BREEDING FREQUENCY, CLUTCH SIZE, REPRODUCTIVE STATUS AND CORRELATED BEHAVIORS IN SYMPATRIC FEMALES ELAPHE QUATUORLINEATA AND ELAPHE LONGISSIMA (REPTILIA, COLUBRIDAE)

Reproductive status, litter size, and correlated behaviours have been studied in a few long-term monitored females of the sympatric snakes E laphe quatuorlineata (n = 6) and E. longissima (n = 5). The study was carried out in a hilly territory of Mediterranean central Italy (Tolfa Mountains, Latium). This study revealed that both species were simila r in terms of frequency of reproduction (most females were able to bea r in most years), absolute clutch size (9.42 +/- 1.86 eggs in E. longi ssima and 10.32 +/- 1.25 eggs in E. quatuorlineata), clutch size relat ive to maternal size (0.08 +/- 0.01 in E. longissima and 0.07 +/- 0.01 in E. quatuorlineata), timing of egg laying (from 19th July to 2nd Au gust) and timing of egg hatching (late August). Moreover, there was ev idence of low mortality costs associated with post-oviposition in eith er species. E. quatuorlineata females were consistent among years in t he litter size they produced, while the same was not true for E. longi ssima females. No study year was particularly positive (or negative) f or the production by all the examined females of larger (smaller) litt ers than expected from their body sizes.