''Lycodon aulicus'', commonly known as the Indian wolf snake, is a
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
of nonvenomous
snake
Snakes are elongated, Limbless vertebrate, limbless, carnivore, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other Squamata, squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping Scale (zoology), scales. Ma ...
found in
South Asia
South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;;;;; ...
and
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...
. Early naturalists have suggested its resemblance to the venomous
common krait
The common krait (''Bungarus caeruleus''), also known as Bengal krait, is a species of highly venomous elapid snake of the genus ''Bungarus'' native to the Indian subcontinent. It is a member of the "Big Four" species that inflict the most snake ...
as an instance of
Batesian mimicry
Batesian mimicry is a form of mimicry where a harmless species has evolved to imitate the warning signals of a harmful species directed at a predator of them both. It is named after the English naturalist Henry Walter Bates, after his work on bu ...
.
Description
The colouration of this snake is variable.
![Common Wolf Snake](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/56/Common_Wolf_Snake.png)
This snake is often confused with the
common krait
The common krait (''Bungarus caeruleus''), also known as Bengal krait, is a species of highly venomous elapid snake of the genus ''Bungarus'' native to the Indian subcontinent. It is a member of the "Big Four" species that inflict the most snake ...
. The presence of a loreal shield can be used to distinguish it from
kraits
''Bungarus'' is a genus of venomous elapid snakes, the kraits ("krait" is pronounced , rhyming with "kite"), found in South and Southeast Asia. The genus ''Bungarus'' has 16 species.
Distribution
Kraits are found in tropical Asia, from near Ir ...
.
The following is a description of various forms from
Albert Günther
Albert Karl Ludwig Gotthilf Günther FRS, also Albert Charles Lewis Gotthilf Günther (3 October 1830 – 1 February 1914), was a German-born British zoologist, ichthyologist, and herpetologist. Günther is ranked the second-most productive re ...
's Reptiles of British India (1864).
![Lycodon aulicus 3 sal](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5b/Lycodon_aulicus_3_sal.jpg)
Snout broad, much depressed, long, spatulate, with the upper
lip
The lips are the visible body part at the mouth of many animals, including humans. Lips are soft, movable, and serve as the opening for food intake and in the articulation of sound and speech. Human lips are a tactile sensory organ, and can be ...
swollen, and without ''canthus rostralis''. Rostral shield very low, broad, slightly bent backwards on the upper surface of the snout; anterior frontals
internasalsvery small; posterior frontals
prefrontalslonger than broad, much more so in adult specimens than in young ones; there is a lateral notch between the anterior and posterior frontals, in which the inner anterior angle of the loreal is received; the posterior frontals have an obtuse lateral angle corresponding to the suture between loreal and praeocular; occipitals elongate. Nostril small, directed upwards, between two nasals, the anterior of which is situated on the foremost part of the snout. Loreal single, large, nearly twice as long as broad. Praeocular single, in contact with the vertical
frontaland with the third labial; specimens in which it does not reach the vertical are very scarce. Two postoculars; supraciliary rather small. Nine upper labials, the third, fourth, and fifth of which enter the orbit. Temporals numerous, scale-like. Scales smooth, with a minute apical groove, in seventeen rows. Abdomen and tail with an angular ridge on each side. Ventrals 183-209; anal bifid, in a few specimens entire; subcaudals 57-77. Each maxillary is armed with two fangs in front, placed in a transverse line, the outer being much larger than the inner; the lateral longitudinal series of teeth commences at some distance from the fangs; they are small, from four to twelve in number, the last being considerably larger than the others; pterygoido-palatine teeth small, of equal size;
mandible with two or three fangs on each side and with a series of small teeth.
Coloration variable.
*I. Continental varieties. The posterior frontals are moderately elongate-in young specimens nearly as broad as long. Each upper labial with a brown spot.
o this category belong also specimens from the Philippine Islands.** Var. a. Uniform brown above, without collar: Malayan peninsula, Bengal, Madras.
** Var. b. Uniform brown above, with a while collar: Madras.
** Var. c. Brown or greyish brown, With indistinct traces of a white network, and with a white collar, more distinct in young specimens than in old ones: Coast of Malabar, Pinang, Malayan peninsula, Gamboja, Philippine Islands, Timor.
** Var. d. Ferruginous or chestnut-brown, with white, brown-edged cross bars on the back, which are sometimes bifid on the sides, the branches of one band joining a branch of the preceding and following bands. The first band forms a collar; those on the hind part of the body gradually become indistinct. This variety is very common, and similar to, but specifically distinct from, the snake figured by Russell (i. pl. 16): we have received it from Pinang, Bengal, Nepal, Kangra (Himalayas), the Dekkan, and the Anamallay Mountains.
