CONTIA MITIS. 125 



CONTIA MITIS, B. & G. 

 (Plate X, figs. 6-12.) 



CHAR. SPEC. Squamis donualibtu in quindecim series longititdinales dis- 

 positis. Colore supra spadiceo; vitta pallida in utroque dorsi latere 

 et subfer earn niyrorum punctorum serie. Squamae minimi* nigri* 

 punctis notantur. Scutellis singulis antice nigris, postice vero paUide 

 fidcis. 



SPEC. CHAR. Scales disposed upon fifteen series. Deep chestnut- 

 brown above, with two longitudinal light bands, one on each 

 side of the back, below which is a series of black dots. Scales 

 minutely dotted with black. Anterior half of the scutellae black; 

 posterior half light-yellow. 



SYN. Contia mills, B. & G. Catal. N. Amer. Kept. I, 1853, 110. 



DESCR. The head is almost as deep as the body ; the snout pro- 

 truding beyond the lower jaw is obliquely truncated. The vertex 

 plate is hexagonal ; its sides nearly parallel and posteriorly very acute. 

 The occipitals are elongated, truncated posteriorly, and slightly convex 

 exteriorly. The postfrontals are large and angular, whilst the pre- 

 frontals are subangular and much smaller. The rostral is well 

 developed, broad, and but slightly produced between the prefrontals. 

 The nasal is quadrangular, longer than high, with the nostril in the 

 middle, a little nearer the anterior than posterior edge. The loral is 

 elongated and quadrangular, situated above the second labial. The 

 anteorbital is angular and deep, situated above the third labial. The 

 postorbital is angular, larger than the anteorbital, situated above the 

 commissure between the fourth and fifth labials. The supraocularies 

 are proportionally small and oblong. There is but one large, angular, 

 and elongated temporal shield. The upper labials are seven in 

 number ; the anterior and posterior ones are smaller than in the 

 middle of the series ; the third and fourth are beneath the eye, form- 

 ing a part of the orbit. There are, likewise, seven lower labials, 

 the fourth being the largest. We observe two pairs of mental shields, 

 the posterior pair being very small. 



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