126 
P. A. RAWLINSON 
Austrelaps superbus and A. ramsayi occupy 
similar habitats in southeastern Australia but A. 
ramsayi is restricted to higher altitudes and 
more northerly areas (Fig. 1). The distributions 
of the two species interdigitate and abut in east¬ 
ern Victoria, particularly in the area south and 
west of the Baw Baw Plateau, but the species 
have not been collected syntopically. Austrelaps 
labialis is known only from two disjunct areas, 
Kangaroo Island where it is widespread, and the 
Adelaide Hills roughly within the 1000 mm iso- 
hyet. 
Key to species of Austrelaps 
1. Supralabials boldly marked, anteroventral quarter cream, remainder 
dark brown, the two colours meeting at a sharp diagonal demarcation; 
lower anterior temporal usually in point contact with or failing to contact 
lower postocular .2 
— Supralabials with weakly defined, narrow whitish anterior margins; 
lower anterior temporal usually in broad contact with lower postocular; 
ventrals 143-164 . Austrelaps superbus 
2. Ventrals 150 or more; eastern Victoria to New England region of New 
South Wales. Austrelaps ramsayi 
— Ventrals 148 or fewer; Kangaroo Island and high rainfall areas in the Mt 
Lofty Ranges, South Australia . Austrelaps labialis 
Austrelaps superbus (Gunther, 1858) 
Alecto curia .—Dumeril et al, 1854: 1252-1254 (in 
part; non Naja curta Schlegel, 1837). 
Hoplocephalus superbus Gunther 1858: 181. 
Alectoschmidti Jan & Sordelli 1873: liv. 44. pi 1, fig. 
4. 
Denisonia superba .—Boulenger 1896: 353 (in 
part). 
Austrelaps superbus .—Worrell 1963: 3 (in part).— 
Sutherland 1983: 50-52.—Cogger et al. 1983: 218 (in 
part). 
Notechis superbus .—Storr 1982: 235 (in part). 
Remarks. Gunther (1858) described Hoploce¬ 
phalus superbus on the basis of 15 specimens in 
the Natural History Museum, London. Six of 
these were later used by Gunther (1863) to erect 
a new species, Hoplocephalus minor , subse¬ 
quently referred to the new genus Elapognathus 
by Boulenger (1896); one of these six specimens 
was apparently exchanged to the Zoologisches 
Museum in Berlin (ZMB 4298) and is presumed 
lost. The remaining nine syntypes of H. superbus 
have been examined by the author (see Appen¬ 
dix 1) and all are referrable to the lowlands form 
of superbus , to which form the species name is 
here restricted. Several of the syntypes are in 
poor condition, being soft and with peeling epi¬ 
dermis or damage to the head. The best pre¬ 
served, BMNH 1946.1.20.37, from “Tasmania” 
(R. Gunn), is hereby designated the lectotype of 
H. superbus . 
Alecto schmidti Jan & Sordelli (1873, liv. 44, 
pi. 1, fig. 4) is in colour pattern and proportions a 
specimen of Austrelaps superbus as that species 
is recognised here. The holotype (ZMH 478), 
which has been examined by the author, is in 
poor condition and bleached, and locality infor¬ 
mation accompanying it is limited to “1877 
Australia”. 
Austrelaps labialis (Jan, 1859) 
Alecto labialis Jan 1859a: 128. 
Denisonia superba .—Boulenger 1896: 353 (in 
part). 
Austrelaps superbus .—Cogger et al. 1983: 218 (in 
part). 
Austrelaps labialis .—Shine 1987a: 22. 
Remarks. The history of the name Alecto labialis 
has been discussed in part by Coventry & 
Rawlinson (1980). The species was stated by Jan 
(1863) to be based on a specimen from New Hol¬ 
land in the Zoologisches Museum at Gottingen, 
but unsuccessful searches of the collections there 
by the author and by others suggest that the holo- 
type is lost. No illustration accompanied the 
initial description (Jan 1859a) but a reprint 
issued as a separate in the same year (Jan 1859b) 
included plates with illustrations of the type. 
Confusion arose when Jan & Sordelli (1873. liv. 
44, pi. 1, fig. 1) depicted as A. labialis a specimen 
of a species now known as Drysdalia coronoitles 
(Gunther, 1858) (see Coventry & Rawlinson 
1980). 
The illustrations of A. labialis given by Jan 
(1859b) clearly show the boldly diagonally 
barred labials (described as “half yellow, half 
black”; see Appendix 2) and the lower anterior 
temporal well separated from the lower postocu- 
