Observations of Agonistic Behavior between Males of Elaphe quadrivirgata

Confirmation of Male Combat

Abstract

Although several authorities have listed Elaphe quadrivirgata as a species with male combat, this is originated from an erroneous citation, and there has been no actual evidence of male combat in this species. We describe here for the first time combat behavior between males of E. quadrivirgata based on the observations in the field and in outdoor seminatural enclosures.