{{Taxobox
| name = Milk Snake
| image = Red milk snake.JPG
| image_width = 235px
| image_caption = Red milk snake ''Lampropeltis triangulum syspila''
| regnum = Animalia
| phylum = Chordata
| classis = Reptilia
| ordo = Squamata
| subordo = Serpentes
| familia = Colubridae
| genus = ''Lampropeltis''
| species = '''''L. triangulum'''''
| binomial = ''Lampropeltis triangulum''
| binomial_authority = LaCépède, 1788<ref name="Grzimek" />
}}

The '''milk snake''' (''Lampropeltis triangulum''; French: ''Couleuvre tachetée''; Spanish: ''Culebra-real coralillo'')<ref name="Grzimek" /> is a species of king snake. There are 25 subspecies among the milk snakes, including the commonly named scarlet kingsnake (''L. t. elapsoides'').<ref name="Grzimek" /> The subspecies have strikingly different appearance, and many of them have their own common names. Some authorities suggest that this species may be split into several separate species.<ref name="Grzimek">{{citation
 | title = Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia
 | author1-last = Savitzky
 | author1-first = Alan H.
 | editor1-last = Hutchins
 | editor1-first = Michael
 | editor2-last = Evans
 | editor2-first = Arthur V.
 | editor3-last = Jackson
 | editor3-first = Jerome A.
 | editor4-last = Kleiman
 | editor4-first = Devra G.
 | volume = 7: Reptiles
 | edition = 2<sup>nd</sup>
 | place = Detroit
 | publisher = Gale
 | year = 2004
 | page = 477
 | url = http://go.galegroup.com
}}</ref> They are distributed from southeastern Canada, through most of the continental United States, to Central America, down to western Ecuador and northern Venezuela of northern South America.<ref name="Grzimek" /><ref name="Armstrongetal2001">{{citation
 | title = Analysis of sympatric populations of Lampropeltis triangulum syspila and Lampropeltis triangulum elapsoides, in western Kentucky and adjacent Tennessee with relation to the taxonomic status of the scarlet kingsnake
 | last1 = Armstrong
 | first1 = Michael P.
 | last2 = Frymire
 | first2 = David
 | last3 = Zimmerer
 | first3 = Edmund J.
 | journal = Journal of Herpetology
 | volume = 35
 | issue = 4
 | date = December 2001
 | year = 2001
 | pages = 688-93
 | issn = 0022-1511
 | url = http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com/hww/jumpstart.jhtml?recid=0bc05f7a67b1790e050a2140da939dde29bfd13582719af621eb734dba33044f9d443e023694dc49&fmt=P
}}</ref> They grow 20 to 60 inches (50-152 cm) long.<ref name="Grzimek" />

==Appearance==

Milksnakes have smooth and shiny scales and their typical color pattern is alternating bands of red-black-yellow or white-black-red.<ref name="Grzimek" /> However, red blotches instead of bands are seen in some populations.<ref name="Grzimek" /> Some milk snakes have a striking resemblance to coral snakes and this mimicry (known as Batesian mimicry) likely scares away potential predators.  While both milksnakes and coral snakes possess transverse bands of red, black and yellow, a common mnemonic can be used to properly distinguish between the deadly coral snake and the harmless milksnake:

:*''"Red touches black, you're OK Jack; red touches yellow, you're a dead fellow."'' or;
:*''"Red next to black, is a friend of Jack; red next to yellow, will kill a fellow."'' or;
:*''"Red to yellow, kill a fellow. Red to black, venom lack."'' or;
:*''"Red and yellow, kill a fellow. Red and black, friend of Jack."'' or;
:*''"Red touch yellow, will kill a fellow. Red touch black, Cant do Jack."''

