. Bulletin. Natural history; Natural history. 178 Illinois Natural History Survey Bulletin Vol. 28, Art. 1 proximity of a Carphophis amoenus vermis population that has higher counts. All 26 specimens agree in the possession of 13 scale rows, 5 + 5 supralabials, fused prefrontal and internasals, and the absence of a preocular. The infralabial formula of 5 + 6 and the postocular formula of 1 + 2 are each represented by single specimens, the remaining 25 snakes displaying formulae of 6 + 6 and 1 + 1, respectively. In the Midwest worm snake, color and pattern are more variable than lepidosis. In t
. Bulletin. Natural history; Natural history. 178 Illinois Natural History Survey Bulletin Vol. 28, Art. 1 proximity of a Carphophis amoenus vermis population that has higher counts. All 26 specimens agree in the possession of 13 scale rows, 5 + 5 supralabials, fused prefrontal and internasals, and the absence of a preocular. The infralabial formula of 5 + 6 and the postocular formula of 1 + 2 are each represented by single specimens, the remaining 25 snakes displaying formulae of 6 + 6 and 1 + 1, respectively. In the Midwest worm snake, color and pattern are more variable than lepidosis. In the Lower Mississippi Border sample, the pattern appears somewhat more sharply bi- colored than in the Shawnee Hills sample, but the difference may be due to the greater number of juveniles in the specimens avail- able from the Mississippi River bluffs. The encroachment of the ventral color onto the lowermost scale rows is not correlated with geographical distribution. In samples of 13 specimens from the Lower Mississippi Bor- der and 13 from the Shawnee Hills, the same range of individual variation is exhib- ited. The ventral color extends onto half of the lowermost scale row on some specimens and onto the lower 1^4 in others, averaging scales in each sample. Habits.—The Midwest worm snake is fossorial. In early spring it is found under rocks, logs, or the bark of stumps. As the ground becomes dry in summer, the worm snake seeks moist situations. This snake ap- pears temporarily dazed when first uncov- ered, but in a few seconds it becomes active, seeking to burrow into the soil. The writh- ing, hard, slick body is difficult to pick up, and even when captured this snake has a way of slipping between the collector's fin- gers. It usually endeavors to press the tiny spur on the tip of its tail into the restrain- ing hand. The worm snake is known to feed on earthworms; it may possibly feed on soft- bodied arthropods also. Females collected in late spring contain two to four
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