Article Citation: Bubesh Guptha M, Thulasaiah T and Sivaram Prasad NV. New locality record of yellow collared wolf snake Lycodon flavicollis mukherjee and bhupathy, 2007 from seshachalam biosphere reserve, Eastern Ghats, Andhra Pradesh, India.

Journal of Research in Biology (2014) 4(3): 1328-1331

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New Locality Record of Yellow Collared Wolf Snake Lycodon flavicollis Mukherjee and Bhupathy, 2007 from Seshachalam Biosphere Reserve,

Eastern Ghats, Andhra Pradesh, India

Keywords: Seshachalam Biosphere Reserve, Lycodon flavicollis, New Locality Record, Andhra Pradesh.

ABSTRACT: During field survey, we encounter live specimen of Lycodon flavicollis while it was crossing the path at about 1130 hrs on 20th September 2013. Near a close to the famous temple of Sri Lord Venkateswara (13° 42 N & 79° 20’E). During the time of collection, it was cool and cloudy. Subsequently, the specimen was photographed and released after collection of morphometry measurements. In the present paper, we provide additional and new locality record in Eastern Ghats.

1328-1331 | JRB | 2014 | Vol 4 | No 3

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Authors:

Bubesh Guptha M*,

Thulasaiah T and

Sivaram Prasad NV.

Institution:

Bio - Lab of Seshachalam

Hills, Wildlife Management

Circle, Kapilatheertham,

Tirupati - 517 501,

Andhra Pradesh, India

Corresponding author:

Bubesh Guptha M.

Email Id:

Web Address: http://jresearchbiology.com/

documents/RA0389.pdf.

Dates: Received: 19 Oct 2013 Accepted: 02 Dec 2013 Published: 11 Jun 2014

Journal of Research in Biology

An International Scientific Research Journal

Original Research

ISSN Number: Print: 2231 –6280; Online: 2231- 6299

INTRODUCTION:

Amphibians and reptiles play a major role in

ecological food wed, as both predators and prey. Herpits

also provide a significant benefit to agriculture and

recreational activity as consumers of insects, rodents, and

other pest species Amphibians and reptiles, 2006).

Lycodon, one of the most widespread Asiatic snake taxa,

ranges from the Caspian Sea to the Philippines and

Indonesia. Over 25 species have been reported to date

(Smith, 1943; Biswas and Sanyal, 1965; Lanza, 1999;

Slowinski et al., 2001; Daltry and Wuster, 2002), and 11

of them occur within the Indian subcontinent (Mukherjee

and Bhupathy, 2007). The Eastern Ghats is of broken and

isolated hills of the Deccan Plateau, unlike the

continuous mountain range of Western Ghats of the

southwestern India (Chettri and Bhupathy, 2010). The

collection site of Lycodon flavicollis is located in

Seshachalam hill ranges. These hill ranges are a part of

the Eastern Ghats, spread over Chittoor and Kadapah

districts of Andhra Pradesh. The predominant vegetation

type is tropical southern dry mixed deciduous forest

(Champion and Seth, 1968). The vegetation is a mix of

the tropical southern dry mixed deciduous types and

includes three protected areas, namely Sri Venkateswara

Wildlife Sanctuary, Sri Venkateswara National Park and

Seshachalam Biosphere Reserve. This range is the

richest floristic hot spot harboring many endemic and

rare plants. The entire sanctuary is an uninhabited large

chunk of dry deciduous Red Sanders bearing forest

(Bubesh et al., 2013).

METHODOLOGY:

Totally 53 field days were spent to rapidly assess

the Herpetofauna Since August 2011 onwards, we are

Guptha et al., 2014

1329 Journal of Research in Biology (2014) 4(3): 1328-1331

Source: Google Earth.

