A guide to the Italian reptiles: 50+ species of snakes (viper, four-lined snake, grass snake), lizards (green lizard, gecko), sea and land turtles
Italy has 50+ species of reptiles, one of the richest herpetological faunas in Europe for the variety of environments: the Alps, the Apennines, the plains, the Mediterranean coasts, the islands. Many Italians (and tourists) fear reptiles more than is rational, and many don't know that the Italian reptiles play a fundamental ecological role as predators of rodents and insects. This guide separates the facts from the myths.
Three species of viper live in Italy: Vipera aspis (the common viper, present in the whole Apennines and in the Alps up to 2,500 m), Vipera berus (the adder, the Alps and Prealps, more northern), Vipera ammodytes (the horned viper, the eastern Alps and the Trieste Carso). All three are venomous, the bite can be dangerous but is rarely lethal for a healthy adult with access to medical care. Viper deaths in Italy: 0-3 a year on average, almost all in elderly people or those with cardiovascular conditions. For comparison, bees and wasps cause 15-20 deaths a year in Italy from anaphylactic shock.
The four-lined snake (Elaphe quatuorlineata), four longitudinal yellow-brown stripes on a pale background, is the largest snake in Italy (up to 2 meters) and one of the largest in Europe. It's completely harmless: it has no venom, doesn't bite unless provoked, feeds on rodents and eggs. The four-lined snake is protected by Italian law (Legislative Decree 157/1992), catching or killing one is illegal with a fine up to €1,500. Its presence is an indicator of a healthy ecosystem: it preys on rodents that would otherwise be overabundant. Present in all central-southern Italy, islands included.
The grass snake (Natrix natrix), with a characteristic yellow-white collar behind the head, is the most frequent snake in Italy, present everywhere near water. It feeds on frogs, toads, and fish. It defends itself by spitting a foul-smelling liquid from the cloacal glands or by playing dead (thanatosis). It almost never bites. The viperine snake (Natrix maura), with a zig-zag pattern similar to the viper, is often killed by mistake, but it's harmless. Practical rule: a snake in the water is never a viper (vipers don't swim actively).
The western green lizard (Lacerta bilineata), the adult male with a bright green back, blue-turquoise flanks, and a sky-blue throat, is the most colorful lizard in Italy. It can reach 40 cm in length. The males are territorial and aggressive toward rivals of the same species, the fights between males in spring (April-May) are frequent spectacles at the edges of cultivated fields. Present in all peninsular Italy and in Sardinia.
The common gecko (Tarentola mauritanica) is one of the most familiar Italian reptiles: it lives on the walls of houses, active at night under the streetlamps where it hunts insects attracted by the light. Its toes are equipped with lamellae, microstructures of bristles that allow it to cling to smooth vertical surfaces through Van der Waals forces. It's completely harmless, beneficial (it eats mosquitoes and moths) and protected by law. The gecko's call, a repeated "tsk tsk tsk", is the most characteristic sound of the summer nights of southern Italy.
The Caretta caretta (loggerhead turtle) is the most common sea turtle in the Mediterranean, and the Mediterranean is its second reproductive habitat in the world after the Pacific. In Italy, the nesting beaches are concentrated in: Ionian Calabria (Soverato, Crotone), Puglia (Taranto, Brindisi), Sicily (Linosa, Lampedusa, the Ionian coast), southern Sardinia. Every summer, about 400-600 nests are identified and protected on the Italian coasts (WWF/Legambiente data). The female always returns to nest on the beach where she was born, navigation through the Earth's magnetic field.
The Hermann's tortoise (Testudo hermanni), the most common Italian land tortoise, is in decline from habitat loss (intensive agriculture, urbanization), road kills, and poaching (illegal sale as a pet). Present in Sardinia, Sicily, Calabria, Campania, southern Tuscany. You encounter it walking in the Mediterranean woods between April and October. It's illegal to catch, sell, or keep it without authorization.
| Species | Where | When |
|---|---|---|
| Vipera aspis | Apennines (800-1,800 m), sunny stony ground | April-October, midday hours |
| Four-lined snake | Mediterranean scrub, dry-stone walls, southern Italy | April-October |
| Green lizard | Field edges, hedges, ditches, all of Italy | April-September morning |
| Common gecko | House walls in the south, streetlamps at night | May-October, night |
| Caretta caretta | Italian seas, nests on southern beaches | July-September (nests) |
| Hermann's tortoise | Mediterranean scrub of Sardinia and Sicily | April-September |
| Three-toed skink (Chalcides chalcides) | Damp meadows of the center-south | Spring |
The key differences: the viper has a triangular, broad head, clearly separated from the neck (an "arrow"-shaped head); the viperine snake has an oval head not separated from the neck. The viper has a vertical (slit) pupil, the snake has a round pupil. The viper has a very regular zig-zag pattern; the viperine snake has less regular markings. The belly: the viper has pale ventral plates with dark spots; the snake has a uniform white-yellowish belly. If you aren't sure, don't approach the snake, treat it as potentially venomous and move away.
