A Photographic Record of a Rare Ophidian Predation Event Edward J. Tivador III1, Samuel Bonge1, Stephanie Rodriguez1, Jeffery R. Woniak2, and William I. Lutterschmidt1,2,* Abstract - Most records of predator-prey relationships for snakes are based on stomach-content analyses, but herein we present photographic documentation of predation on an Agkistrodon contortrix contortrix (Southern Copperhead) by a Micrurus tener (Texas Coralsnake). In the context of published studies, our report implies that although predation on pitvipers by coralsnakes is rare, it may be unusually more frequent in east Texas. During a trip to Sam Houston State University’s Center for Biological Field Studies (CBFS) on 18 October 2010, we observed an adult Micrurus tener (Baird and Girard) (Texas Coralsnake) subduing and later dragging an immobile Agkistrodon contortrix contortrix (L.) (Southern Copperhead) over a small log and into leaf litter (Fig. 1A). The Copperhead was a juvenile, as indicated by its bright yellow-tipped tail, and was swallowed head-first (Fig. 1B). The event occurred at 1145 h on an upland site approximately 30 m from the western bank of Harmon Creek, Huntsville, TX (Zone 15; Phelps Quadrangle; UTM: 3404387m N, 263307m E). Because the observers (J.R. Woniak and S. Rodriguez) were non-herpetologists, specimens were not collected for museum curation or measurements, but the image of the predatory event was archived in the Sam Houston State Vertebrate Museum (SHSVM-PR0001-2010). 1Department of Biological Sciences and 2Texas Research Institute for Environmental Studies, Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, TX 77341. *Corresponding author - lutterschmidt@shsu.edu. Notes of the Southeastern Nat u ral ist, Issue 10/3, 2011 561 Figure 1. Photographic record of a Micrurus tener (Texas Coralsnake) ingesting an envenomed and subdued Agkistrodon contortrix contortrix (Southern Copperhead). Note the yellow-tail tip (B), indicating that the prey is a juvenile. 562 Southeastern Naturalist Vol. 10, No. 3 The vast majority of knowledge on snake diets is based on stomach-content analyses, and predation is rarely photographically documented in nature (Greene 1984, Jackson and Franz 1981, Symondson 2002). The fossorial nature of the Texas Coralsnake further contributes to a lack of ecological observations on the species, with almost all current dietary information indeed being based upon stomach-content analyses (Curtis 1952, da Silva and Aird 2001, Greene 1984, Jackson and Franz 1981, Schmidt 1932). Coralsnakes feed primarily on other snakes and slender-bodied lizards, with previous analyses reporting species of the families Colubridae (sensu lato), Elapidae, Viperidae, Anguidae, Amphisbaenidae, and Scincidae in the diet (Curtis 1952, Greene 1984, Jackson and Franz 1981, Polis and Myers 1985). Whereas Coralsnakes frequently engage in ophiophagy (Maffei et al. 2009, Schmidt 1932) and even cannibalism (Curtis 1952), stomach contents from 106 Texas Coralsnakes revealed only two incidences of predation on Southern Copperheads (Greene 1984). These two records were from east Texas (Greene 1984), and no pitvipers were found in stomachs of Texas Coralsnakes from north-central, central, and south Texas. Texas Coralsnake is restricted to upland deciduous woodlands (Ford et al. 1991), which is also the primary habitat of sympatric Southern Copperhead at the CBFS. Our record is of further interest because prey preference is the most important determinant of venom composition in Micrurus spp. (da Silva and Aird 2001), and snake venom composition sometimes varies geographically within a species (Daltry et al. 1996). 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