ARKIV FÖR ZOOLOGI. 



BAND 7. N:o 8. 



Two iiew Snakes from Lower Coiigo. 



Described 



by 



EINAR LÖNNBERG. 



With 3 TextfigLires. 

 Read Octobre 12th 1910. 



From time to time Mr K. E. Laman and his fellow missio- 

 naries at the Swedish missionstation Mukimbungii in Lower 

 Congo have kindly presented small collections of reptiles to 

 the R. Natural Histor}^ Museum.^ This autumn as well, such 

 a little coUection arrived from Mr Laman, and, when labeling 

 the snakes, I was very pleasantl}^ surprised in finding among 

 them two specimens which could not be identified with the 

 aid of the available literature and which I therefore venture 

 to describe as new 



Mehelya^ (or Simocephalus) lamaiii n. sp. 



Rostral much broader than deep, well visible from above, 

 the length of the visible portion being contained about four 

 times in its distance from the frontal. Internasals broader 



^ The number of species of snakes received from Lower Congo now 

 amounts to 27, which all of them, however, except tho two species now 

 to be described are known from the West African region. 



' PoCHE has stated (Zool. Ann. XXVI p. 699) that Simocephalus Gthr 

 is preoccupied by Simocephalus Schödl. and he hastened to enrich the 

 ophidian synonymy, wåth not less than two new generic names {Grohhenia 

 and Siebenrockia) but Csikis name Mehelya has to be used for this genus, 

 if GuNTHERS name has to be abandoned. 



Arhiv för zoologi. Band 7. X:o 8. 1 



