''Pliocercus elapoides'', also known commonly as the variegated false coral snake, is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

of snake in the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Colubridae Colubridae (, commonly known as colubrids , from , 'snake') is a family of snakes. With 249 genera, it is the largest snake family. The earliest fossil species of the family date back to the Late Eocene epoch, with earlier origins suspected. C ...

. The species is native to southern

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

and northern

Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...

. There are four recognized

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

Geographic range

''P. elapoides'' is found in

Belize Belize is a country on the north-eastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a maritime boundary with Honduras to the southeast. P ...

El Salvador El Salvador, officially the Republic of El Salvador, is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south by the Pacific Ocean. El Salvador's capital and largest city is S ...

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

, and southeastern

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. www.reptile-database.org.

Habitat

The preferred natural

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

of ''P. elapoides'' is

forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

Description

Resembling a venomous

coral snake Coral snakes are a large group of elapid snakes that can be divided into two distinct groups, the Old World coral snakes and New World coral snakes. There are 27 species of Old World coral snakes, in three genera ('' Calliophis'', '' Hemibungar ...

, ''P. elapoides'' has a dorsal color pattern of red, black, and yellow rings. The red scales are tipped with black.

Behavior

''P. elapoides'' is

nocturnal Nocturnality is a ethology, behavior in some non-human animals characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnality, diurnal meaning the opposite. Nocturnal creatur ...

terrestrial Terrestrial refers to things related to land or the planet Earth, as opposed to extraterrestrial. Terrestrial may also refer to: * Terrestrial animal, an animal that lives on land opposed to living in water, or sometimes an animal that lives on o ...

and semi-

fossorial A fossorial animal () is one that is adapted to digging and which lives primarily (but not solely) underground. Examples of fossorial vertebrates are Mole (animal), moles, badgers, naked mole-rats, meerkats, armadillos, wombats, and mole salamand ...

Reproduction

''P. elapoides'' is

oviparous Oviparous animals are animals that reproduce by depositing fertilized zygotes outside the body (i.e., by laying or spawning) in metabolically independent incubation organs known as eggs, which nurture the embryo into moving offsprings kno ...

Subspecies

Four subspecies are recognized as being valid, including the

nominotypical subspecies In biological classification, subspecies (: 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. ...

. *''Pliocercus elapoides aequalis'' *''Pliocercus elapoides diastema'' *''Pliocercus elapoides elapoides'' *''Pliocercus elapoides occidentalis'' ''

Nota bene ( ; plural: ) is the Latin language, Latin phrase meaning ''note well''. In manuscripts, ''nota bene'' is abbreviated in upper-case as NB and N.B., and in lower-case as n.b. and nb; the editorial usages of ''nota bene'' and ''notate bene'' fi ...

'': A trinomial authority in parentheses indicates that the subspecies was originally described in a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

other than ''

Pliocercus ''Pliocercus'' is a genus of snakes in the subfamily Dipsadinae. www.reptile-database.org. Geographic range Species in the genus ''Pliocercus'' are found in Mexico, Central America, and northern South America. Species and subspecies The followi ...

''.

References

*Akcali, Christopher K. (2018). "''Pliocercus elapoides'' (Variegated False Coralsnake). Defensive Behavior". ''Herpetological Review'' 49 (2): 351–352. * Boulenger GA (1894). ''Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume II., Containing the Conclusion of the Colubridæ Aglyphæ.'' London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xi + 382 pp. + Plates I–XX. (''Urotheca elapoides'', new combination, pp. 182–183). * Carbajal-Márquez, Rubén A.; Quintero-Díaz, Gustavo E.; González-Saucedo, Zaira Y.; Martínez-de la Vega, Guillermo (2013). "''Pliocercus elapoides'' (Variegated False Coralsnake). Reproduction / Clutch Size". ''Herpetological Review'' 44 (4): 697. * Cope ED (1860). "Catalogue of the Colubridæ in the Museum of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, with notes and descriptions of new species. Part 2". ''Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia'' 12: 241–266. (''Pliocercus elapoides'', new species, pp. 253–254). *Díaz-García, Juan Manuel; Kelly-Hernández, Alfonso; Vásquez-Cruz, Víctor (2022). "''Depredación de ''Rheohyla miotympanum'' (Anura: Hylidae) por ''Pliocercus elapoides'' (Squamata: Colubridae) en el centro de Veracruz'' ". ''Revista Latinoamericana de Herpetología'' 5 (3): 1–4. (in Spanish). * Smith HM, Chiszar D (2001). "''Pliocercus elapoides'' Cope, Variegated False Coral Snake". ''Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles'' (739): 1–11. Pliocercus Snakes of Central America Reptiles of Mexico Reptiles of Belize Reptiles of Guatemala Reptiles of Honduras Reptiles of El Salvador Reptiles described in 1860 Taxa named by Edward Drinker Cope {{Dipsadinae-stub