Klauber's Threadsnake, Epictia tenella (Klauber, 1939)
Previously known as Leptotyphlops albifrons.
Size. 275 mm TL, tail very short about 6–7% of total length.
Identification. A small, silvery, striped snake with a yellow face and yellow tail; each scale row has a dark stripe. Head no wider than neck; rostral visible from above; nasals extend to border of mouth and separate two labials; no loreal; ocular scale contains a relatively large eye that nearly touches the anterior edge of the scale; two upper labials, the first upper labial contacts the supraocular; four lower labials; 219–229 ventrals; 15–20 subcaudals; 14 rows of smooth dorsal scales; tail ends in sharp spine; ventrals about as wide as dorsals.
Similar species. The supraocular and first labial in contact, and a pentagonal-shaped ocular scale separates it from all other Trinidad snakes.
Distribution. Epictia tenella occurs on Trinidad, Venezuela, and northern Brazil. Habitat. A fossorial snake found in urban gardens, savanna, and forest. It climbs on rock walls and tree trunks to reach food sources but is most often found under rocks, logs, and in leaf litter near ant and termite nests.
Biology. Active any time of day. This is an ant and termite specialists which locates colonies by following the chemical trails laid down by the social insects. This is the most frequently encountered species of Trinidad scolecophidian snakes.
Previously known as Leptotyphlops albifrons.
Size. 275 mm TL, tail very short about 6–7% of total length.
Identification. A small, silvery, striped snake with a yellow face and yellow tail; each scale row has a dark stripe. Head no wider than neck; rostral visible from above; nasals extend to border of mouth and separate two labials; no loreal; ocular scale contains a relatively large eye that nearly touches the anterior edge of the scale; two upper labials, the first upper labial contacts the supraocular; four lower labials; 219–229 ventrals; 15–20 subcaudals; 14 rows of smooth dorsal scales; tail ends in sharp spine; ventrals about as wide as dorsals.
Similar species. The supraocular and first labial in contact, and a pentagonal-shaped ocular scale separates it from all other Trinidad snakes.
Distribution. Epictia tenella occurs on Trinidad, Venezuela, and northern Brazil. Habitat. A fossorial snake found in urban gardens, savanna, and forest. It climbs on rock walls and tree trunks to reach food sources but is most often found under rocks, logs, and in leaf litter near ant and termite nests.
Biology. Active any time of day. This is an ant and termite specialists which locates colonies by following the chemical trails laid down by the social insects. This is the most frequently encountered species of Trinidad scolecophidian snakes.
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