loiy.] C. R. Narayan Rao : South Indian Pit-Vipers. 13 



Colour. Green or sometimes yellowish, side of the belly with 

 or without white spots : these are edged below by a black longi- 

 tudinal band. The white spots when present become horseshoe- 

 shaped markings in the preanal region. Dorsal surface with large 

 oval or lozenge-shaped brown spots which run into a zigzag line 

 posteriorly. Head mottled. Two roundish green or yellow spots 

 on the front of the nape. Temporal streak present. A dark 

 transverse line between supraoculars and another behind the inter- 

 nasals only in the green forms. Lips green, belly green, tail 

 banded with brown or green stripes. Tail sometimes speckled. 

 Young forms have a conspicuous black temporal streak. Body 

 green. Tail banded by white bands which are incomplete. Tip of 

 tail white (Total length 2| ft. Tail 4-5 inches, Boulenger). 



Habitat. South India. This is a purely arboreal snake and 

 its staple food consists of small birds, rodents and lizards. The 

 colour of the body exactly harmonizes with its surroundings, 

 variegated by light and shade, and the animal is thus able to 

 attack victims without being noticed. The fangs are enormously 

 big, a specimen 25 inches long may have fangs measuring nearly 

 12 mm. along the outer curve. 



Lachesis malabaricus (Jerdon). 



Ti'igonocephaliis {CopJiias) malabaricus, Jerdon, 'jfoiini. As. Sue. Ben- 



gal, XXII, p. 523 (1854)- 

 Trimeresavus anamalleyisis, Boulenger, Faun. Brit, hid., Rept., p. 430 



(in part). 



Head. The interorbital space fairly deeply concave. Snout 

 marked off from the head, with a conspicuous out-crop of large 

 imbricate scales. Head (without the snout) squarish ; temporal 

 swellings conspicuous. Snout rounded. Rostral scale squarish. 

 Internasal large, united or only separated anteriorly by a very 

 minute white fleshy tubercle. The supraloreal forms the roof over 

 a secondary pit formed by the nasal and the second labial, which 

 are in contact. This secondary pit may or may not open into the 

 loreal pit by a dorsal groove ; the supraocular somewhat narrow, 

 divided into three, clasped by two large scales; 6 to 8 scales be 

 tween the supraoculars, faintly or obtusely keeled ; 8 or q upper 

 labials. The second praeocular always less than half the size of the 

 first or the third which are nearly equal. Subocular large, single, 

 and one large postocular or two small ones. Three small, very 

 strongly keeled temporals, very often conical. Occasionally the 

 first upper labial fused with the nasal. One large scale intercal- 

 ated between the fourth and fifth upper labial and subocular. The 

 series of scales between the subocular and the upper labials 

 strongly keeled ; ten lower labials and five sublinguals. 



Body not fat. Neck about the size of the preanal portion ; 

 21 rows of scales round the neck, round the thickest portion of 

 the body and in front of the anal region ; all strongly keeled. 

 Ventral shields 150 to 160 ; anal entire, fairly large. 



