Coral Snake

“Red touches yellow, kill a fellow…” isn’t always accurate.

Coral snakes are highly venomous members of the Elapidae family. They’re split into Old World and New World groups, most of which inhabit sparsely populated areas. They’re generally small snakes, between 2 and 4 feet; the Arizona coral snake is sometimes thinner than a pencil.

The Old World groups live in Asia, India, and the islands of Southeast Asia. These snakes are classified into three genera, with about 20 species. They exhibit the widest variation in color patterns, from mostly blackish-blue with orange on their head and tail.

The New World coral snakes live in the Americas, in the southern United States, and throughout Central and South America. Many of them have red, yellow, and black patterns but not all. Of all the coral snake species, the Americas are home to by far the largest variety. There are dozens of species, over 100; however, with all that variety, they are only classified into two genera.

Amazing Facts About Coral Snakes

• Coral snakes are highly venomous, second behind black mambas, but their venom delivery system is lacking; their fangs are small and weak and not hollow like a pit viper’s fangs.
• In North America, they’re the only venomous snakes to lay eggs. The others are all pit vipers that give birth.
• Many coral snakes spend their time buried in leaf litter or otherwise hiding; they wait for their prey to come to them.
• A few species are aquatic; their tails are flattened and act as a paddle.

Where to Find Them

Coral snakes inhabit the Americas, like in Alabama, and many areas of India, Asia, and the islands of Southeast Asia. These snakes vary widely in behavior but are mostly fossorial, digging into leaf litter and hiding in abandoned burrows. Many do not come out except to breed or during the rainy season. A few are mostly aquatic and spend most of their time in the water with dense vegetation.

They mainly eat rodents but will also eat salamanders, frogs, lizards, birds, and occasionally other snakes. Some species, like the blue Malaysian coral snake, eats primarily snakes.

Scientific Name

They’re part of the Elapidae family, cousins to snakes like cobras and mambas. Coral snakes are classified under several genera, all with different meanings:

• Calliophis is Greek and means beautiful (calli = beautiful) snake (ophis).
• Hemibungarus
• Sinomicrurus means Chinese (sino = from China) small (micr = small) tail (urus = tail).
• Micrurus means small tail.
• Micruoides means small tail-like.

Each of the specific names either gives further detail about the snake’s physical description or honors a person involved in its discovery.

Population and Conservation

Coral snakes don’t breed very quickly – many only lay 2 or 3 eggs at a time. Some coral snakes are considered endangered in part of their habitat; for example, North Carolina considers the eastern coral snake (M. fulvius) endangered. The IUCN Redlist has several listed as vulnerable with decreasing populations; including the Roatan coral snake (M. ruatanus), the Oaxacan coral snake (M. ephippifer), and the Japanese coral snake (S. japonicus).

Appearance & Description

The rhyme many school kids learned works most of the time for the Eastern and Texas coral snakes; it sort of works with the Arizona species, which often has white bands instead of yellow. It’s not completely reliable, however, and the further you go from the United States, the less it works. Add to that, several snake species mimic coral snake colors, such as the king snakes and milk snakes that have similar banding.

So, learning to identify the coral snakes that live in your area is the best way to go.

Snakes such as the eastern, Texas, and Arizona coral snakes do have a couple of things in common: They have blunt heads and tails, and their color pattern extends all the way around their bodies. The non-venomous look-alikes’ color stops at their bellies.

The rhyme doesn’t work at all with Asian species; their colors and patterns vary greatly from species to species.

Diet

Coral snakes have an interesting diet that primarily consists of small reptiles, rodents, and even frogs. They are mostly ground-dwellers, so they hunt for their prey in the leaf litter or soil on the forest floor. They sometimes use ambush tactics to surprise their prey when they least expect it. Coral snakes also feed on other venomous snakes, such as rattlesnakes and copperheads, which gives them a competitive advantage over other predators who can’t tolerate the venom of these species. However, coral snakes will occasionally take advantage of birds and insects if they get hungry enough!

Read about what coral snakes eat.

Pictures and Videos

Venom: How Dangerous are They?

Despite their highly toxic venom and fearsome reputation, North American coral snakes are considered less dangerous than rattlesnakes and copperheads. Their venom is the second most toxic in the world after black mambas and is composed of neurotoxins that attack the respiratory system. A severe bite can cause death in just a few hours, which makes immediate medical care vital.

Toxicity of their venom aside, these snakes have a poor venom delivery system. Unlike vipers, coral snakes don’t have hollow fangs attached to a venom gland. Their fangs have a groove that the venom travels down when they bite; rather than striking and releasing, coral snakes have to chew on their prey to get venom injected.

Behavior and Humans

Coral snakes are highly venomous, but surprisingly few bites occur every year. Unlike the mambas and cobras, their less reclusive cousins, they are excellent escape artists and often leave before you ever have a chance to see them. If you do see one, your best bet is to back away and give it space to leave; they’re not generally aggressive and will not chase you.

They’re reclusive and spend much of their time buried in leaf litter, underground, or otherwise hidden on the rainforest floor. Over 90% of the bites incurred happen after someone picks up one of these snakes.

As with other dangerous animals, only those with proper training and experience should handle them.

181 Types of Coral Snakes

There are two groups of coral snakes, New World and Old World.

The main difference between the old world and new world coral snakes is their geographic location. Old-world coral snakes are found in Africa, the Middle East, India, and parts of Southeast Asia. New World coral snakes can be found in North America, Central America, and South America. An additional difference is that most new World coral snake species have red bands bordered by black rings, while most old World species have yellow or white bands separated by black rings. Furthermore, some new World species can be distinguished from others by differences in color patterns and head shape. For example, Eastern Coral Snakes typically have a more triangular head with bright, striking colors compared to the Western Coral Snake, which has a more rounded head and duller colors.

1. Reptile Database, Available here: https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/
2. Amphibians & Reptiles of NC, Available here: http://herpsofnc.org/eastern-coral-snake/
3. IUCN Redlist, Available here: https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/177491/96877688
4. North Carolina Wildlife, Available here: https://www.ncwildlife.org/Learning/Species/Reptiles/Eastern-Coral-Snake
5. National Institute of Health, Available here: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19673084/