Lycophidion multimaculatum Boettger, 1888

Conradie, Werner, Baptista, Ninda L., Verburgt, Luke, Keates, Chad, Harvey, James, Júlio, Timóteo & Neef, Götz, 2021, Contributions to the herpetofauna of the Angolan Okavango-Cuando-Zambezi river drainages. Part 1: Serpentes (snakes), Amphibian & Reptile Conservation (e 292) 15 (2), pp. 244-278 : 264

Lycophidion multimaculatum Boettger, 1888

Spotted Wolf Snake ( Fig. 26, Map 24 )

Material: PEM R 23399, Cubango River Source Site, Huambo Province, -12.66388° 16.09385°, 1,771 m asl; PEM R 23455, Quembo trap 4, Moxico Province, -13.13586° 19.04709°, 1,368 m asl; PEM R 23467–8, Quembo trap 1, Moxico Province, -13.13592° 19.04417°, 1,369 m asl. Description: Dorsal scales smooth and in 17 rows at midbody; 160–176 smooth ventrals; 22–27 paired subcaudals; 2 postoculars; temporals mostly 1+2+3; 8 supralabials, the 3 rd –5 th entering the orbit; 8 infralabials, the first four in contact with the anterior chin shield; cloacal scale entire. Largest female: 446 + 37 mm ( PEM R 23399); largest male: 236 + 38 mm ( PEM R 23468). Habitat and natural history notes: Stomach contents of two snakes contained Trachylepis and Ichnotropis remains. One female ( PEM R 23467; collected 3 Nov 2016) contained five fully developed eggs. Comment: Broadley (1996) reassigned all historical L. capense material from Angola to L. multimaculatum . Elsewhere, this species is widely distributed in western and northern Zambia ( Broadley 1971; Broadley et al. 2003) and the Zambezi Region (= Caprivi Strip) of Namibia ( Branch 1998).

Figures

Map 24. Distribution of Lycophidion multimaculatum in Angola.