Figure 1: Distribution map for Lycodon flavicollis in India (after Mukherjee and Bhupathy 2007),

with an Yellow spot indicating the earlier record from Anaikatti Hills, Tamil Nadu, Western Ghats

and Pink spot indicating the new locality record for Seshachalam Hills, Andhra Pradesh, Eastern

Ghats.

carrying out a detailed biodiversity inventory of the

Seshachalam Biosphere Reserve in Chittoor and Kadapa

districts, Andhra Pradesh. Data collection will be carried

out by using Visual Encounter Survey Method. The

sanctuary area was different and all habitats were

randomly explored on the basis of habitat and

availability of the species. All important major and minor

water bodies, including seasonal rivulets were

extensively explored for aquatic species.

RESULT AND DISCUSSION

During nature trail in Seshachalam Biosphere

Reserve we encounter live specimen of Lycodon

flavicollis dated 20th September 2013 at 1130 hrs. The

specimen was collected from the habitat close to the

famous temple of Sri Lord Venkateswara (13°42’N and

79°20’E) (Fig-1). Surrounding mixed vegetation forest.

During the time of collection, it was cool and cloudy.

Subsequently, the specimen was photographed and

released after collection of morphometry measurements.

All measurements are in mm (Table-1). So far very little

information is available or published about this species,

Lycodon flavicollis a new species were described

recently from Anaikatti Hills, Tamil Nadu, Western

Ghats (Mukherjee and Bhupathy 2007).

Yellow Collared Wolf Snake Lycodon

flavicollis is a species of non venomous snake, Snout

broad, much depressed, long, spatulate, with the upper

lip swollen. Uniform brownish grey above, with a yellow

collar (Figure- 2 and 3).

Threats

Management intervention should ensure

checking of illegal entry especially red sander smugglers,

livestock pressure etc. Forest fire is one of the major

threats in the Seshachalam hills.

RECOMMENDATION:

We recommend that further studies be carried out

in the Eastern Ghats and its surrounding areas at the

earliest possible opportunity to confirm the presence of

Guptha et al., 2014

Journal of Research in Biology (2014) 4(3): 1328-1331 1330

Figure 2: Showing head and aspects of dorsal

coloration in Lycodon flavicollis Figure 3: Showing aspects of head and dorsum

of Lycodon flavicollis

Table 1: Morphometry of Lycodon flavicollis from

Seshachalam Biosphere Reserve

Particulars Measurements

Ventral 217

Sub Caudal 68

Supralabials 9

Tail Length 41mm

Head Length 8mm

Head Width 5mm

Total Length 280mm

many such new species. Also everyone should realize

that the protection of habitat is an important aspect in

conservation of such species.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:

We are thankful to Sri A.V. Joseph, IFS, PCCF

(WL) and CWW, Andhra Pradesh for giving permission

to carry out field studies in Seshachalam Biosphere

Reserve. Special thanks to Sri M. Ravi Kumar, IFS,

Conservator of Forests, WLM Circle, Tirupati for

encouragement and necessary helps. We also thank Sri

K. Madhu, Miss K. Rohini Anusha, Sri V. Bhavani

Shankar, Sri G. Uma Maheswar and Sri P. Prudhvi Raj

from the Bio-Lab of Seshachalam Hills who

accompanied along with the survey.

REFERENCES:

Amphibians and Reptiles. 2006. Wildlife Habitat

council. (Natural resources conservation Service),

Number, 35. www.parcplace.org.

Biswas S and Sanyal DP. 1965. A new species of Wolf

snake of the genus Lycodon Boie (Reptilia: Serpentes:

Colubridae) from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Proc. Zool. Soc. Calcutta, 18, 137 – 141.

Bubesh MG, Chalapathi Rao PV, Sivaram Prasad

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Universal Journal of Environmental Research and

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Champion HG and Seth SK. 1968. A revised survey of

the forest types of India. Govt. of India Press, Delhi.

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Russian Journal of Herpetology. 14(1): 21 – 26

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Guptha et al., 2014

1331 Journal of Research in Biology (2014) 4(3): 1328-1331

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