Krait
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{{Taxobox | color = pink | name = Kraits | image = Bandedkrait.jpg | image_width = 240px | image_caption = Banded Krait, Bungarus fasciatus | regnum = Animalia | phylum = Chordata | classis = Reptilia | ordo = Squamata | familia = Elapidae | genus = Bungarus | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = 12 species, see below }} The kraits are 12 species of venomous snakes in the genus Bungarus in the Elapidae family.
They are found in the Indian subcontinent (including Sri Lanka and eastern Pakistan) and southeast Asia (including Indonesia and Borneo). There are 15 various subspecies.[1]
Krait have neurotoxic venom many times more potent than cobra venom. The bite of the krait is very serious and causes respiratory failure in the victim. Before effective antivenin was developed, there was a 75 percent mortality rate among victims. [2] The bite has been described as extremely painful; fortunately, kraits are not usually aggressive. In 2001, Dr. Joe Slowinski was bitten by a juvenile krait while doing field research on them in Myanmar and, unable to reach medical assistance, died.
Kraits usually range between 1 to 1.5 m in length, although specimens as large as 2 m have been observed. The Banded Krait (B. fasciatus) may grow as large as 2.5 m. Most species of krait are covered in smooth glossy scales that are arranged in bold striped patterns of alternating black and light-colored areas. This gives the snake camouflage in its habitat of grassland and scrub jungle. The scales along the dorsal ridge of the back are hexagonal. The head is slender and the eyes have round pupils. Kraits have a pronounced dorso-lateral flattening, and are triangular in cross-section. The tail tapers to a thin point.
Kraits are oviparous and the female will lay a clutch of six to 12 eggs in piles of leaf litter and stay with them until they hatch.
Kraits mainly prey upon other snakes (including venomous varieties) and are cannibalistic, feeding on other kraits. They also eat small lizards.[3]
All kraits are nocturnal. The snake is more docile during the daylight hours, becoming more aggressive during the night. However, they are rather timid and will often hide their heads within their coiled bodies for protection. When in this posture, they will sometimes whip their tail around as a type of distraction.[4]
Species
- B. andamanensis (Andamans krait)
- B. bungaroides (Himalayan krait)
- B. caeruleus (Common krait/Blue krait)
- B. candidus
- B. ceylonicus (Ceylon krait/Ceylonese krait/Sri Lanka krait/Sri Lankan krait)
- Sri Lanka
- Subspecies
- B.c. karavala
- B. fasciatus (Banded krait)
- B. flaviceps
- B. lividus (Lesser black krait)
- B. magnimaculatus
- B. multicinctus (Many-banded krait/China krait/Chinese krait/Silver-banded krait/Taiwan krait/Taiwanese krait)
- B. niger (Black krait)
- B. sindanus (Sindhi krait/Sind krait)
- Northwestern India, southeastern Pakistan (Sindh)
- Subspecies
- B.s. razai (Northern Punjab Krait)
- B.s. walli
Kraits in fiction
Kraits have reputations as deadly snakes and has figured in fiction as such. Rudyard Kipling's short story "Rikki Tikki Tavi" features a krait as an antagonist to the title character (a mongoose), and Roald Dahl also uses the krait as a device in his short story "Poison." The krait also appears in Frederick Forsyth's short story "There Are No Snakes in Ireland" (included in his collection No Comebacks).
It has also been argued that the deadly snake in the Sherlock Holmes story "The Adventure of the Speckled Band" may have been a krait, although it is described in that work as an "Indian swamp adder."