Poisonous Snakos ol ihe World 



hliirk rliiKs. Tiiliil iliiik iliiKs rtiiiKi's frnm .'17 .tT oii 

 Imily, .". !> oil tiiil. Till- ml Is uficii vlsllilr on llu- liclly. 



Ni'iili'iiU I'.K! J'.'.'i ; anal plalc illvlcli'il; siilicaiiilals 'Jll 

 IS. 



lH»tribiitinii: KImt valleys of llu- iiii>uiilalii riTioiis 

 ti( I'l'i'ii. Itollvlii, anil Kriiailnr. 



I>'iiiiiiik/i: Tills iiii'MiilaiM s|K"(i('s lives al alliludi's 

 iif l.'ilH* I" (t.tHM) fci't. Ni> rt'iKirls (.f llic clTcrls of Us 

 l>lic arc kiioxvii. 



Southern Coral Snake, Mlcruriis frinitdlif (Dii- 

 moril, liiliron, aiiil I)uiii('ri!). 



liliiilifivaliiin: A coral siiako with Iriads of lilack 

 riiijjs anil broad red intcrspact's : head IiUk U with {m1;;cs 

 of iilales red. Adults aviTa^i- .'{ lo I reel; cmciiI innal 

 indiviiliials t-xcccd ."(1 Indu's. 



Crown Matk ti> tlii" posterior end of Hit- parietals, 

 labials and temporals spotted with yellow, crown scutes 

 edswl witli red or yellow. Hody with 0-l."> .sets of MmcU 

 triads, separated with broad bands of red. 



above, Hody with .' 10 triads of bru:id IpImcU rliiKS 

 separated by narrow red rlnus. 



Ventrals l.'ili I'.il ; .iii.il pl:ilc ciiliic; MiliiMudals li.'l- 

 .'id. 



Ilinlriliiitiiiii : Ujiii of ilic .\iiiaziiri liiisin : imrl licaslern 

 Itra/.il, the Cuiaiias. I'olondiia. Mciiador. and rerii. 



Ill iiiiirhi: 'i'liis is Ibe oidy species r)f coral snake that 

 nornially has an entire anal [ilate. This and the Iriads 

 of broad black rln«s make it a distinctive snake. 



Amazonian Coral Snake, .U/niiriis \///.ri/ A\'ai;lcr. 



Iili iilificiitiiiii : .\ coral snake uiih lria<ls of black 

 iin;;s which are all about c(|ual in width and narrower 

 than the yellow and red liims. Adults average .3 to 4 

 feet: occasional individuals attain ;i length of .1 feet. 



Crown of head mainly black, often with shields edged 

 and spotted with yellow; sides of bead mostly light, 

 often a black collar followed by a yellow rinj;. Body 

 with 1-0 complete triads of narrow and eipial black ring.s 

 sep.ir.ited by somewhat wider bands of yellow and red. 



\'entrals 203-27.J : anal plalc divided; subcaudals 16- 



FlGURE S-). — Southern C<iral Snake. MiiTiiniii fnnilajia. 

 The "triads" of three black and two yellow rings are 

 characteristic of many South American coral snakes. 

 Note that the red zones are bordered by hlack in these 

 coral snakes. I'hoto by New York Zoological Society. 



Ventrals; 97-230; anal plate divided; subcaudals 15- 

 26. 



Dixirihiitioii: Southwestern P.razil. northern Argen- 

 tina. Uruguay. I'araguay. and Bolivia. 



Rcmark.i: This is one of the larger species of coral 

 snakes and is responsible for a number of deaths. An 

 antivenin is prepared by the Instituto Butantan (Bra- 

 zil i for this species and .V. ruralJiniiH. 



Hemprich's Coral Snake, .Vicrui'u-s henipricMl 

 (Jan). 



IiIcntiUcatiiDi: A coral snake with narrow yellow and 

 red rings, and broad black triads. Adults average 24 to 

 30 inches In length. 



Snoiit and tip of chin black, with this color extending 

 back over crown as a "cap." A red collar, narrowed 



Dinlrihiilidn: The Ania/.on region; Brazil. Colombia, 

 Venezuela. Ecpiador, Peru, and Bolivia. 



h'cmarlcn: This is one of the largest iif the coral 

 snakes, and it has been responsible for several deaths. 

 .\ polyvalent coral snake antivenin is produced by the 

 Instituto Butantan (Brazil). 



Surinatn Coral Snake, M/cninis siirinaniensls 

 (Cuvit't). 



Idi'iitificdtiiiii: A coral snake with a red head and 

 triads of black rings, of which the middle one is dis- 

 tinctly broader than the lateral ones. Adults average 

 about 3 feet in length ; occasional individuals attain a 

 length of about 4 feet. 



Crown of head red. with each of the plates outlined 

 in black. Body with ."-^ complete triads, each made 



'i^'V;^:^i>>^>^^^<^■'^■ 



Figure 36. — Surinam Coral Snake. Micninis siiriiia- 

 iHciisis. The red head and triad pattern are distinc- 

 tive. Photo by Charles M. Bogert. 



64 



