Variegated False Coral Snake

About the Variegated False Coral Snake

Pliocercus elapoides, also known commonly as the variegated false coral snake, is a species of snake in the family Colubridae. The species is native to southern North America and northern Central America. There are four recognized subspecies.

P. elapoides is found in Belize, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and southeastern Mexico. The preferred natural habitat of P. elapoides is forest. Resembling a venomous coral snake, P. elapoides has a dorsal color pattern of red, black, and yellow rings. The red scales are tipped with black.

P. elapoides is nocturnal, terrestrial and semi-fossorial. P. elapoides is oviparous. Four subspecies are recognized as being valid, including the nominotypical subspecies. Pliocercus elapoides aequalis Salvin, 1861 Pliocercus elapoides diastema (Bocourt, 1886)

Pliocercus elapoides elapoides Cope, 1860 Pliocercus elapoides occidentalis H.M. Smith & Landy, 1965 Nota bene: A trinomial authority in parentheses indicates that the subspecies was originally described in a genus other than Pliocercus.

Akcali, Christopher... Wikipedia →