Black-banded Snake

Open encyclopedia reference

Scolecophis is a genus of snake in the family Colubridae that contains the sole species Scolecophis atrocinctus. Its genus name is derived from Greek: skolex meaning a worm or grub and ophis meaning snake, referring to what it likes to eat. Its species name is derived from Latin ater meaning black and cingula meaning girdle referring to its physical appearance. It is commonly known as the black-banded snake.

It is found in Central America. It ranges from Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica.

Their diet consists of invertebrates such as centipede, arachnids, worms, crickets, millipedes, and grubs.

This snake reaches a length of 18–24 in. (45–60 cm.) It is black and white banded with red spots on the white bands down their spine from head to tail. They have tiny eyes and a flat head.

There is still a lot of unknown about this species.

Wikipedia contributors, Scolecophis; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T07:16:19.910798+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Scolecophis atrocinctus (Schlegel, 1837)

Name authority

(Schlegel, 1837)

Common name

Black-banded Snake

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Reptilia

Order

Squamata

Family

Colubridae

Genus

Scolecophis

Extinction status

Not supplied by this source

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
7. megaclassTetrapoda
8. classReptilia Laurenti, 1768
9. orderSquamata Oppel, 1811
10. suborderSerpentes Linnaeus, 1758
11. infraorderAlethinophidia Nopcsa, 1923
12. familyColubridae
13. subfamilyColubrinae
14. genusScolecophis
15. speciesScolecophis atrocinctus (Schlegel, 1837)

Close classified relatives

No other member of this genus is present in the selected snapshot.

Browse 1,632 records assigned to Colubridae.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

Documented distribution

Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

1. https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Scolecophis&species=atrocinctus Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:4VRK9. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.