Micrurus hemprichii

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]

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

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.