A NEW SYSTEMATIC NAME FOR THE YELLOW BOA OF 



JAMAICA. 



By Lkonhard Ste.tneger. 



Curator. IHrltilnii nf Reptiles mid I'litrdcJiidvit. 



The yellow boa found in Jamaica is generally known as Cluhilxtt/inifi 

 t?wrriafit,s, or Epierates inornatus. The specitic name, however, was 

 g-iven by the elder Reinhardt to the boa inhabiting Porto Rico, and as 

 a direct comparison between a number of specimens from both islands 

 has convinced me that they are specifically distinct, I am constrained 

 to give the Jamaican boa a new name. 



EPICRATES SUBFLAVUS, new species. 



Diagnosis. — Scales 39-45 around the body; ventrals 274-286; no 

 labial pits; a single frontal between supraoculars, which are nearly as 

 large as frontal; prefrontals broadly in contact with preocular; color 

 pale yellowish, with numerous blackish dorsal and lateral cross bars 

 in zigzag, anteriorly quite broken and obscure, posteriorly strongly 

 marked and extended so as to make the ground color appear blackish. 



Type.—^o. U507, U.S.N.M. 



FTahltaf. — Jamaica. 



In the exclusion of the preocular from contact with the prefrontals 

 by one or more smaller shields the Porto Rican l)oa ditfers constantly 

 from the Jamaican species. The coloration is also quite different, and 

 there are numerous other characters in the scutellation the constancy 

 of which can only be demonstrated by a larger material than I hav(» 

 access to at present. The division of the nasal does not otier a good 

 character, though in the Porto Rican form it appears to be oftener 

 undivided than in Jamaican specimens, l)ut the size and arrangement 

 of th(^ parietals seem to be fairly diagnostic, since in all the specimens 

 and accurate figures of Jamaican specimens examined by me there are 



Proceedings U. S. National Museum, Vol. XXIII— No. 1218. 



469 



