Reptiles & Amphibians of France - Montpellier snake, Malpolon monspessulanus

Montpellier snake, Malpolon monspessulanus
(Hermann, 1804)

History and origin
The Montpellier snake was first described by Hermann in 1804, he named the snake Coluber monspessulanus, the species has been named Malpolon monspessulanus since only 1928 (Mertens & Möller). Malpolon is from Greek and is composed of two words, the first meaning 'strong', 'many', and the second word meaning 'numerous'. Monspessulanus comes from latin and means 'from Montpellier'.

Characteristics
They are characterised by their large body size. Closer up, they also have distinguishing features such as large eyes, raised eyebrow-like ridges and a very narrow frontal scale.

Description
=Size=
They hatch at around 25 cm, averaging about 100 cm and growing up to 255 cm long.
=Morphology=
They are slim and elegant as juveniles and young adults, however when the reach a length of around 170 cm long, their body becomes much more robust. Their head is long and thin.
=Patterns & colours=
Their colour/pattern varies with age; as juveniles they can either be gray with slightly darker cross band-type markings along the back or they can be very well marked, grayish brown with darker markings of the same kind, their bellies as juveniles are sometimes greenish, orange. In older juveniles they become less colourful. Below the head they sometimes have a very pretty pattern: white background colour with orange or red fire-like markings. As they grow, some specimens take longer than others to lose these patterns but at about 110 cm they become much more uniform, being dark green, dark gray. Sometimes when they are older, they have a patch, sometimes green or even black or dark blue, just behind their neck. Their belly is whitish with various small darker markings, sometimes the belly is more creamy.

Geographical range
Found in western Europe, in Portugal, Spain (except northern coast) and Mediterranean France, there is a small area in Italy near the French boarder where they have been recently observed.

Subspecies
None described,
- fuscus - Once considered as a subspecies but now treated as a species Malpolon insignitus - Eastern Montpellier snake and found in the Balkan peninsula and northern Africa.

Sexual differences
Females are larger then the males, especially in late spring when they carry their eggs.

Seasonal variations
None.

Diet
Their main food source are lizards. As adults, they can take on fully grown Timon lepidus, but often take Psammodromus algirus as this is often the most common lizard in their habitat. Snakes are also eaten. Where they occur, they are usually the most common land snake, as they tend to eat other snakes in the same habitat such as Rhinechis scalaris and Hemorrhois hippocrepis in Spain and even vipers. They hunt mainly by sight.

Defensive habits
They prefer to escape but if cornered or caught, they will hiss loudly and raise their heads sometimes, like cobras do. They can flatten their neck and head and they usually bite. Temperament depends on individual specimens. Adults are generally more likely to defend themselves by intimidation.

Reproduction
Breeding occurs when the snakes wake up from hibernation in spring, a week after, they are all looking for each other and mating begins. After only a few weeks, about 15 (5 to 20) eggs are laid in a moist, warm spot, usually under hey piles, in rotting wood piles and other places of this kind. The eggs incubate for around 8 weeks before hatching.

Sexual maturity, life span
The life span for Malpolon monspessulanus is about 25 years for males and around 16 years for females. They reach sexual maturity in their third or fourth year.

Habits
Montpellier snakes are very social, they are diurnal and 2-3 adults can sometimes be found within the same 500 m2. Newly hatched Montpellier snakes often stay close together until their first shed. Montpellier snakes polish their scales with the help of a small aperture on the outside of the nasal flap. The liquid released is some kind of oil which the snake rubs, using both sides of their head, along the body. They seem to be more keen on polishing their flanks and ventral scales on their back. This behaviour has two purposes. The first is to water-proof the skin and avoid dehydration, allowing the species to occupy dry habitats. The second reason is said to be territorial. Because they take more time and care polishing their ventral and flanks, it is thought that the snakes use the oily substance to mark the ground, sending out a sent to other Montpellier snakes. This behaviour is more common in hot weather, in cooler weather it is mostly done after a shed. The species often basks on roads, especially during mating season, when it is frequently run over by traffic.

Venom
The Montpellier snake is a rear-fanged snake. This means that the fangs are situated at the back of the upper jaw. Symptoms of a bite are usually fever, swelling and headache which last a few hours, or up to a day at most. There have been no European fatalities due to a Montpellier snake bite. Prey is killed within minutes. For a human to get intoxicated, the snake would have to bite persistenly as the fangs are far to the rear of the mouth.

Habitat
They live in dry open areas, rich of rocky formations and often with dense vegetation nearby. They are more common in these habitats when there is permanent water nearby.

Predators
As juveniles, they have many predators: mainly small mammals, birds of prey and so on. As adults they do not have many predators. At large size, they are not hunted by birds of prey, however they often get killed by humans, especially on roads.