Rena dulcis

The Texas blind snake appears much like a shiny earthworm. It is pinkish-brown (puce) in color with a deep sheen to its scales. It appears not to be segmented. The eyes are no more than two dark dots under the head scales. The upper jaw contains no teeth, and the lower jaw is incredibly short (less than half the length of the skull). When ingesting prey, the snake flexes the front of its short lower jaw quickly in a raking motion to fling prey into its esophagus, a technique unique to the family Leptotyphlopidae. Adults can grow to approximately in total length, including the tail. ==Behavior==

R. dulcis is terrestrial, fossorial, and secretive. ==Diet==

The diet of R. dulcis consists primarily of termite and ant larvae. ==Reproduction==

R. dulcis is oviparous. ==Common names==

Common names for R. dulcis include the following: burrowing snake, ==Geographic range==

R. dulcis is found in the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. In the USA it occurs in southwestern Kansas, western Oklahoma including the panhandle, central and southern Texas, west through southern New Mexico. In northern Mexico it has been reported in Chihuahua, Coahuila, Tamaulipas, Nuevo León, San Luis Potosí, Veracruz, Querétaro, Hidalgo, and Puebla. The type locality given by Baird and Girard is "Between San Pedro and Camanche [sic] Springs, Tex." (Comanche Springs, Texas). ==Habitat==

R. dulcis is found in a variety of habitats including desert, grassland, shrubland, savanna, and forest. ==Conservation==

Gauging wild blind snake populations is virtually impossible due to their secretive nature. However, like many other native Texas species, R. dulcis is known to be detrimentally affected by the red imported fire ant. ==Subspecies==

The following three subspecies are recognized as being valid. • Rena dulcis dulcis • Rena dulcis rubellum • Rena dulcis supraorbicularis Nota bene: A trinomial authority in parentheses indicates that the subspecies was originally described in a genus other than Rena. ==References==