10 VENOMOUS SNAKES AND THE PHENOMENA OF THEIR VENOMS 
Coniophanes imperialis imperialis Baird. 
Eight labials. Body above deeply purplish-black, with two dorsal yellowish- 
brown stripes from head to tip of tail, and separated by a narrow vertebral line of 
ground-color; head above black, with two narrow yellow lines from nostrils to 
occiput crossing upper angle of orbit; ground-color of the back extends into end 
of abdominal scutella; middle of abdomen uniformly bright red. 
Coniophanes imperialis proterops Cope. 
This species is distinguished from Baird’s species by having 7 labials instead of 8. 
Coniophanes lateritius Cope. 
Erythrolamprus lateritius Boulenger. 
Erythrolamprus melanocephalus Cope, 1887, U. S. Nat. Mus., 78. 
Tachymenis melanocephalus Peters, Mon. Ber. Akad. 1869, 876. 
Whole body bright vermilion, punctulated with brown, passing through orange 
to golden on the belly. Head broad posteriorly with acute prominent muzzle. 
to scales posteriorly black, labials bordered and transversed by yellow lines, and 
occiput dotted with the same; throat and chin black-spotted. Anal divided. 
Small in size with a rather slender body and long tail. Head and neck not very 
distinct. Central America and Mexico, northward into southern Texas. 
The remaining genera of the subfamily Dipsadomorphine are as follows: 
Thelotornis, Xenopholis, Micrelaps, 
Oxybelis, Apostolepis, Elapotinus, 
Dryophiops, Amblyodipsas, Miodon, 
Chrysopelea, Calamelaps, Polemon, 
Dispholidus, Rhinocalamus, Brachyophis, 
Hydrocalamus, Xenocalamus, Macrelaps, 
Ogmius, Elapomoius, Aparallactus, 
Stenorhina, Elapomorphus, Elapops. 
Subfamily ELACHISTODONTINA: Boulenger. 
Only a few teeth, both on posterior part of maxillary and dentary bones and on 
palatines and pterygoids. Some of the vertebre in the thoracic region have highly 
elongated unpaired hypapophyses which are so protruded as to pierce the dorsal 
wall of the gullet in forward direction. Only one species is known, Elachistodon 
westermannt. Brown above, with yellowish stripe; below yellow. Inhabits India. 
Subfamily HOMALOPSINZ Boulenger. 
One or more posterior maxillary teeth grooved. Eyes small, vertical pupils. 
Nostrils on upper surface of snout and provided with valves which can be closed. 
Some species have very narrow ventral scales, recalling the burrowing or Hydro- 
phine snakes; none of these snakes use their ventral scales for locomotory purposes. 
One genus, the Herpeton, has a vegetable diet, while the rest are piscivorous. This 
subfamily is absolutely aquatic, and embraces the fresh-water snakes of all coun- 
tries. Head usually small and thick, scarcely distinct from neck. Many of the 
East Indian species are semimarine and inhabit the tide-water or coast. Habitat, 
southeastern Asia, including India, Malay Archipelago, Philippines, southern 
China, New Guinea, and northern Australia. 
Genus HOMALOPSIS Kuhl. 
Maxillary teeth 11 to 13, decreasing in length posteriorly, followed after an inter- 
space, by a pair of slightly enlarged, grooved teeth; anterior mandibular teeth 
much longer than the posterior. Head distinct from neck; eye small, with verti- 
cally elliptic pupil. Body cylindrical; tail moderate, 2 subcaudals in two rows. 
Southeastern Asia. 
