Description: This form is typically a light tan in color, with darker brown, wide crossbands - which gives it its common name. The actual color varies, by locality, from a red-brown, to a gray-brown. It overlaps with the southern copperhead, A. contortrix in the eastern reaches of its range, making specimens there difficult to distinguish, but generally A. contortrix has banding that narrows at the spine, creating hourglass shapes, whereas A. laticinctus has bands that do not narrow at the spine. They grow to approximately 20-36 inches in length. As juveniles, all species of Agkistrodon have a bright green-yellow color to their tail tips, believed to be used as a lure to attract prey items to approach within striking range. The color fades to a grey or brown at about a year of age.

Habitat: Copperheads are often in or near deciduous forest in hilly situations, usually in the vicinity of rock outcrops; they occur also on floodplains and at the edges of swamps in the south and in mesic situations near water in the arid west. Hibernation generally occurs in dens among rocks, or in caves, animal burrows, under objects, in hollow logs or stumps, or in similar sites. Usually copperheads are in areas with abundant surface cover such as rocks, logs, stumps, or leaf-litter. They are mainly terrestrial but sometimes climb into vegetation up to a few metres above the ground. In the east at least, gravid females select rocky areas that are more open and have warmer soil temperatures than those used by non-gravid individuals.

Range: Agkistrodon laticinctus is known to populate the region between 97 degrees and 99 degrees west longitude, from Central Texas north to the southern border of Kansas and Oklahoma.

Found in these States: KS | OK | TX

Venom: Like most pit viper species, A. laticinctus has a hemotoxic venom, which is delivered through hinged, hollow fangs set in the front of their jaws. The fangs work like hypodermic needles, injecting the venom in a single, quick striking motion. Copperhead venom is not considered to be life-threatening to an otherwise healthy adult, but it can cause localized swelling, necrosis, and severe pain. Any bite from a venomous snake should be considered serious and medical treatment sought. There is no antivenin specifically manufactured for copperheads. However, CroFab, which makes use of the venom from the cottonmouth (Agkistrodon piscivorus), can be used in cases of a severe envenomation.

Diet: It is an ambush predator, eating rodents, birds, lizards, anurans, and certain insects, with juveniles in particular having a taste for various kinds of insects, such as cicadas.

Reproduction: They are ovoviviparous, giving birth to a litter of up to eight young in the early fall.

Status: Listed as Least Concern in view of its wide distribution, presumed large population, and because it is unlikely to be declining fast enough to qualify for listing in a more threatened category.

Taxonomy: Agkistrodon laticinctus was formerly considered a subspecies of Agkistrodon contortrix.