CROCODILIAN^, LIZARDS, AND 8NAKE8. 



027 



LODIA Baird and Girard. 

 Lodia Baikd and Gikakd, Cat. N. Amer. Kept., Pt. 1, Serp., 1853, p. llfi. 

 Head ovoidal, distinct from the body. Two vertical plates, a small 

 anterior one being sitnated between the i)ostfrontals immediately in 

 advance of the vertical proper. One nasal. Loreal entering into the 

 orbit ; above it one anteorbital. Superciliaries elongated and well 

 developed. Mental scutella' one pair. Pupil circular. Scales smooth. 

 Postabdominal scutella bifid. Subcaudal, all in pairs. 



LODIA TENUIS Baird and Girard. 



Lodia tcntila IJaiuu and Gikaiu>, Cat. N. Amer. Eepl., Pt. 1, Serp., 185H, j». lltj. — Cope, 

 Check-list N. Amer. Katr. Rept., 1875, p. 3(5. 



Frontal i)late hexagonal, as broad anteriorly as posteriorly, wider 

 than in Confia mitis. Anterior frontal ovoidal or subelliptical, inter- 

 mediate between the postfrontals, which are angular and extend to the 

 sides of tli!^ liend. Tnternasals subtriangular, about half the size of 



prefrontals. Ivostral broad and 

 well developed. Occipitals sub- 

 angular externally, proportion- 

 ally large and elongated. Na- 

 sals large, nostrils iu the middle, 

 between both plates. Loreal 

 large, polygonal, elongated, sit- 

 uated above the commissure of 

 the second and third upper 

 labials, entering into the orbit 

 as an inferior anteorbital. A 

 quadrangular superior anteor- 

 bital, inclosed between the postfrontal, superciliary, and loral. Two 

 angular postorbitals, inferior one resting on the commissure of the 

 fourth and fifth labials. Superciliaries oblong. Temporal shields 1-2, 

 conspicuous, anterior one elongated and largest. Mouth deeply cleft. 

 Upper labials six, the three posterior ones a little larger than the 

 three anterior. Lower labials six, fourth largest. Mental scutelhe one 

 pair. Body slender, subcylindrical; tail short, conical, and tapering. 

 Scales proportionally large, rhomboidal, smooth, forming fifteen dorsal 

 rows; outer row but slightly broader than the rest. 



Body dull brown above, bluish on the sides, with a longitudinal 

 lighter strijie on each Hank. Abdomen lighter; bases of scutella' blu- 

 ish. Tail beneath uuicolor with an external series of bluish spots. 



Cat. No. 72«!t; n]>])(r labials, 6; gastrostcgcs, 150 -f 1 ; urosteges, 33; scales, 15. 

 LoiUd ten Ilia liaird and (lirard. 



Lodia te>'UIs Baibd and Giraiu). 



X 1.5. 



Puget Sound, Wasbiugton. 



Cat. No. 7289, U.S.N. M. 



