Bungarus fasciatus (Schneider, 1801)
Banded Krait 金環蛇
(Highly venomous)
Suborder
Serpentes 蛇亞目
Some specimen has black speckling on yellow band.
Body with triangular cross-section, due to high vertebral ridge.
Head with black spear-shaped marking.
Upper labials largely black, edged with yellow. Lower labials completely yellow.
Tail banded with yellow and black, short and blunt.
Scales larger along vertebral ridge than other dorsal scales. Scales smooth and glossy.
Bites can be fatal and can cause death within 15 hours.
Inhabits low-lying areas with good vegetation cover and water supply such as marshes, cultivated fields, shrubland.
Rarely grassland and woodland.
Strictly nocturnal. Normally quite timid and tame. Almost never bites during the day. Highly alert after dark.
Mainly ophiophagous. Also eats lizards.
Feed well on rat snakes in captivity.
Oviparous. Lays 6-14 eggs a time.
Localized in some parts of the New Territories, Hong Kong Island and Lantau Island.
Widely distributed from northeastern India to southern China, and from Malay Peninsula to Indonesia.
China Redlist: Endangered
