paludicola |
| 1b | Back uniform black. | 2 |
| 2a | Back black; chin and upper lips tan or brown; Apalachicola river drainage. | Brownchin
racer, Coluber constrictor helvigularis |
| 2b | Back slate black, chin white, iris usually red or orange; throughout Florida (absent from the Everglades, Cape Canaveral, and the Apalachicola drainage). | Southern
Black Racer, Coluber constrictor priapus |
Top
of this Page — Guide to the Snakes
of Florida
Checklist
of Florida Amphibians and Reptiles — Florida
Herpetology