Porthidium ophryomegas (Bocourt, 1868)

Adult Body Length

Adults of this species usually reach 40–60 cm (16–24 in) in length and have a relatively slender body build. Females grow larger than males: they are often more than 60 cm (24 in) long, while males are typically around 45 cm (18 in). One exceptional female specimen has been recorded at 77 cm (30 in).

Base Coloration

Its color pattern has a base ground color of tan, brown, gray, or grayish-brown. This base is overlaid with a narrow white, yellow, or rust brown vertebral stripe, plus 24–40 dark brown to nearly black blotches that either oppose or alternate across the vertebral line.

Blotch Characteristics

The blotches have thin white borders that extend from the vertebral line at roughly a right angle.

Geographic Range

This species is found in Central America, specifically in Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica.

Type Locality

Its given type locality is "warm regions on the western slope of Cordillera, Escuintla, Guatemala", originally recorded in French as "les terres chaudes du versant occidental de la Cordillère Escuintla (Guatémala)".

Habitat

It inhabits seasonally dry forests: this includes tropical dry forests, arid forests, subtropical dry forests, and the more arid sections of tropical moist forests.

Reproduction

This species is ovoviviparous: females give birth to live young that measure approximately 15 cm (6 inches) in length.