Micrurus hemprichii

Orange-banded coral snake
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1) [1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Elapidae
Genus:	Micrurus
Species:	M. hemprichii
Binomial name
Micrurus hemprichii (Jan, 1858)
Synonyms [2]
Elaps hemprichii Jan, 1858 Micrurus hemprichii — Amaral, 1929

Micrurus hemprichii, commonly known as Hemprich's coral snake, Orange-banded coral snake and the worm-eating coral snake, is a species of venomous coral snake in the family Elapidae. The species is native to South America. ^{[1] [2]}

Etymology

The specific name, hemprichii, is in honor of German naturalist Wilhelm Friedrich Hemprich. ^[3]

Habitat

Hemprich's coral snake occurs in forests at elevations below 1,000 m (3,300 ft), including lower montane wet forest, gallery forest, and primary and secondary rain forest. It is a cryptic species living in leaf litter of the forest floor. ^[1]

Diet

Hemprich's coral snake feeds heavily on velvet worms, ^[4] but also on small snakes and amphisbaenids. ^[1]

Geographic range

M. hemprichii is found in the upper Amazon Basin, Guiana Highlands, and upper Orinoco Basin in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana,Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela. ^{[1] [2]}

Subspecies

Two subspecies are recognized as being valid. ^[2]

• Micrurus hemprichii hemprichii(Jan, 1858)
• Micrurus hemprichii ortoni Schmidt, 1953

Nota bene : A trinomial authority in parentheses indicates that the subspecies was originally described in a genus other than Micrurus.

References

1. Ines Hladki, A.; Ramírez Pinilla, M.; Renjifo, J.; Urbina, N.; Valencia, J.; Gagliardi, G.; Catenazzi, A.; Nogueira, C.; Schargel, W.; Rivas, G. (2019). "Micrurus hemprichii ". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2019 e.T15202882A15202891. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-3.RLTS.T15202882A15202891.en . Retrieved 8 November 2021.
2. Micrurus hemprichii at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database . Accessed 16 February 2016.
3. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN   978-1-4214-0135-5. (Micrurus hemprichii, pp. 120).
4. Monge Nájera J, Barrientos Z, Aguilar F (1993). "Behavior of Epiperipatus biolleyi (Onychophora: Peripatidae) under laboratory conditions". Revista de Biología Tropical. 41 (3): 689–696.

Further reading

• Boulenger GA (1896). Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume III., Containing the Colubridæ (Opisthoglyphæ and Proteroglyphæ) .... London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xiv + 727 pp. + Plates I-XXV. (Elaps hemprichii, p. 421).
• Freiberg M (1982). Snakes of South America. Hong Kong: T.F.H. Publications. 189 pp. ISBN   0-87666-912-7. (Micrurus hemprichii, p. 115).
• Jan [G] (1858). "Plan d'une Iconographie descriptive des Ophidiens et Description sommaire de nouvelles espèces de Serpents ". Revue et Magasin de Zoologie Pure et Appliquée, Paris, 2e Série [Series 2] 10: 438-449, 514–527. (Elaps hemprichii, new species, pp. 523–524). (in French).
• Schmidt KP (1953). "Hemprich's Coral Snake Micrurus hemprichi [sic]". Fieldiana Zool.34 (13): 165-170. (Micrurus hemprichi [sic] ortoni, new subspecies, pp. 166–168).

External links

• "Micrurus hemprichii " at Coral Snakes of the World. https://web.archive.org/web/20160405124918/http://www.coralsnake.net/micrurus/hemprichs-coral-snake.html