Alternate name: Western Threadsnake

Family: Leptoyyphlopidae, Slender Blind Snakes view all from this family

Description 7-16" (17.8-40.6 cm). Smooth, shiny cylindrical snake; brown, purplish, or silvery pink with blunt head and tail. Small spine on tip of tail. Black eye spots beneath ocular scales; only 1 scale on top of head between large scale covering each eye. No enlarged belly scales. 14 rows of scales around body.

Subspecies Southwestern (L. h. humilis), 12 scales around tail, 7-9 darkly colored scale rows on midback; s. California (except se. corner) and s. Nevada, southeast to sc. Arizona.
Desert (L. h . cahuilae), 12 scales around tail, 5 deeply colored scale rows on midback; sw. Arizona and se. California into Mexico.
Trans-Pecos (L. h. segregus), 10 scales around tail, 7 scale rows on midback deeply colored; se. Arizona, sw. New Mexico, w. Texas into Mexico.
Utah (L. h. utahensis), 12 scales around tail, 7 deeply pigmented scale rows on midback, 4th middorsal scale behind rostral divided - 5th expanded; se. Nevada and extreme sw. Utah.

Breeding Mates in spring. Clutch of 2-6 slender eggs, 5/8" (15 mm) long, is laid July to August. Females tend eggs, and may use communal nests. Hatchlings are about 3 1/2" (9 cm) long.

Habitat Deserts, grassland, scrub, canyons, and rocky foothills with moist sandy or gravelly soils suitable for burrowing; sea level to 5,000' (1,500 m)

Range Extreme sw. Utah, s. Nevada and California into Baja California, s. Arizona, sw. New Mexico, w. Texas, and Mexico.

Discussion Subterranean in habitat, and capable of borrowing quickly into loose soil or sand. On warm evenings it emerges at sunset from beneath moist rocks or among roots of bushes and forages for termites and ants, following their trails by smell.