rfA/s i^v/'^ 



ELAPS. 21 



Genus EL. A PS, Schn. 



Gen. Char. Body slender and cylindrical, never exceeding three 

 or four feet in length. Head somewhat depressed, in most cases 

 continuous with the body ; subelliptical in shape, tapering forwards, 

 covered above with plates, generally nine in number. No pit be- 

 tween the eyes and the nostrils. Mouth moderately cleft, not di- 

 latable as in the other serpents. Upper jaw furnished on each side 

 with a small permanently erect fang, situated more posterior than in 

 Crotalidse. The tail is continuous with the body, conical, and taper- 

 ing towards the tip. Scales smooth; subcaudal scutellae entirely 

 bifid. 



Syn. Elaps, ScHN. Hist. Amph. Nat. & Lit. 1801, 289. 



1. Elaps fulvius, Cuv. — Head oval, posteriorly broader than the 

 neck. Body red, annulated with black rings margined with yellow. Verti- 

 cal plate pentagonal, rounded anteriorly ; its posterior tapering part in- 

 cluded between the occipitals. 



Stn. Coluber fulvitts, Lwn. Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 881. — Giii. Linn. Syst. 

 Nat. ed. xiii, I, iii, 1788, 1104. 



Vipera fulvia, Harl. Journ. Acad. Nat. Sc. Philad. V, 1827, 364. 



Elaps fulvius, Cnv. Rf-gn. Anim. II, 1817.— Fitz. N. Class. Kept. 1826, 61. 

 — HoLBK. N. Amer. Herp. II, 1838, 87. PI. xviii; and 2d ed. Ill, 1842, 49. 



PI.X. 



Harlequin Snake. 



The red may be considered as the ground-color of the body, though 

 the black rings occupy nearly as much space above as the red, so as 

 to give the general appearance of a succession of red and black rings. 

 The yellow is intermediate. The anterior part of the head from the 

 posterior point of the vertical plate, embracing the orbits, is black, as 

 is also the tip of the lower jaw. A yellow ring passes across the oc- 

 cipital region down to the inferior surface of the head, embracing the 

 space between the posterior rim of the eye and the angle of the mouth. 

 Then comes a black ring, covering eight dorsal scales, margined pos- 

 teriorly with yellow. From this region to the origin of the tail, the 

 black and red rings from 14 to 19 in number each, alternate, being 



