Midland Painted Turtle (Chrysemys picta marginata) replaces Eastern Painted Turtle (C. p. picta) in western Maryland, and into the Ohio River Valley and Great Lakes regions of North America. Painted turtles are named for the colorful red and yellow markings on the head and shell. This conspicuous and abundant aquatic turtle inhabits a wide variety of ponds, lakes, slower rivers, and ditches with aquatic vegetation, frequently spending much of their time basking on rocks or logs (Conant & Collins, 1998). This subspecies is restricted to western Maryland, but may intergrade with Eastern where ranges come into contact (Maryland DNR website).
Unlike Maryland's more widespread Eastern Painted (C. p. picta), the scutes on the carapace (i.e., plates on the upper shell) are staggered rather than even with one another across its shell. The plastron (underside) is variable, often showing dark splotches but sometimes all dark.
There are 17 records in the project database.
| GA | AL | WA | FR | CL | MO | HO | BA | BC | HA | CE | PG | AA | CV | CH | SM | KE | QA | CN | TA | DO | WI | SO | WO |
