Micrurus diastema, commonly known as the diastema coral snake, the variable coral snake, and coral diastema in Spanish, is a species of venomous snake in the family Elapidae. The species is native to southeastern Mexico and northern Central America. There are seven recognized subspecies.
Geographic distribution Micrurus diastema occurs in Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, and southeastern Mexico.
Habitat The preferred natural habitat of Micrurus diastema is tropical wet, moist, and dry forest from near sea level to , but it tolerates habitat disturbance and is also found in agricultural areas.
Behavior Micrurus diastema is terrestrial.
Reproduction Micrurus diastema is oviparous.
Subspecies There are seven subspecies which are recognized as being valid, including the nominotypical subspecies. Micrurus diastema affinis Micrurus diastema aglaeope Micrurus diastema alienus Micrurus diastema apiatus Micrurus diastema diastema Micrurus diastema macdougalli Micrurus diastema sapperi
Nota bene: A trinomial authority in parentheses indicates that the subspecies was originally described in a genus other than Micrurus.
Etymology The subspecific name, macdougalli, is in honor of naturalist Thomas Baillie MacDougall (1896–1973).Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (Micrurus diastema macdougalli, p. 164; M. d. sapperi, p. 232).
The subspecific name, sapperi, is in honor of German explorer Karl Theodor Sapper.
References
Further reading
Duméril A-M-C, Bibron G, Duméril A[-H-A] (1854). Erpétologie générale ou histoire naturelle complète des reptiles. Tome septième. Deuxième partie. Comprenant l'histoire des serpents venimeux (= General Herpetology or Complete Natural History of the Reptiles. Volume 7. Second Part. Containing the [Natural] History of the Venomous Snakes). Paris: Librairie Encyclopédique de Roret. xii + pp. 781–1536. (Elaps diastema, new species, p. 1222). (in French). Heimes P (2016). Snakes of Mexico: Herpetofauna Mexicana Vol. I. Frankfurt am Main, Germany: Edition Chimaira. 572 pp. . xii + 328 pp., 38 maps, 63 color photographs, 49 color pattern drawings. (Micrurus diastema, pp. 152–158, Figures 53–54 + Map 14 + Color 15–16 + Pattern 13–15). Schmidt KP (1933). "Preliminary Account of the Coral Snakes of Central America and Mexico". Zoological Series of Field Museum of Natural History 20 (6): 29–40. (Micrurus diastema, new combination, pp. 38–39).