''Micruroides'' is a genus of venomous coral snake in the family Elapidae. The genus is monotypic, containing only the species ''Micruroides euryxanthus''. ''Micruroides euryxanthus'', commonly known as the Sonoran coral snake, Western Coral Snake or the Arizona coral snake, is endemic to northwestern Mexico and the

southwestern United States The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural region of the United States that generally includes Arizona, New Mexico, and adjacent portions of California, Colorado, Ne ...

Description

Adults of ''M. euryxanthus'' are long. The color pattern consists of broad, alternating rings of red and black, separated by narrower rings of white or yellow. Markings become paler as they reach the belly. The head is black,Reptiles and Amphibians of Arizona. www.reptilesofaz.org/Snakes-Subpages/h-m-euryxanthus.html. the black extending to the posterior border of the parietals. The smooth dorsal scales are arranged in 15 rows at midbody. The

ventrals In snakes, the ventral scales or gastrosteges are the enlarged and transversely elongated scales that extend down the underside of the body from the neck to the anal scale. When counting them, the first is the anteriormost ventral scale that cont ...

number 214–241. The anal plate is divided. The subcaudals number 21–34, and are divided (paired). Smith HM, Brodie ED Jr (1982). ''Reptiles of North America: A Guide to Field Identification''. New York: Golden Press. 240 pp. (paperback). ("Elapidsfamily Elapidae" and ''"Micruroides euryxanthus"'', pp. 196–197). ''Micruroides euryxanthus'' resembles '' Micrurus fulvius''. However, the white or yellow rings are broader than in ''M. fulvius'', and there are fewer black rings on the tail, usually only 2. Also, the first ring on the body (the first ring behind the white or yellow ring on the back of the head) is red, whereas in ''Micrurus fulvius'' it is black.

Venom

The venom of ''M. euryxanthus'' is neurotoxic and extremely potent, but no fatalities have been reported.

Habitat

''M. euryxanthus'' is found in arid and semiarid regions in numerous habitats, both on plains and on lower mountain slopes, from sea level to . In Arizona it is abundant in rocky upland desert.

Behavior

The Sonoran coral snake usually stays underground and comes out at night, but can also appear during and after rains.

Defense

When startled, frightened, or threatened, ''M. euryxanthus'' will hide its head under its body and raise and tightly curl its tail. While in this posture, it will "fart": snakes do not have an anal cavity in the sense that humans and most mammals do, but rather a tract that allows for both disposal of waste and for laying of eggs in females. Instead, it will forcibly and noisily emit gas from its

cloaca In animal anatomy, a cloaca ( ), plural cloacae ( or ), is the posterior orifice that serves as the only opening for the digestive, reproductive, and urinary tracts (if present) of many vertebrate animals. All amphibians, reptiles and birds, a ...

, a behavior known as "cloacal popping", and predictably this phenomenon has a very unpleasant smell.

Diet

The Arizona coral snake

preys Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill th ...

upon small snakes, predominantly ''

Rena (snake) ''Rena'' is a genus of snakes in the family Leptotyphlopidae. The genus is endemic to the New World. All of the species were previously placed in the genus ''Leptotyphlops''. Species The genus ''Rena'' contains the following species, which are r ...

'', but also ''

Sonora Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Sonora), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is d ...

'', and ''

Tantilla ''Tantilla'' is a large genus of harmless New World snakes in the family Colubridae. The genus includes 66 species, which are commonly known as centipede snakes, blackhead snakes, and flathead snakes.Wilson, Larry David. 1982. Tantilla. ...

''.Hubbs B, O'Connor B (2012). ''A Guide to the Rattlesnakes and other Venomous Serpents of the United States''. Tempe, Arizona: Tricolor Books. 129 pp. (paperback). (''Micruroides euryxanthus euryxanthus'', pp. 86-87, 122). It will also eat small

lizard Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The group is paraphyletic since it excludes the snakes and Amphisbaenia alt ...

s such as

skink 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 ...

Reproduction

Like all other species of New World coral snakes (

genera Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...

'' Leptomicrurus'' and '' Micrurus''), ''Micruroides euryxanthus'' 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 ...

. Adult females may lay up to 3

egg An egg is an organic vessel grown by an animal to carry a possibly fertilized egg cell (a zygote) and to incubate from it an embryo within the egg until the embryo has become an animal fetus that can survive on its own, at which point the a ...

s, and each hatchlings is in total length.

Geographic range

''Micruroides euryxanthus'' is found from central Arizona and southwestern New Mexico to Mazatlán in southern

Sinaloa Sinaloa (), officially the Estado Libre y Soberano de Sinaloa ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Sinaloa), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. It is d ...

. Isolated populations are also found in the Chocolate Mountains, La Paz County, western Arizona and on

Tiburón Island Tiburón Island is the largest island in the Gulf of California and the largest island in Mexico, with an area of . It was made a nature reserve in 1963 by President Adolfo López Mateos. Etymology is Spanish for 'shark'. Although the Seri nam ...

in the Gulf of California. Stebbins RC (2003). ''A Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians, Third Edition''. The Peterson Field Guide Series ®. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin. 533 pp. (paperback). (''Micruroides euryxanthus'', pp. 405–496 + Plate 44 + Map 181).

Subspecies

Three

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

are recognized, including the

nominotypical subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

."''Micruroides euryxanthus'' ". ITIS (Integrated Taxonomic Information System). www.itis.gov. *'' Micruroides euryxanthus australis'' *'' Micruroides euryxanthus euryxanthus'' *'' Micruroides euryxanthus neglectus'' '' Nota bene'': A trinomial authority in parentheses indicates that the subspecies was originally described in a genus other than ''Micruroides''.