612 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OF [DeC, 



A NEW SPECIES OF OPHIBOLUS FROM WESTERN TEXAS 

 BY ARTHUR ERWIN BROWN. 



Ophibolus alternus *!> "ov. Plate XXXIV. 



Maxillary teeth 13; mandibular 14-15. Body moderately slen- 

 der; bead distinct, muzzle contracted; eye rather large. Rostral 

 low and broad, barely visible from above; internasals about half 

 tlie length of prefrontals ; frontal a little longer than the suture 

 between parietals, longer than the snout; parietals large, wide in 

 front, narrow behind; nasals 2, the nostril between them; loreal 

 small, longer than high; preocular 1 ; post oculars, 2 on one side, 3 

 on the other; temporals, 2-3 on one .side, 3-4 on the other; upper 

 labials 7, third and fourth in orbit; lower labials 11. Posterior 

 chin shields a little shorter than the anterior, not separated by 

 scales. Scales smooth, with two inconspicuous pits, in 25 rows. 

 Ventrals 217; anal entire; subcaudals 60 pairs. Total length 710 

 mm. (tail 115). 



The ground color is slate gray, crossed on the back, at intervals 

 of 3 to 5 scales, by bands of black which are alternately wider 

 and narrower, the wide ones covering from 2 to 8 scales on the 

 middle of the back, and more or less divided transversely on their 

 centres with scarlet. The narrow bands are about one scale wide 

 and wholly black, occasionally broken through by the ground color. 

 On the neck the bands are narrower and less defined, while the red 

 is more pronounced on the posterior part of the body. There are 

 nineteen red and black bauds on the body, and an equal number 

 of the intermediate black ones. On the tail there are 5 bands, 

 which form quite distinct rings, on the last two of which the red 

 is absent. The head, including the labials, is dark gray with 

 small dark mottlings, not well defined, and a narrow black streak 

 from the postoculars to the angle of the mouth. Ventral surface 

 grayish white, heavily blotched with 1)lack, into which the black 

 portion of the cross bands runs. 



Type, No. 14,977 Academy Coll. From the Davis Mountains, 

 Jeff Davis count v, Texas. Collected bv E. Mevenberg. 



