W'aite and Longman — Descriptions of Snakes 179 



Nasal entire, in contact with tlie single preocular. Two postocnlars. Temporals 

 2+2; lower anterior large, and partly wedged in between the fifth and sixth 

 labials. .Six npper lal)ials. third and fourth entering the eye. Three lower 

 laliials in contact with the anterior chin shields, wdiich are a little shorter than 

 the posterior. 



Colours. In spirit, yellowish, with r<2 more or less irregular or broken, dark 

 brown bars across the back, extending from the nape to the beginning of 

 the tail : the latter with brown zigzag lines above. Mead pale, largely obscured 

 with darker mottlings, but with yellowish spots above: laljials yellow, the sutures 

 broadly edged with dark brown. A linear series of blotches between the bars 

 and the \entrals, definitely marked on the .anterior part of the body, but else- 

 where less defined, forming V- or \\'-shaped figures. Lower surfaces immaculate 

 Init with some sjDots on the gular region. 



Total I.ciujth. J>4.^ mm.: tail ,^6 mm. 



Described from six sijecimens — four from Western Queenslantl. namely, 

 Surat ( De \'is' tyiJe), .\ramac, Tambo and Coreena Stations: and two from 

 unknown localities. 



This \ariety is readily distinguished from D. fasciata Rosen {■') (West 

 Australia) by its lesser number of ventrals. Boulenger pointed out that 

 Hoploccphalus oniatus agrees in all structm-al characters with D. luaciilata. but 

 these barred snakes, which are apparently confined to Western Queensland, are 

 so strikingly distinct in coloui- that they recjuire a varietal name. The proportions 

 of the head shields in our series \-ary somewhat, but we find that the variety 

 dc7'isi has a relativelv longer frontal. 



TROPIDECHIS DUNENSIS De Vis. 



Trol'hidcchis duncnsis I )e \'is. Ann. Queensl. Alus., No. 10, 1911, p. 20. 



Fig. ,v". 



Scales in 23 rows. \'entrals 216. Anal entire. Subcaudals 54 pairs. 



Description. Eye large, its distance from the mouth equal to 2/5 the vertical 

 diameter. Pupil round (vertically elliptic on one side). Rostral broader than 

 deep, just visiljle from above. Internasals as long as the prefrontals. Frontal 

 three-fourths as wide as long, one-third broader than the supraocular, longer than 

 its distance from the end of the snout and three-fourths as long as the parietals. 

 Nasal entire, in contact with the single preocular. A single large postocular. 

 Temporals 3 + 4. Seven upper laljials, third and fourth entering the eye. Three 



(,5) Roson: Aim. Mag. Nat. V.\fi. (7), xv, 190.".. p. 179. 



