However, for the present, if you are trying to separate childreni from “stimsoni” (=saxacola) or childreni from maculosa there shouldn’t be too much difficulty, because just on colour and pattern they fall out fairly well. In this regard childreni are uniform brownish and are usually fairly patternless. When childreni actually are patterned, then the pattern is quite regular in appearance, with the small blotches more or less aligned longitudinally along the body, and seldom is there any coalescence of the blotches either. In the case of “stimsoni” (=saxacola), well they are usually strongly patterned, with a series of bold, darker brown or reddish blotches more or less arranged in transverse rows over the body. The blotches are smooth-edged and often coalesce with others. Additionally, there is always a prominent white ventrolateral stripe along the first third of the body in “stimsoni” (=saxacola), but if this stripe is present in childreni or maculosa (and usually it is absent in both), then it is very weak. In Antaresia maculosa, well again, they possess a distinctive blotched pattern as in “stimsoni” (=saxacola), so there might be some initial confusion there, but in maculosa there is a much more complex pattern of blotching, with considerable coalescence. However, in maculosa, the blotches are ragged-edged, and in stimsoni (=saxacola) (and in those childreni so marked) the blotches are smooth-edged. This ragged-edged appearance to the blotches in maculosa, when combined with the coalescence of the blotching, tends to create a zig-zag effect to the body pattern. There is nothing at all like that in either childreni or “stimsoni” (=saxacola). Additionally, maculosa usually have a distinctive brown facial streak that extends from about the nasal, through the eye and along the temporal region.
In regards to the pattern of scalation, as I mentioned above, there is a broad overlap between the species and on first glance this can be confusing. Usually, however, and in the presence of one or more of the other defining characteristics, a mid body count under 40 will be a childreni, and over 40 will be a “stimsoni” (=saxacola). Another feature that is commonly different in “stimsoni” (=saxacola) is the number of loreals - in a “stimsoni” (=saxacola) there are often over 10 and in a childreni under 10 (but the western orientalis may be more like childreni in this regard, so be careful here). Although there are a similar number of supralabials in both species, counting from the rostral back, usually the 5th and 6th are suborbital in childreni, but in “stimsoni” (=saxacola) it is the 6th and 7th that are suborbital.
So, a plain or very weakly patterned specimen, that has over 40 mid-body scale rows, under 10 loreals, and with the 5th and 6th supralabials in contact with the orbit of the eye will likely be a childreni.
A specimen that has a distinct pattern of darker, smooth-edged blotches over the body, as well as a distinct creamish-white line running along the lower edge of the body from the lower part of the neck for about the first third of its body, that has under 40 mid-body scale rows, over 10 loreals, and with the 6th and 7th in contact with the orbit of the eye will likely be a “stimsoni” (=saxacola).
A specimen with a pattern of ragged-edged blotching forming a complex, but essentially transverse pattern, with a distinct brown facial streak, no pale ventrolateral stripe along the anterior third of the body particularly along the lower part of the neck (or if present very weak) will likely be a maculosa.
