L X C O D O IT C A P E H S I S
L Y CO D O N C A P E NS I S . - S m it h .
R e p t il ia .^ I P l a t e Y. ( F em a l e .)
L. supra nitid& nigro-vindis, purpureo tinctus; capite liiieis albis reticulato, corporis squamis ad apices
albis : infra viridi-flavus; scutis abdominalibus 178 ; squamis subcaudalibus 37.,:
Longitudo corporis 12 unc.; caudse 2 unc.
Lycodon Capensis, South African Quarterly Journal, No. 5, page 18, June 1831.
Lycodon Hobstokii, Schlegel, Physiognomic des Serpens, 1837.
C o l o u r .— The upper surface of the head, the back and the upper parts of
the sides glossy blackish green, faintly flushed with purple, and delicately
variegated with white; the latter colour is in the form of slender delicate lines
upon the head, which are so interwoven as to exhibit a fine reticulated
appearance; on the other parts it occurs in the shape of minute specks, one
close to the point of each scale. The upper lip, the lower parts of the sides,
and the under surface of the body and tail, greenish or wine yellow, the latter
with a longitudinal, zig-zag, dark stripe along its centre. Eyes livid green.
The above were the colours of the individual represented in the plate, but
such are not the colours most commonly exhibited by specimens of this species.
All the individuals which I have seen, excepting the one described, have
had the upper parts of a shining greenish brown colour, the head without variations,
and the scales along the middle of the back less distinctly marked with
white specks than those of the sides ; the subcaudal stripe was also wanting.
F o rm , & c . Head rather short, somewhat ovate and much depressed, its
sides slightly convex, more particularly towards the hindhead, which is not
distinct from the neck ; pupils vertical and of an oval form ; eyes small, with
two scales at the posterior angle, and one at the anterior; vertical plate large
and triangular, occipital plates long and also somewhat triangular. Body
subcylindrical, and slightly thicker at the middle than at the neck; from the
former it tapers gradually to the tip of the tail, which is pointed. The' scales
are short, somewhat quadrangular, obtuse at the points, and disposed in
transverse rows, each row, according as it may be traced, will appear either
oblique, or bent and forming two sides of a triangle, the apex of which
will be situated on the middle of the back. One or two of the maxillary