SNAKES OF CEYLON. 147 



pits. Vertebrals not enlarged. Ultimate row enlarged. 

 Ventrals : Rounded or angulate. Anal: Entire or divided. 

 Subcaudals : Divided. 



Dentition. — Maxillary: Diacranterian, dinododont, ani- 

 sodont. Palatine : Anododont, isodont. Pterygoid : Ano- 

 dodont, isodont, except for the last four or five, which reduce 

 in length. Mandibular : Oinododont, anisodont. 



Distribution. — Southern Asia. 



Twelve species have been described, of which two occur in 

 Ceylon, viz., striatus, and aulicus. 



Lycodon striatus Shaw. 



(Latin " striatus " striped.) 



Shaw's Wolfsnake. 



Tamil : '" utha surita " (I am informed by Mr. Green). 



Synonymy. — Coluber striatus, C. malignus, C. galathea, 

 Lycodon malignus, L. galathea, L. Tiapei, L. aulicus. 



History. — ^First referred to by Russell in 1796, who showed 

 two illustrations in his first volume (Plates XVI. and XX VI.). 

 Christened by Shaw in 1802. 



General Characters. — A small snake, less than 18 inches in 

 length. Head small, snout much depressed, and broadly 

 rounded. Neck but little evident. Eye moderate. The 

 nostril occupies the whole depth of the suture between the 

 nasals. Body cyUndrical, rather slender, smooth, attenuating 

 very slightly posteriorly. Scales glossy. Belly rounded. 

 Tail short, being about one-fifth to one-sixth the total length. 



Identification. — The costals two heads-lengths behind the 

 head 17, at midbody 17, and two heads-lengths before the vent 

 15 ; the loreal touching the intemasal ; and ventrals rounded, 

 not angulate, should make its identification an easy matter. 

 It shows a close superficial resemblance to Bungarus caeruleus, 

 and the other Ceylon species of this genus. Aulicus and 

 striatus are frequently confused, and I have found many in 

 various Museums wrongly identified. The easiest mistake to 

 make is in counting the supralabials. The last of the series is 

 so small and scale-like that it is frequently not included in the 



