Click image to zoom

Amphiesma Stolatum In India

Buff-striped Keelbacks (Amphiesma stolatum)are nonvenomous colubrid snakes that are distributed in India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka, where they occur in a variety of natural and altered habitats that include fields, grasslands, cultivated areas, scrub, and gardens, usually in the vicinity of water. It belongs to the subfamily Natricinae, and is closely related to water snakes and grass snakes. It is a typically nonaggressive snake that feeds on frogs and toads. Although common, they are encountered most frequently during monsoon seasons because they hibernate in the winter and aestivate in the summer consequently, opportunities to obtain gravid females or eggs are rare. Reports of clutch sizes and lengths of hatchlings vary. The snake lays a clutch of 5 to 10 pure white eggs. Females remain with eggs till they hatch. The young snakes are 13 to 17 cm at birth and eat small frogs, tadpoles, fish, earthworms, and insects. A male Buff-striped Keelback snake is mating with a female Keelback snake at Tehatta, West Bengal; India on august 06, 2023. (Photo by Soumyabrata Roy/NurPhoto)

Photo Details

Related Keywords