Lycodon striatus (Northern Wolf Snake )

2. Lycodon striatus

Distinguishing Features

i. They are non-poisonous snakes.
ii. The body is cylindrical, slender with even tapering.
iii. The head is slightly distinct from the neck.
iv. The snout is blunt.
v. The scales on the dorsal surface are smooth with apical pits.
vi. The scales on the upper labial are normally white in colour and vary from 8 - 9 in number. The 4^th and 5^th scales touch the eye.
vii. The scales on the lower labial vary from 9 -10 in number.
viii. The dorsal surface of the adults is light chocolate brown in colour and it is jet black in young ones.
ix . Numerous short white dashes are present on the lateral side of the body and these are more prominent on the posterior side.
x. A distinct white collar and 35 or more light golden yellow transverse bars are present on the nap. The specimen collected from Quetta possessed 39 pale gold transverse bars while that collected from Sindh possessed 27 golden transverse bars.

Size

Its length varies from 365 - 490 mm.

Habit and Habitat

This specie of Wolf Snake is found in desert, scrubs, cultivated land and in mangrove swamps. They are nocturnal in habit but may come out during daytime in winter.

The dark bands on the body made them to resemble with young Indian Krait and thus act as one of the reason of their killing. When handled, they first touch the predator’s skin with their nose and then try to bite. They vibrate the tip of their tail at the time of danger.

Food

They feed on small lizards.

Distribution

This specie is found in Transcaspia, Iran, Indian Peninsula and Srilanka. In Pakistan, they are found in the Indus Valley, Jacobabad, Khairpur and Sanghar and the Bela district of Balochistan.

Breeding

Economic Importance

Being small in size its skin has no economical value but they act as potential food for birds .

Status

Less common

Threats

Human beings can be regarded as the biggest threat to them. They are killed by them either for their skin or out of longstanding fear of snakes.