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Micrurus apiatus (JAN, 1858)

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Higher TaxaElapidae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
SubspeciesMicrurus apiatus aglaeope (COPE 1860)
Micrurus apiatus alienus (WERNER 1903)
Micrurus apiatus apiatus (JAN 1858)
Micrurus apiatus sapperi (WERNER 1903) 
Common NamesE: Variable Coral Snake, Diastema Coral Snake
S: Coral Diastema 
SynonymElaps apiatus JAN 1858: 522
Elaps fulvius var. apiatus — GARMAN 1884: 106
Micrurus affinis apiatus — SCHMIDT 1933: 37
Micrurus diastema apiatus — ROZE 1967: 15
Micrurus diastema apiatus — PETERS & OREJAS-MIRANDA 1970: 205
Micrurus diastema apiatus — CAMPBELL & LAMAR 1989
Micrurus diastema apiatus — WELCH 1994: 79
Micrurus diastema apiatus — LINER 2007
Micrurus diastema apiatus — SILVA et al. 2016
Micrurus apiatus — REYES-VELASCO et al. 2020
Micrurus apiatus — DILVA et al. 2021

Micrurus apiatus aglaeope (COPE 1860)
Elaps aglaeope COPE 1860: 344
Micrurus diastema aglaeope — ROZE 1967: 15
Micrurus diastema aglaeope — PETERS & OREJAS-MIRANDA 1970: 205
Micrurus diastema aglaeope — CAMPBELL & LAMAR 1989
Micrurus diastema aglaeope — WELCH 1994: 79
Micrurus affinis aglaeope — SCHMIDT 1936
Micrurus aglaeope — REYES-VELASCO et al. 2020

Micrurus apiatus alienus (WERNER 1903)
Elaps alienus WERNER 1903: 249
Micrurus afinis mayensis SCHMIDT 1933: 37 (fide ROZE 1967)
Micrurus affinis alienus — STUART 1935: 54
Micrurus affinis alienus — SCHMIDT 1936
Micrurus affinis alienus — SCHMIDT 1941
Micrurus affinis alienus — LAURENT 1949: 18
Micrurus affinis alienus — NEILL & ALLEN 1959: 56
Micrurus diastema alienus — CAMPBELL & LAMAR 1989
Micrurus diastema alienus — WELCH 1994: 79
Micrurus diastema alienus — LINER 2007
Micrurus diastema alienus — REYES-VELASCO et al. 2020

Micrurus apiatus sapperi (WERNER 1903)
Elaps fulvius var. sapperi WERNER 1903: 350
Elaps guatemalensis AHL 1927: 251
Micrurus affinis stantoni SCHMIDT 1933: 36
Micrurus diastema sapperi — ROZE 1967: 17
Micrurus diastema sapperi — PETERS & OREJAS-MIRANDA 1970: 205
Micrurus diastema — WELCH 1994: 81
Micrurus diastema sapperi — LINER 2007
Micrurus diastema sapperi — SILVA et al. 2016
Micrurus diastema sapperi — REYES-VELASCO et al. 2020 
DistributionS Mexico (Veracruz, Oaxaca, Yucatan, Chiapas, Puebla),
Belize, Guatemala, Honduras (elevation 100-1680 m)

diastema: Mexico (C Veracruz, Colima, to W Tabasco); Type locality: Mexico (restricted to Colima by SCHMIDT 1933).

aglaeope: NW Honduras; Type locality: Honduras

alienus: Mexico (N Yucatán peninsula including Yucatán and NE Quintana Roo); Type locality: Unknown, restricted to Chichen Itza, Yucatan, Mexico by ROZE 1967.

affinis: Mexico (Atlantic versant of N Oaxaca); Type locality: Mexico.

apiatus: Mexico (Atlantic versant of the uplandsof E Chiapas), N Guatemala; Type locality: Vera Paz, Guatemala.

macdougalli: Mexico (Atlantic slopes of the highlands of extreme SE Oaxaca)

sapperi: Mexico (S Yucatán peninsula, including Campeche and N Chiapas); Type locality: “Guatemala”  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesLectotype: MNHN-RA 7657, a female from Mexico, (designated by Roux-Estève 1983; note that Schmidt 1933 designated MNHN 4620 as lectotype, but this is in error)
Holotype: ANSP 6858 [aglaeope]
Holotype: MNHN-RA 3921, fide Roux-Esteve (1983); MNHN 4624, in error (specimen is a frog), fide Smith & Taylor (1945) [affinis]
Holotype: MHNB 9422 [alienus]
Holotype: MNHN-RA 3920, fide Roux-Esteve (1983) [apiatus]
Holotype: AMNH 65163 [macdougalli]
Holotype: MCZ 31872 [mayensis]
Holotype: lost, was ZSM, uncatalogued (lost fide Franzen & Glaw 2007), male. Roze (1996) stated that the holotype was destroyed during World War II [sapperi]
Holotype: FMNH 4201; Paratype: ZSM 8/1922 (?), adult, “Insel Corozal (Brit. Honduras)” [Belize], no further collection data; other paratype: MNHN 3917 (Mexico) fide Roux-Esteve 1983 [stantoni] 
DiagnosisAdditional details, e.g. a detailed description or comparisons (9905 characters), are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentVenomous!

Illustrations: Color plate 76 in VILLA et al. 1988. A photo of M. d. sapperi is shown in SMITH & CHISZAR (2001).

Synonymy and subspecies partly after PETERS & OREJAS-MIRANDA 1970. This species is highly variable and some authors therefore question the validity of several of the subspecies (CAMPBELL & LAMAR 1989: 106; FRASER 1973). Micrurus diastema bernadi is listed here as valid species. Micrurus diastema alienus has been synonymized with M. diastema sapperi by some authors (fide STAFFORD 2000). Micrurus diastema affinis (JAN 1858) is listed as separate subspecies by WELCH 1994). Roux-Esteve 1983 considered E. apiatus as a synonym of M. diastema.

Subspecies: Reyes-Velasco et al. 2020: 12 consider M. apiatus as a valid species, including M. d. alienus, M. d. aglaeope, M. d. apiatus, and M. d. sapperi, and the species M. hippocrepis (Peters, 1862) “as synonyms”. However, they also treat M. aglaeope as valid species (in their trees), hence their statements are contradictory, hence we include these forms as subspecies of apiatus, given that they form a monophyletic group, with apiatus having priority over the other subspecies.

Hybridization: the various subspecies of diastema intergrade in sveral contact zones (see Roze 1996: 153 ff for details).

Mimicry: Micrurus diastema is mimicked by Lampropeltis triangulum, Ninia sebae, Clelia scytalina (juvenile), Geophis juliai, Geophis semidoliatus, Oxyrhopus petola, Pliocercus wilmarai, Scaphiodontophis annulatus, and Pliocercus elapoides (TORRE-LORANCA et al. 2006).

Key: see Roze 1996: 153 for a key to the subspecies of M. diastema. 
EtymologyUncertain. The name can have several meanings in Latin. It could be from apex and apicis meaning a long mark, alluding to the black short bands or to its dwelling on high mountains, or from apicatus meaning adomed with a cap, alluding to its head marking. 
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