52 SNAKES OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 



after considerable search. I did not find a single specimen in 

 eastern Mindanao in two years' collecting. In Mindoro, near 

 Calapan, I found this species in large numbers under rocks after 

 heavy rains. The place failed to yield a single specimen when 

 visited at a later time when the earth was dry. These snakes lay 

 comparatively large, elongate eggs. They feed largely on the 

 larvaB and eggs of small insects or earthworms. 



The species is known from many localities in Luzon, and from 

 Negros, Samar, Mindanao, Mindoro, Palawan, and Busuanga. 

 It is probably found in all the larger islands of the Philippines. 

 Outside of the Philippines it is widely distributed, from South 

 Africa to southern Asia, and throughout the islands of the 

 Indian Ocean and the Malay Archipelago. It is present also 

 in Japan, Madagascar, and Guam. 



TYPHLOPS LUZONENSIS Taylor 



Typhlops luzonensis Taylor, Philip. Journ. Sci. 14 (1919) 105. 



Description of species. — (From the type. No. 109, E. H. Taylor 

 collection; collected on Mount Maquiling, Laguna, Luzon, May 12, 

 1915, by E. H. Taylor.) Head rather flat, broader than neck, 

 lower jaw^ not or scarcely visible in lateral profile ; snout rounded, 

 projecting, rather truncate, its end only slightly less deep than 

 head on a level with eyes ; portion of rostral visible above much 

 longer and a little wider than the part below, failing to reach 

 the level of eyes by a minute distance, and minutely less than 

 half the width of head ; prefrontal larger than frontal, forming 

 a suture with rostral a little less than one-third its own width, 

 its longest sutures formed with supraoculars ; frontal, the 

 smallest head scale, forming equal sutures with interparietal 

 and prefrontal ; supraocular about same size as parietal, its 

 lower point barely reaching eye; parietals somewhat narrowed 

 on their lower end ; nasal completely divided ; nasal suture arises 

 from second labial and after passing nostril reaches rostral in a 

 line horizontal to upper edge of nostril; nasals not in contact 

 behind rostral; preocular reaching above level of eyes, about 

 as broad as ocular, in contact with 2 labials below; its edge 

 crosses over middle of eye; 2 postoculars only slightly differen- 

 tiated from body scales ; first labial very small, in contact with 

 anterior nasal only; second labial nearly three times as large as 

 first, touching both nasals and preocular ; third labial more than 

 twice as large as second, and a little larger than fourth; lower 

 jaw narrow, about 5 scales on lower jaw between fourth upper 

 labials; eye a visible black spot, very small, with no pupil 

 evident ; about 338 scales from head to vent ; 10 subcaudal scales ; 