However, the Eastern Milk Snake (''L. t. triangulum'') does not resemble a coral snake; instead it tends to have similar markings to that of several other snakes, particularly the fox snake and the Copperhead. There is enough distinction to make the Eastern Milk Snake fairly easy to identify.  Eastern Milk Snakes also have a light colored v-shaped or y-shaped patch on their neck.  One subspecies is melanistic (almost all black).<ref name="Grzimek" />

Milksnakes have no eyelids and instead have a transparent covering that rests over their eyes called brilles to protect their eyes from dust and dirt.<ref name="encyc" />  The brilles give them a "glassy-eyed" blank appearance.<ref name="encyc" />

==Habitat==
Across the wide range of this species, habitat varies.  Typically, milksnakes live in forested regions, however, in some regions they can be located in open prairies.  In various parts of across its distribution, milksnakes often abide in rocky slopes.<ref name="Grzimek" />

==Behavior==
Milksnakes activity is mostly terrestrial, except the scarlet kingsnake sometimes takes shelter under the bark of standing dead pine trees.

==Diet==

Young milksnakes typically eat slugs, insects, and earthworms.<ref name="encyc" />
Adult diet frequently includes lizards (especially skinks), snakes, and small mammals.<ref name="Grzimek" />  They are also known to eat birds and their eggs, frogs, fish, and other snakes.<ref name="encyc" />

Milk Snakes are much more opportunistic eaters than the fox snake or corn snake. They have been known to consume a variety of eggs, diet of an adult milk snake still primarily consists of rodents. They are nocturnal eaters and are often found during the day in old barns and under wood.

<!-- Für Informationen zum Umgang mit dieser Tabelle siehe bitte Wikipedia:Taxoboxen. -->
{{Taxobox
| Taxon_Name       = Dreiecksnatter
| Taxon_WissName   = Lampropeltis triangulum
| Taxon_Rang       = Art
| Taxon_Autor      = Lacépède, 1789
| Taxon2_Name      = Königsnattern
| Taxon2_WissName  = Lampropeltis
| Taxon2_Rang      = Gattung
| Taxon3_Name      = Nattern
| Taxon3_WissName  = Colubridae
| Taxon3_Rang      = Familie
| Taxon4_Name      = Schlangen
| Taxon4_WissName  = Serpentes
| Taxon4_Rang      = Unterordnung
| Taxon5_Name      = Schuppenkriechtiere
| Taxon5_WissName  = Squamata
| Taxon5_Rang      = Ordnung
| Taxon6_Name      = Reptilien
| Taxon6_WissName  = Reptilia
| Taxon6_Rang      = Klasse
| Bild             = Lampropeltis2.jpg
| Bildbeschreibung = Sinaloa-Dreiecksnatter (''Lampropeltis triangulum sinaloae'')
}}

Die '''Dreiecksnatter''' (''Lampropeltis triangulum'') oder '''Milchschlange''' wurde durch Bernard-Germain-Étienne de La Ville-sur-Illon La Cépède im Jahr 1789 als ''Lampropeltis'' beschrieben und von Leopold Fitzinger 1843 der Gattung Königsnattern zugeordnet. Die Gattung ''Lampropeltis'' besteht aus etwa acht Arten, bei der Dreiecksnatter werden über 20 Unterarten unterschieden, darunter die Rote Königsnatter. 

Der Name Milchschlange leitet sich aus der in den USA gebräuchlichen Bezeichnung ''milksnake'' ab. Von der Königsnatter glaubte man, dass sie die Milch aus den Kuheutern sauge. Auf der Suche nach Nagetieren oder zum Schutz vor der Sonne waren diese Schlangen wohl häufig in der Nähe von Scheunen oder Ställen anzutreffen.

==Verbreitung==

Die Dreiecksnatter bewohnt Gebiete unter 1000&nbsp;m auf dem Nordamerikanischen Kontinent, von Mexiko bis Kanada. Diese sehr häufig vorkommende Art gilt nicht als gefährdet.

==Aussehen und Lebensweise==
Die Dreiecksnatter erreicht eine Länge von bis zu 1,30&nbsp;m und ein Alter von etwa 10 Jahren. Die Warnfärbung der Dreiecksnatter, die manchen Unterarten der Batessche Mimikry). Sie findet sich häufig in der Nähe von Getreidefeldern, wo sie als nacht- und dämmerungsaktiver Bodenbewohner nach Kleinnagern, Echsen, Amphibien und Reptilien sowie Eiern und wirbellosen Tieren jagt. Auch andere Schlangen sind als Beute nachgewiesen.

==Fortpflanzung==