蓮池潭的草花蛇

裝死的草花蛇

吞食小魚的幼年草花蛇

喜歡探頭的草花蛇 - 轉自 自然生活記趣

弄蛇 - 轉自 小張的部落格

台灣本島及金門海拔500公呎處。 (分布圖)

阿富汗，巴基斯坦，斯里蘭卡，印度(馬哈什特拉省，阿魯納洽爾邦)，緬甸，泰國，寮國，越南，馬來西亞西部，印度尼西亞(蘇門達臘，爪哇，婆羅洲，蘇拉維西)，中國中南部(浙江，江西，江蘇，福建，廣東，廣西，海南，雲南，貴州，安徽，湖南，湖北，山西)，台灣。

This snake is medium in size; total length up to 120 cm. There are 17-19 (19 at mid-body) rows of scales, all keeled except those on the flanks. Head is oval to slightly triangular; body is moderately stout and round; tail is long. Eye is medium-sized; iris is dark gray to gray black, heavy but uniform deposit of black pigment interpersed with dirty yellow, and pupil is round, jet black, surrounded by broad ring of bright to dirty yellow. Tongue is dark gray to black, fork tips darker than stem. This snake is characterized by great diversity in coloration. Upper head is olive gray except for frequently indistinct pattern of black near mid-line and posterior end of parietals. There are two posteriorly directed oblique and parallel black lines near eye, the anterior line extends from lower edge of eye to mouth while the posterior line from a point back of eye to corner of mouth; the latter may join with a black line forming a broad ''V'' or ''W'' on the nape.  Upper body is generally olive-brown to reddish with black spots arranged in alternating rows, creating a checkered appearance, which is more distinct anteriorly. Ventral head and neck are dirty white to cream, may be tinted with yellow or red. Ventral body bears horizontal bands due to black pigmentation along anterior margin of the ventral; the horizontal lines are more prominent in mid and posterior part of body. Anal scale is divided and subcaudals are paired, with pigmented borders.

此日夜均活動的蛇是台灣最常見的蛇種之一。其為半水生並極少冒險離開水潭周圍，牠們多居住於池塘、溪流、水田及其他淡水水體中。魚類、蛙類、蟾蜍、蝌蚪、昆蟲、蜥蜴、鳥類、老鼠甚至是小型蛇種都是牠們的獵物。草花蛇通常會尾隨其獵物並利用其咬力極大的吻部咬住獵物，如果其佔有優勢，牠會立刻吞食其獵物。蛙類時常會在被消化液消化或窒息前，於草花蛇肚子裡鳴叫很長一段時間。

草花蛇在日間活動力很強，但牠可能於晚上獵食蛙類。牠們可能具攻擊性且通常在棲地被發現時會顯得緊張；受到干擾或發現無法逃跑時牠們會先發制人地攻擊入侵者。如果被追趕很長一段距離，牠們會為了逃跑反覆跳離地面。

牠們是多產的蛇種：產蛋量為8-88顆(通常會大於30顆)，大小1.3-2.4 x 1-1.5 公分皆有。剛孵出的幼體總長大約17-19公分。母體於春天及秋天交配，並各自於春夏晚期及下一年的春天產卵。雄體通常於交配季節與母體持續配種。

其花紋不一，有的帶有白色網狀條紋分隔出的黑色五角型斑點，其背部通常為橄欖棕惑橄欖綠色，腹部則是淡棕色或純白的。牠們背部的顏色通常伴隨著其盤狀的淺色斑點（也就是其英文俗名的來源）。

雖然草花蛇不具毒腺，但其唾液有可能具有有毒的成分：許多通報指出，被次蛇種咬到後，傷口會腫脹並劇烈發癢。

Xenochrophis 來自於希臘文的xenos = 奇怪的, ochros = 淡黃色的, 及 ophis = 蛇。

piscator 是拉丁文的「漁夫、垂釣者」, 影射牠以魚類維生的習性。

其中文名稱 草花蛇 (cao3hua1she2) 為 「青草、花朵、蛇」。

---

Reptile Database

Wikipedia

On the taxonomy of the Xenochrophis piscator complex (PDF 檔)