Demansia is a genus of venomous snakes of the family Elapidae. Members of the genus are commonly known as whip snakes or whipsnakes, as are members of several other genera.
Description All species of the genus Demansia are gray, brown, gray-green, or beige, save for Demansia psammophis (yellow-faced whip snake), which may be cream-coloured. Whip snakes are long and slender. They have large eyes and relatively small heads that are only slightly wider than their bodies. All species in the genus Demansia are venomous.
Distribution Whip snakes of the genus Demansia are found in Australia, Papua New Guinea in the area around Port Moresby, and nearby islands.
Diet Demansia whip snakes eat mainly lizards. They are diurnal (active in the day) and use their keen eyesight to hunt. Their prey dies quickly from the effects of the snake's venom.
Interaction with humans In 2007 a man died after being bitten by a whip snake in Victoria. Their bites are generally regarded as akin to a bee sting and relatively harmless, but the man became woozy and went into cardiac arrest before paramedics arrived.
Species The following 15 species are recognized as being valid.. www.reptile-database.org. Demansia angusticeps – narrow-headed whipsnake Demansia calodera – black-necked whipsnake Demansia cyanochasma – desert whipsnake Demansia flagellatio – long-tailed whipsnake Demansia olivacea – olive whipsnake Demansia papuensis – greater black whipsnake Demansia psammophis – yellow-faced whipsnake Demansia quaesitor – sombre whipsnake Demansia reticulata – reticulated whipsnake Demansia rimicola – soil-crack whipsnake Demansia rufescens – rufous whip snake Demansia shinei – Shine's whipsnake Demansia simplex – grey whipsnake Demansia torquata – collared whipsnake Demansia vestigiata – lesser black whipsnake
Nota bene: A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Demansia.
See also Whip snake (disambiguation)
References
Further reading Gray JE (1842). "Description of some hitherto unrecorded species of Australian Reptiles and Batrachians". Zoological Miscellany 2: 51-57. (Demansia, new genus, p. 54).