Red-black Striped Snakes
Bothrophthalmus
The red-black striped snake (Bothrophthalmus lineatus) is the monotypical member of the genus Bothrophthalmus. This snake is found in the Sub-Saharan African countries of Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi, Angola and Guinea. It is a harmless snake, black with five red stripes down its back. It lives in forests and forest islands from 700 to 2300 m altitude, often near water. A terrestrial and nocturnal snake, when not active, it hides in holes, leaf litter, and in or under rotting logs. It may bite furiously if handled (although it is harmless). Females lay clutches of about five eggs; it eats small forest animals such as shrews and mice.
The two recognized subspecies are:
2 branches of this genus, most-observed first · about 2 known species
Red-Black Striped Snake
speciesBothrophthalmus lineatus
Brown Loreal Pitted Wolf Snake
speciesBothrophthalmus brunneus
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
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geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
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In the stacks
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Every page naming Bothrophthalmus in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 27603.