South African coral snake
| South African coral snake | ||||||||||||
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Aspidelaps lubricus infuscatus |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Aspidelaps lubricus | ||||||||||||
| ( Laurenti , 1768) |
The South African coral snake ( Aspidelaps lubricus ), also Cape cobra dwarf shield or shield nose cobra is a snake of the genus of aspidelaps ( Aspidelaps ) from the family of Venomari (Elapidae).
features
South African coral snakes are small snakes that reach a body length of 60 to 80 centimeters. The short head hardly stands out from the neck and has a snout shield that is as wide as it is high. The nominate form ( A. l. Lubricus ) is yellow-orange in color and has 20 to 47 black cross bands on the body, the first of which is formed into a wide neck band that tapers at an acute angle towards the back of the head. The cross bars are narrower on the stomach side. There is a black spot under the eye that touches the edge of the mouth. The trunk has 19 oblique rows of smooth scales in the middle, 142 to 168 ventral shields , 20 to 28 sub-caudal shields, and an undivided anal shield .
The subspecies A. l. cowlesi (Bogert 1940) is almost without drawings, has a pale top of the head and has 21 to 23 rows of scales in the middle of the trunk and 144 to 161 ventral shields .
The subspecies A. l. infuscatus ( Mertens 1954) has a dark head and less pronounced body coloring than the nominate form and has 149 to 172 ventral shields and 27 to 36 sub-caudal shields . The tail is longer and more pointed than that of the other subspecies.
Occurrence
The species prefers sandy semi-deserts . The nominate form occurs in the western and central Cape Province as well as in the South African Province of Free State , A. l. cowlesi in southern Angola and A. l. infuscatus in Namibia .
Way of life
South African coral snakes burrow in the ground. They leave their shelter at night or after heavy rains and hunt small reptiles and mammals. When threatened, the animals straighten up like a cobra and threaten by puffing up their necks. Most of the time it is struck with the mouth closed. The poison is moderately strong. The species lays clutches of 3 to 11 eggs in summer.
swell
- Ludwig Trutnau: poisonous snakes . Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-8001-7371-9 , pp. 54-56 .
- Vincent Carruthers: Wildlife of South Africa: A Field Guide to the Animals and Plants of the Region . Struik, 2005, ISBN 1-86872-451-4 , pp. 98 .
