Lycodon flavomaculatus

Lycodon flavomaculatus, commonly called the yellow-spotted wolf snake, is a species of colubrid snake found in the Western Ghats of India.

Lycodon flavomaculatus
Lycodon flavomaculatus at Amravati, Maharashtra
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Colubridae
Genus: Lycodon
Species:
L. flavomaculatus
Binomial name
Lycodon flavomaculatus
Wall, 1907
Synonyms
  • Lycodon flavomaculatus Wall, 1907
  • Ophites flavomaculatus
    – Wall, 1923
  • Lycodon flavomaculatus
    – M.A. Smith, 1943[2]

Description

Dorsally Lycodon flavimaculatus is shiny black with a series of yellow vertebral spots. Beside each spot whitish crossbars descend the flanks, beginning about the same width as the spots then widening. The spots are about 2 scales long, separated by intervals of 4 or 5 scales. The dorsal surface of the head is black, and the lips are white. The entire venter of the snake is white.

At first glance, it resembles Lampropeltis getula, the Eastern kingsnake of the United States.

The yellow-spotted wolf snake is a small snake. Adults are about 35 cm (13¾ inches) in length.

Dorsal scales in 17 rows on neck and at midbody, in 15 rows posteriorly. Ventrals 165–182, not angulate; anal plate divided; subcaudals 53–62, divided.[3]

Head slightly distinct from neck. Snout rounded and somewhat flattened. Nine upper labials, of which only the first contacts the nasal.[4]

References
  1. Srinivasulu, C.; Srinivasulu, B.; Thakur, S. & Vyas, R. (2013). "Lycodon flavomaculatus". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN. 2013: e.T172635A1356536. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T172635A1356536.en. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
  2. The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
  3. Wall, 1907, p. 613.
  4. Das, I. 2002. A Photographic Guide to Snakes and other Reptiles of India. Ralph Curtis Books. Sanibel Island, Florida. p. 37. ISBN 978-0-88359-056-0

Further reading
  • Lanza, B. 1999. A new species of Lycodon from the Philippines, with a key to the genus (Reptilia: Serpentes: Colubridae). Tropical Zoology 12: 89-104.
  • Wall, F. 1907. Some new Asian snakes. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 17 (3): 612–618.
  • Wall, F. 1923. A Hand-list of the Snakes of the Indian Empire. Part 2. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 29: 598–632.


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