* II. Ceylonese varieties. The posterior frontals are much elongate, much longer than broad in every age. Upper labials while or shaded with brown.
** Var. e. Uniform brownish grey above.
** Var. f. Brown, with three or four broad, distant, white cross bands on the anterior half of the body; the anterior forms a collar, the others being broadest on the sides.
** Var. g. Brown or greyish, with pure-while or reticulated while cross bands extending downwards to the belly, where they are broadest.
![Indian Wolf Snake](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c0/Indian_Wolf_Snake.jpg)
The following description is from Boulenger's Fauna of British India, Reptilia and Batrachia volume (1890):
![Lycodon aulicus sal](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f7/Lycodon_aulicus_sal.jpg)
Snout much depressed, with swollen lips, spatulate in the adult; eye rather small. Rostral much broader than long, just visible from above: internasals much shorter than the prefrontals; frontal usually shorter than its distance from the end of the snout or than the parietals ; loreal elongate, not entering the eye; one praeocular, usually in contact with the frontal; two postoculars; temporals small, scale-like, 2+3 or 3+3; 9 upper labials, third, fourth, and fifth entering the eye; 4 or 5 lower labials in contact with the anterior chin-shields, which are longer than the posterior. Scales smooth, in 17 rows. Ventrals 183-209, obtusely angulate laterally; anal divided; subcaudals 57-77, in two rows. Coloration variable; uniform brown above, or with white transverse bands, or with white reticulation; upper lip uniform white, or with brown spots; lower parts uniform white.
Total length 71 cm (28 inches); tail 11 cm (4¼ inches).
Habitat: India and Ceylon, Himalayas, Burma, Siam, Malay Peninsula, Java, Philippines, Timor. A common snake in India.
Scalation
The rostral touches six shields. The frontal touches the parietals, supraoculars, prefrontals and preoculars. The supraoculars are small. The parietals are one and a half times the size of the frontal. The preoculars are entire, while the postoculars and temporals are divided into two shields. There are nine supralabials, with the 3rd, 4th, and 5th touching the eye. The ventrals are 170 to 224 in number. The anal shield is divided. The subcaudals are 56 to 80 and are divided.
Distribution
''Lycodon aulicus'' is found in
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
,
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
,
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
(north to
Himalayas
The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 100 ...
and
Assam
Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...
;
Maharashtra,Gujarat),
Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
,
Nepal
Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne,
सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...
,
Myanmar
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...
(= Burma). It is one of the most common snakes of
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
and
Ceylon
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
, but becomes scarcer on the coasts of the southeastern parts of
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
.
Behaviour
The Indian wolf snake is
nocturnal
Nocturnality is an animal behavior characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnal meaning the opposite.
Nocturnal creatures generally have highly developed sens ...
and is inactive in the day. It is of fierce habits and defends itself vigorously, however it is nonvenomous. It is known to defend itself when barred of escape, and can cause severe lacerations with its fine sharp "fangs". It may also feign death to lure in potential prey and to avoid being chased by predators.
Diet
''Lycodon aulicus'' feeds on lizards and frogs. According to Günther (1864) it is one of the most formidable enemies of the
skinks
Skinks are lizards belonging to the family Scincidae, a family in the infraorder Scincomorpha. With more than 1,500 described species across 100 different taxonomic genera, the family Scincidae is one of the most diverse families of lizards. Ski ...
, which form almost its sole food, the "fangs" in the front of its jaws being adapted for piercing and making good its hold on the hard smooth scales with which those lizards are coated.
Reproduction
Females may be larger than males. They breed prior to the monsoons and lay 4-11 eggs.
The eggs hatch in September or October, and the hatchlings are 14–19 cm (5½-7⅜ inches) long.
[ Das, I. 2002. ''A Photographic Guide to Snakes and Other Reptiles of India'' Ralph Curtis Books. Sanibel Islands, Florida., p. 36. ]
References
* Boulenger, George A. 1890 The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma. Reptilia and Batrachia. Taylor & Francis, London, xviii, 541 pp.
External links
* https://web.archive.org/web/20081121101431/http://www.goateetoni.com/articles/wolf-snake
* https://web.archive.org/web/20050824191104/http://members.fortunecity.com/ukp001/naja/colubridae/lycodon_aulicus.htm
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2717379
aulicus
''Aulicus'' is a genus of checkered beetles in the family Cleridae
Cleridae are a family of beetles of the superfamily Cleroidea. They are commonly known as checkered beetles. The family Cleridae has a worldwide distribution, and a variety o ...
Fauna of Southeast Asia
Reptiles of Bhutan
Reptiles of Myanmar
Reptiles of India
Reptiles of Nepal
Reptiles of Pakistan
Reptiles of Sri Lanka
Reptiles described in 1758
Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus