Herpetology Notes, volume 7: 165-166 (2014) (published online on 11 April 2014)
Predation of Elaphe dione (Pallas, 1773) by Dolichophis caspius
(Gmelin, 1789) (Squamata: Colubridae)
Leejiah Dorward
Dolichophis caspius, is one of Europe’s largest snakes,
reaching lengths of up to 2.5 metres (Glandt, 2010).
Their range stretches from the Balkans and southern
Hungary through Turkey, southern Ukraine, southern
Russia and to west Kazakhstan and northern Azerbaijan
(Arnold and Ovenden, 2004; Sindaco, Venchi and
Grieco, 2013). They are found in dry, open habitats with
some vegetation or cover (Arnold and Ovenden, 2004).
Young D. caspius are largely herpetophagous with adults
also feeding on small mammals and occasionally birds
and (Arnold and Ovenden, 2004). While D. caspius
feeding on small snakes is widely reported (Arnold and
Ovenden, 2004) there are few documented observations
of ophiophagy in D. caspius with the majority of these
observations from populations in the west of the species’
range. A Web of Knowledge search for “(“Dolichophis
caspius” OR “Coluber caspius”) AND (diet OR predat*
OR ophiophagy)“ returned only two articles: Cattaneo
(2001) and Cattaneo (2003). Cattaneo (2001) found D.
caspius preying on Natrix natrix on the Greek island of
Lemnos and speculates that ophiophagy is likely to be
more common than recorded. Cattaneo (2003) while not
recording any first hand sightings of ophiophagy found
reports from local residents of the island of Lesbos of
D. caspius predating Montivipera xanthina. In a report
on herpetological surveys in western Turkey Cattaneo
(2012) found a large male D. caspius that had swallowed
a full-grown M. xanthina.
On 9 June 2013 at 0745 hours while walking along
the side of an irrigation channel in the dry steppe of
Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London,
Silwood Park Campus, Buckhurst Road, Ascot SL5 7PY, UK
Corresponding author; e-mail: leejiah@gmail.com
central Kalmykia, southern Russia, at 46°23’17.16”N,
45°0’21.96”E an adult D. caspius was encountered
in the process of swallowing an adult Elaphe dione
(Figure 1) head first. The disturbance caused by the
observer resulted in the D. caspius disgorging the E.
dione and retreating. It was not possible to accurately
measure the length of the preyed upon E. dione however
comparisons against equipment carried estimate its
length to be approximately 85 cm.
This observation confirms that ophiophagy occurs
in eastern populations of D. caspius and may be more
common than widely believed. It also shows that D.
caspius is not restricted to preying on small snakes (as
is widely quoted) and can overcome and attempt to
swallow snakes over 80 cm in length.
References
Arnold, N., Ovenden, D. (2004): Collins Field Guide to the Reptiles
and Amphibians of Britain and Europe, 2nd Edition. London,
Harper Collins.
Cattaneo, A. (2001): L’erpetofauna delle isole egee di Thassos,
Samothraki e Lemnos. Bollettino del Museo Civico di Storia
Naturale di Venezia 52: 155-181.
Cattaneo, A. (2003): Note erpetologiche sulle isole Egee di Lesvos,
Chios e Samos. Bollettino del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale
di Venezia 54: 95-116.
Cattaneo, A. (2012): Osservazioni sull’erpetofauna di alcune
localita della Turchia costiera occidentale comprese tra i fiumi
Küçük e Büyük Menderes). Atti del Museo di Storia Naturale
della Maremma 23: 15-24.
Glandt, D. (2010): Taschenlexikon der Amphibien und Reptilien
Europas. Wiebelsheim, Quelle and Meyer Verlag.
Sindaco, R., Venchi, A., & Grieco, C. (2013): The Reptiles of
the Western Palearctic, Volume 2: Annotated Checklist and
Distributional Atlas of the Snakes of Europe, North Africa,
Middle East and Central Asia. Latina, Edizioni Belvedere.
166
Leejiah Dorward
Figure 1. Adult Dolichophis caspius while disgorging an adult Elaphe dione along the side of an irrigation channel in the dry
steppe of central Kalmykia, southern Russia
Accepted by Philip de Pous