Herpetofaunal surveys carried out in the recent past have resulted in the detection of species hitherto unknown from the state of Andhra Pradesh, India and have extended the distribution range of several of these (Srinivasulu and Das, 2008). Three species of Oligodon Fitzinger 1826 (Serpentes, Colubridae) – O. arnensis (Shaw, 1802), O. taeniolatus (Jerdon, 1853) and O. travancoricus Beddome, 1877 have been reported to occur in Andhra Pradesh (Srinivasulu and Das, 2008). The fi rst two species are relatively well known, albeit from relatively few localities. Within this note we present additional sightings of O. taeniolatus from Andhra Pradesh recorded between March 2009 and July 2011. The observations constitute a photo voucher

and a road killed specimen, which has been deposited in the Natural History Museum of Osmania University, Hyderabad.

Oligodon taeniolatus (English name – Streaked/Variegated Kukri Snake) is a slender, non-venomous snake which is active during day and night, while frequently observed at dusk. It mostly feeds on bird, reptile and amphibian eggs (Whitaker and Captain, 2004, Green, Orlov and Murphy, 2010). This species is one among 70 species in the genus Oligodon, the kukri snakes, which are distributed throughout much of South and Southeast Asia (Green, Orlov and Murphy, 2010). Oligodon taeniolatus is a common species which ranges from India to eastern Iran, northward to southern Turkmenistan, and east and southwards to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka (Das, 1994; 1996; Bauer, 2003; Whitaker and Captain, 2004; Green, Orlov and Murphy, 2010) (Fig. 1). In India, the species has been recorded from

Herpetology Notes, volume 4: 421-423 (2011) (published online on 9 December 2011)

New records of Oligodon taeniolatus (Jerdon, 1853) (Reptilia: Colubridae) in Andhra Pradesh, India

Midathala Seetharamaraju, Chelmala Srinivasulu* and Bhargavi Srinivasulu

Department of Zoology, University College of Science, Osma-nia University, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh 500007, India

*Corresponding author; e-mail: hyd2masawa@gmail.com

Figure 1. Distribution of Oligodon taeniolatus. Global distribution (inset, hatched area); Past records (yellow circles) and recent records (red circles) from Andhra Pradesh, India.

Midathala Seetharamaraju et al. 422

Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Tamil Nadu and Uttarakhand. In Andhra Pradesh, this species was previously known from Appapur (16°10’N, 78°40’E, altitude 800 m), Mahbubnagar District, Sundipenta (16°03’N, 78°54’E, altitude 471 m), Kurnool District, Pedda Dornala (15°55’N, 79°05’E, altitude 250 m), Prakasam District and Kunavaram (16°31’N, 82°03’E, altitude 7 m), East Godavari District (Rao et al., 2005; Sharma, 1971; Sanyal, Gupta and Gayen, 1993; Srinivasulu and Das, 2008; Ganesh and Asokan, 2010) (Fig. 1).

We observed the presence of O. taeniolatus at two different sites in Andhra Pradesh. The fi rst observation was made at Ananthagiri (18°14’N, 83°00’E, altitude

1068 m) in the Eastern Ghats of the Vishakapatnam District on 11 August 2009. The individual (Fig. 2) was found under a rock in scrub adjacent to a forested track. The second observation of a road killed individual was made at Kandukuru (17°03’N, 78°29’E, altitude 630 m) in the Mahabubnagar District on 12 June 2011 at 20:30 hr. Both specimens were identifi ed by means of published morphological characteristics (Smith, 1943; Whitaker and Captain, 2004).

The present records extend the range of O. taeniolatus further towards the north (100 km from Appapur) and northeast (213 km from Kunavaram) in Andhra Pradesh. The westernmost locality in Andhra Pradesh is 500 km south of Melghat and 496 km east of Pune in Maharashtra and the northern most in Andhra Pradesh is

Figure 2. Oligodon taeniolatus from Ananthagiri in Eastern Ghats, Vishakapatnam district, Andhra Pradesh, India.

New records of Oligodon taeniolatus 423

247 km southwest of Ganjam in Orissa. The distribution range of the Streaked Kukri Snake is based on very few localities and the addition of further confi rmed sites contributes to a better understanding of the species range.

Acknowledgements. We are grateful to Mr. Hitesh Malhotra IFS, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) and Chief Wildlife Warden, Andhra Pradesh Forest Department, Hyderabad; Dr. R. Hampaiah, Chairman and Dr. S.N. Jadhav, Member Secretary, Andhra Pradesh State Biodiversity Board, Hyderabad for encouraging biodiversity assessment studies. We thank the Head, Department of Zoology, Osmania University for encouragement and providing necessary facilities. We thank Dr. Aaron M. Bauer for his valuable comments. MSR thanks S. Vamshi of Osmania University for hospitality during the fi eld visits and acknowledges UGC Research Fellowship in Sciences for Meritorious Students.

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Accepted by Angelica Crottini; Managing Editor: Zoltan T. Nagy