Probably the loggerhead turtle in its Italian reproductive component, the nesting populations are small and vulnerable. Among the land reptiles: the ocellated lizard (Timon lepidus) is the most at risk, present only in small areas of western Liguria (the border with France) with few estimated individuals. The slow worm (Anguis fragilis), a legless saurian that looks like a snake but isn't, is rare in the hill areas of northern Italy from the loss of grasslands. The smooth snake (Coronella austriaca) is rare and often killed in confusion with the viper.
Yes, all the Italian reptiles go into winter hibernation (technically "heterothermic hibernation" or winter torpor), the metabolism slows almost to zero, the body temperature drops along with the ambient one (reptiles are ectothermic). The duration varies by species and latitude: the vipers of the central Apennines sleep from October to March-April. The geckos of the south go into hibernation only on the coldest nights (December-January) and wake quickly. The land tortoises bury themselves from November to April. The spring awakening (March-April) coincides with the peak period of activity and visibility, it's the best time for observation.
The Italian wall lizard (Podarcis siculus) is the reptile every Italian knows without knowing its name: the "normal" lizard of the low walls, the gardens, the hedges. Small (10-18 cm), very fast, streaked with brown with paler longitudinal lines. It's the most adaptable lizard in Italy, it colonizes even the urban centers (it lives on the walls of the Colosseum, in the gardens of Villa Borghese, in the cracks of the Roman houses). It has colonized the Azores, the Canary Islands, parts of the USA and Argentina as an introduced species (unintentionally, on merchant ships).
The green lizard, on the contrary, is a species of undisturbed open habitats. Its presence is an indicator of environmental quality: natural hedges, field margins not treated with pesticides, ditches with vegetation. Where the green lizard is abundant, the agricultural landscape is relatively healthy. Where it has disappeared, the simplification of the landscape and the pesticides have reduced the populations. ISPRA has classified the green lizard as a species of conservation interest, not yet at risk, but to be monitored.
The Italian vipers feed mainly on: field mice, voles, lizards, and (the young) on large insects and small amphibians. They hunt by ambush, they stay motionless waiting for the prey, then strike with a venom bite followed by an immediate release. They wait for the venom to immobilize the prey (which can move 1-5 m before falling) and then follow it by smell. An adult eats 15-30 prey a year, the slow metabolism of reptiles requires few calories. A viper that has eaten a large vole can stay motionless 1-2 weeks during digestion.
The western whip snake (Hierophis viridiflavus), glossy black with yellow-green shades on the flanks, is the fastest snake in Italy: it can reach 10-12 km/h on the flat. It's completely harmless (not venomous), aggressive only if caught (it bites hard), active during the day (heliothermic like all reptiles). It's distinguished from the viper by: the oval head not separated from the neck, the round pupil, the slender, long body (up to 150 cm), the glossy black coloring. It's common in all central-southern Italy and in Sardinia, often found on the paved roads where it warms up. It's one of the most-killed Italian snakes by mistake and from fear, despite being completely harmless and protected by law.
Italy compresses into 300,000 km² a variety that in the USA would require crossing several states. The most important difference: in Italy every natural or cultural phenomenon is surrounded by 2,000 years of human history, there's no total wilderness (even the most remote national parks have ruins, medieval trails, hermitages). This adds layers of meaning the American parks don't have, but it also means less "true" wilderness in the North American sense of the term.
No. In the big cities and the main attractions, English is spoken fairly well by almost all the tourist staff. In rural Italy and the small villages, the level is much lower, but a smile, a "grazie" and "per favore" in Italian open many doors. The translation apps (Google Translate with the camera for the menus) solve most situations. The traveler who knows three words of Italian is treated better than the one who speaks only English at high volume.
April-June and September-October are the recommended periods for almost everything: less crowding than summer, pleasant temperatures, slightly lower prices, extraordinary photographic light in the golden hours. July-August is the tourist peak, intense heat (35-40°C in the cities), lines, peak prices. December-February has minimum prices and few people, but some coastal or high-altitude attractions close for the season.
For those who want to know more before leaving: the site of ENIT (the Italian National Tourism Board, www.italia.it) has official information in English on all the destinations. The Visit Italy portal of the Ministry of Culture (www.museiitaliani.it) has up-to-date information on museums and cultural sites. For the nature parks: the portal of the MASE (Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security, www.mase.gov.it) has the up-to-date pages of all the Italian National Parks. For the wildlife: the site of ISPRA (www.isprambiente.gov.it) publishes annually the reports on the state of wildlife in Italy, downloadable for free.