ELAPS, 185 
I find the following variations recorded by authors, or in the specimens at my 
disposal :— 
Specimen from Caracas (Jan). 278 ventrals. 
» Bogota (Mus. Brit.). 277 » 
» Costa Rica (Cope). 268 » 
7 Panama (Mus. Brit.). 261 ” 
> Chontales (Mus. Brit.). 239 ” 
- Venezuela (Mus. Brit.). 239 » 
” No locality (Mus. Brit.). 233 » 
» Caracas (Mus. Brit.). 210 » 
» Venezuela (Mus. Brit.). 204 ” 
6. Elaps ruatanus, sp. n. (Tab. LVII. fig. B.) 
Hab. Honpuras, Ruatan I. (G. F. Gaumer). 
Habit rather stout for an Lilaps ; ventral scutes 184-204. Vertical shield narrow, 
sometimes twice as long as broad. ‘Trunk with about forty-five complete black rings, as. 
broad on the abdomen as on the back, and separated by white (reddish) interspaces 
about as wide as the black rings. The black rings, however, are not always of the 
same width ; in some individuals broader black rings (four scales wide) alternate with 
narrower ones (two or three scales wide). The head is of the same bright colour as 
the lighter interspaces on the trunk, with the exception of the upper part of the snout 
and a narrow fringe of the anterior lower labials. The first black ring is posterior 
to the occipitals, and complete. ‘Tail with four black rings and black tip. 
Of this form I have eight specimens pefore me, agreeing with each other in the 
general pattern of coloration, and showing only a slight variation of the number of 
ventral scutes ; I count 184-186 in six, and 200-204 in two of the specimens. ‘There- 
fore this appears to be a distinguishable local form. 
7. Klaps lemniscatus, 
Coluber lemniscatus, Linn. Mus. Ad. Fried. p. 34, t. 14. fig. 1. 
laps lemniscatus, Schneid. Hist. Amph. p. 291; Dum. & Bibr. Erpét. vii. p. 1217. 
laps marcgravii, Wied, Abbild. Naturg. Bras., Rept. t. 42; Dum. & Bibr. Erpét. vii. p. 1209. 
Klaps marcgravii, var. laticollaris, Peters, MB. Ak. Wiss. Berl. 1869, p. 877. 
Hab. Mexico, Puebla (Peters).—Troprican Soura Ammrica. 
8. Elaps decoratus. 
Hlaps decoratus, Jan, Rev. et Mag. Zool. x. p. 525 (1858) ; Iconogr. Ophid. xlii. t. 6. fig. 4; Giinth, 
P. Z. S. 1859, p. 85, t. 18. fig. A. 
Hab. * Muxico (Jan).—Brazi (Mus. brit.). 
BIOL, CENTR.-AMER., Rept., August 1895. #24 
