Trimeresurus stejnegeri Schmidt, 1925

Size

Trimeresurus stejnegeri Schmidt, 1925 reaches a maximum total length of 75 centimetres (30 inches), with a tail length of 14.5 centimetres (5.7 inches).

Hemipenes Morphology

Males have short, spinose hemipenes beyond their bifurcation.

Dorsal Scale Arrangement

At midbody, dorsal scales are arranged in 21 longitudinal rows.

Upper Labial Scales

There are 9 to 11 upper labials; the first upper labials are separated from the nasal scales by a distinct suture.

Supraocular Scales

Supraocular scales are single and narrow, and sometimes divided by a transverse suture.

Inter-supraocular Scales

Between the supraoculars, there are 11 to 16 scales in a single line.

Ventral And Subcaudal Scales

Ventral scales number 150 to 174, while subcaudal scales number 54 to 77, and all subcaudal scales are paired.

Body Coloration

The species has a color pattern that is bright to dark green on the upper body and pale green to whitish on the lower body.

Ventrolateral Stripe

A bright ventrolateral stripe separates these two color zones: the stripe is bicolored, with orange or brown on the lower portion and white on the upper portion in males, while it is either bicolored or entirely white in females. This stripe covers the entire outermost scale row and part of the second row.

Diet

Trimeresurus stejnegeri, commonly called the bamboo viper, is a carnivorous species that feeds on small rodents, birds, frogs, and lizards.

Color Morphs

Yellow-colored mutant individuals of this species have been reported.

Geographic Distribution

This species is found across a broad geographic range: in India (Western Ghats, Eastern Ghats, and Northeast India), Nepal, Myanmar, Laos, most of southern China including Yunnan, Sichuan, Gansu, Jiangxi, Jiangsu, Hunan, Hubei, Guizhou, Guangxi, Guangdong, Hainan, Fujian, Anhui, and Zhejiang, Vietnam, and Taiwan.

Type Locality

Its original type locality was listed as "Shaowu, Fukien Province, China"; this was later amended to "N.W. Fukien Province" by Pope & Pope (1933), where Fukien is the former romanization of Fujian.

Identification Confusion

In India, this snake is often confused with Trimeresurus and Ahaetulla oxyrhyncha.

Habitat And Altitude Range

Its preferred natural habitat is forest, at altitudes ranging from sea level up to 2,000 m (6,600 ft).

Reproduction Mode

Trimeresurus stejnegeri is viviparous.