Micrurus spurrelli, also known commonly as the butterfly-head coral snake, the Colombian coral snake, and coral cabeza mariposa in South American Spanish, is a species of venomous snake in the family Elapidae. The species is endemic to Colombia.
Etymology The specific name, spurrelli, is in honor of British zoologist Herbert George Flaxman Spurrell, who collected the holotype.
The specific name of a synonym, nicefori, is in honor of Brother Nicéforo María, who was both a priest and a herpetologist in Colombia.
Description Small for the genus Micrurus, adults of Micrurus spurrelli usually have a total length (tail included) of around . The maximum recorded total length is . xii + 328 pp., 38 maps, 63 color photographs, 49 color pattern drawings. (Micrurus spurrelli, p. 218 + Map 37 + Pattern 47).
The color pattern of M. spurrelli consists of alternating black rings and light-colored rings. Because this species is known from only a few preserved museum specimens, and because red and yellow pigments fade rapidly in alcohol, the actual color in life of the light-colored rings is unknown. The black rings are 3–4 dorsals and 2–4 ventrals wide, and the light-colored rings are 2 dorsals and 2–3 ventrals wide. There are 47–53 black rings on the body. On the top of the head, there is a black crossband, with sinuous anterior and posterior borders, which resembles a butterfly.
Males have 234–241 ventrals and 35–37 subcaudals, and females have 252–267 ventrals and 26–30 subcaudals.
Geographic distribution Micrurus spurrelli is found in western Colombia, in Chocó Department. www.reptile-database.org.
Habitat The preferred natural habitat of Micrurus spurrelli is forest, at elevations of .
Behavior Micrurus spurrelli is terrestrial.
Reproduction Micrurus spurrelli is oviparous.
References
Further reading
396 pp. (Micrurus spurrelli, pp. 98-99). (in Spanish). + Plates I–II. (Elaps spurrelli, new species, p. 817 + Plate II, figures 3, 3a, 3[b]). xiv + 430 pp., 568 figures, 109 distribution maps, 31 tables. 517 pp. (Monographie VI). (in Spanish). (Micrurus nicefori, new species, pp. 346–348, figures 65a–65b). xxviii + 1,209 pp. (Micrurus spurrelli, p. 454).