Literature and synonyms

Synonyms:

Coluber Dione PALLAS 1773: 717
Coluber diana LATREILLE 1802: 159 (emendation)
Coluber eremita EICHWALD 1831: 174 (fide STEJNEGER 1907)
Coluber maeoticus RATHKE 1837: 433 (fide STEJNEGER 1907)
Coluber trabalis SCHLEGEL 1837: 167 (fide DUMÉRIL & BIBRON 1854)
Zamenis trabalis - DUMÉRIL, BIBRON & DUMÉRIL 1854: 689
Elaphis dione - DUMÉRIL & BIBRON 1854: 248
Elaphis dione - GÜNTHER 1864: 240
Coluber dione - BOULENGER 1894: 44
Zamenis trabalis - MÜLLER 1895: 203
Coluber dione - STONE 1899: 184
Elaphe dione - STEJNEGER 1907: 315
Zamenis PELLIOTI 1910
Coluber dione - BOULENGER 1913
Elaphe czerskii NIKOLSKY 1914
Elaphe dione niger GOLUBEVA 1923
Elaphe dione tenebrosa SOBOLEVSKY 1929
Elaphe dione - ENGELMANN et al 1993
Elaphe dione - SCHULZ 1996
Elaphe dione - UTIGER et al. 2002

Subspecies: none (not officially)

Family:

Colubridae, Serpentes (snakes)

Distribution:

E Ukraine, S/SE Russia, Far East (Russia), Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan,
Afghanistan, N Iran, Armenia, Kirghizia, Korea, Mongolia, Russia,
N China (southward to Sichuan in the west and Jiangsu in the east; Kiangsu, Shantung, Shansi, Shensi, Gansu; north to Chang Jiang river)

Terra typica: unknown (Pallas, 1773); Gratscheffskoi, Kasachstan (Mertens & Mueller, 1928)
Terra typica: South Siberia, Russia (fide KHALIKOV, pers. comm.)

Comment:

Synonymy partly after KHALIKOV & ANANJEVA (pers. comm.) and STEJNEGER 1907. See also discussion on Coluber trabalis in PETERS 1861: 481.
Named after "Dione" the mother of Aphrodite in Greek mythology.

References:

--> Boulenger (1890) Ann. Mag. nat. Hist. (6) 5: 137-144
Boulenger (1894) Catalogue Snakes, Vol. II.
Boulenger (1913) The snakes of Europe. Methusen & Co. Ltd, London, 151 pp.
Duméril & Bibron (1854) Erpétologie générale. Vol. 7/1.
Eichwald (1831) Zoologia specialis.
Engelmann etc. (1993) Lurche Kriechtiere Europas.
Günther (1864) Rept. British India.
--> Günther (1888) Ann. Mag. nat. Hist. (6) 1: 165-172
Lambert (2002) Herpetological Bulletin (79): 7-13
Latreille (1801) Chez Deterville, Paris.
Lenk etc. (2001) Amphibia-Reptilia 22 (3): 329-339
Macey etc. (1988) Chinese Herpetological Research 2 (1): 4-5
Mattison (1997) Reptiles 5 (3): 24-29
Müller (1895) Verh. Naturf. Ges. Basel 10: 195-215
Obst etc. (1993) In: Böhme,W. (ed.), Handbuch der Reptilien und Amphibien Europas, Band 3/I., Schlangen (Serpentes) I.
Paik etc. (1987) Korean Journal of Zoology 30 (3): 211-218
Pallas (1773) Kaiserl. Akad. Wiss., St. Petersburg, 744pp.
--> Peters etc. (1861) Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (3) 7: 481-484
Rathke (1837) Mém. Sav. Étrang. Acad. St. Pétersbourg 3: 433
Schneeweiss (1989) Salamandra 25 (3/4): 191-202
Schulz (1996) Monographie Elaphe.
Schulz (1996) Monograph Elaphe.
Stejneger (1907) Bull. US. Natl. Mus., Washington, 58: xx, 1-577
--> Stone (1899) Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 1899: 183-184
Utiger etc. (2002) Russian Journal of Herpetology 9 (2): 105-124.
Zhao & Adler (1993) Herpetology of China.