Micrurus spixii, also known commonly as the Amazon coral snake or the Amazonian coral snake, is a species of venomous snake in the family Elapidae. The species is native to northern South America.

Etymology The specific name, spixii, is in honor of German biologist Johann Baptist von Spix.

Description Micrurus spixii is the largest species in its genus. Adults usually have a total length (tail included) of . The maximum recorded total length is .

The color pattern consists of triads of black rings enclosing lighter rings of white, yellow, or greenish gray. The triads are separated by red rings. The black rings are the narrowest, and the red rings are the fewest. xii + 328 pp., 38 maps, 63 color photographs, 49 color pattern drawings. (Micrurus spixii, pp. 215–218 + Map 36 + Color 55 + Pattern 44).

Males have 206–217 ventrals and 19–24 subcaudals, and females have 212–222 ventrals and 19–23 subcaudals.

Geographic distribution Micrurus spixii is found in Bolivia, northwestern Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela.

Habitat The preferred natural habitats of Micrurus spixii are forest and savanna, at elevations from sea level to .

Behavior Micrurus spixii is terrestrial, foraging in the leaf litter of the forest or savanna.

Diet Micrurus spixii preys upon long-bodied reptiles such as snakes, amphisbaenians, and some species of lizards.

Reproduction Micrurus spixii is oviparous.

Mimicry Micrurus spixii is mimicked by Simophis rhinostoma.

Taxonomy Micrurus spixii is the type species of the genus Micrurus.

References

Further reading

xiv + 727 pp. + Plates I–XXV. (Elaps spixii, p. 427). 189 pp. (Micrurus spixii, p. 116).

Wagler, J. (1824). "Serpentum Brasiliensum species novae ou histoire naturelle des espèces nouvelles de serpens, recueillies et observées pendant le voyage dans l'intérieur du Brésil dans les années 1817, 1818, 1819, 1820, exécuté par ordre de sa Majesté le Roi de Baviére". viii + 75 pp. + Plates I–XXVI. In: Spix, J. (1824). Animalia nova sive species novae.... Munich: F.S. Hübschmann. (Micrurus spixii, new species, pp. 48–49 + Plate XVIII). (in Latin and French).