The white-banded wolf snake (''Lycodon septentrionalis''), also known as the northern large-toothed snake, is a species of colubrid snake found in Asia.

Description

The snake has relatively small eyes and its snout is slightly depressed, and not spatulated. The rostral scale is much broader than it is deep, and is visible from above the snake. The scales between the nostrils are much shorter than the prefrontal scales. The frontal scale is slightly longer than it is broad, approximately as long as the distance from the scale to the snout, and shorter than the panetal scales. The

loreal scale The lore (adj. loreal) is the region between the eyes and nostrils of birds, reptiles, and amphibians. Ornithology In ornithology, the lore is the region between the eye and bill on the side of a bird's head. This region is sometimes featherles ...

is small, elongated, and not entering the eye. The snake has one

preocular In scaled reptiles, the ocular scales are those forming the margin of the eye.Wright AH, Wright AA. 1957. ''Handbook of Snakes''. Comstock Publishing Associates (7th printing, 1985). 1105 pp. . The name originates from the term ''oculus'' which ...

and two

postocular scales In scaled reptiles, the ocular scales are those forming the margin of the eye.Wright AH, Wright AA. 1957. ''Handbook of Snakes''. Comstock Publishing Associates (7th printing, 1985). 1105 pp. . The name originates from the term ''oculus'' which ...

, and between 2 and 3 temporal scales. It has eight upper labial scales, with the third, fourth, and fifth entering the eye; its five lower labials are in contact with the anterior chin shields, which are longer than the posterior. It has 17 rows of scales, with the scales in the seven middle rows possessing a slight keel. Its 214 ventral scales are angulated laterally; the anal scale is entire; its 83 subcaudals are in two rows. The snake is black above and on the sides, with narrow, whitish, transverse bands. The bands form complete rings on the tail, which is dark brown on its lower surface. The snake's belly is whitish, with a few brown spots towards the rear. It can grow to a length of three feet, of which the tail consists of eight inches.

Etymology

' is Latin for "northern", from the phrase ', meaning "seven plough oxen", indicating the seven stars of Ursa Major or Ursa Minor.

Distribution

The white-banded wolf snake is found in the North-east Indian regions of Darjeeling and Assam, in the Himalayan foothills and in the Khasi hills. It is also found across

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 ...

Laos Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...

, Vietnam, Thailand, and the Chinese province of Yunnan. It is also found in Bangladesh and possibly found in Bhutan. Although records exist from Taiwan and

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, these are likely to be incorrectly identified specimens of ''

Lycodon ruhstrati ''Lycodon ruhstrati'', also known as Ruhstrat's wolf snake, the mountain wolf snake, or the Formosa wolf snake, is a species of non-venomous colubrid snake found in Taiwan, southern and eastern China, and northern Vietnam. Taxonomy The specifi ...

''.

Reproduction

The white-banded wolf snake is

oviparous Oviparous animals are animals that lay their eggs, with little or no other embryonic development within the mother. This is the reproductive method of most fish, amphibians, most reptiles, and all pterosaurs, dinosaurs (including birds), and ...

, or egg-laying.

Notes

External links