: 460) placed _lineaticollis_ as a
southern subspecies of _deppei_. Schmidt and Shannon (1947: 79)
described _Pituophis deppei brevilineata_ on the basis of five specimens
from Tanc['i]taro, Michoac['a]n, and Stuart (1954: 172) described
_Pituophis deppei gibsoni_ from seven specimens from Departamento
Chimaltenango, Guatemala. Thus, at present five subspecies of _Pituophis
deppei_ are recognized.

CHARACTERS STUDIED

Snakes currently assigned to _Pituophis deppei_ differ from other
members of the genus by possessing two instead of four prefrontal
plates. The subspecies of _P. deppei_ have been defined on characters of
coloration and scutellation.

_Scutellation._--The only scale characters utilized in the present study
are the numbers of ventrals and caudals. The number of ventrals varies
in the total sample from 210 to 246 (Table 1); usually the variation in
one locality is no more than 15. Number of caudals varies from 52 to 72.
There is slight sexual dimorphism in the number of ventrals and somewhat
greater differences in the number of caudals.

TABLE 1.--Variation in the Numbers of Ventrals and Caudals in Four
Subspecies of Pituophis.

==============================+====================+==================
SUBSPECIES | Ventrals | Caudals
+---------+---------+---------+---------
| Range | Mean | Range | Mean
------------------------------+---------+---------+---------+---------
_deppei deppei_ | | | |
34 [M] [M] | 210-231 | 220.4 | 53-69 | 61.5
16 [F] [F] | 209-232 | 218.2 | 52-61 | 57.2
| | | |
_deppei jani_ | | | |
12 [M] [M] | 215-235 | 225.1 | 56-68 | 62.6
3 [F] [F] | 228-231 | 229.0 | 52-60 | 56.0
| | | |
_lineaticollis lineaticollis_ | | | |
13 [M] [M] | 231-258 | 239.5 | 54-72 | 64.9
9 [F] [F] | 229-249 | 241.3 | 55-68 | 60.6
| | | |
_lineaticollis gibsoni_ | | | |
2 [M] [M] | 234 | 234.0 | 61-65 | 63.0
4 [F] [F]