Common Krait

The common krait is a highly venomous elapid of the Indian subcontinent, found in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal in grasslands, agricultural fields and human settlements. The average length is 0.9 m, and it can reach 1.75 m, with males longer than females. The head is flat and the neck barely visible, and the body is cylindrical, tapering to a short rounded tail. Its neurotoxic venom is responsible for a large share of medically significant snakebites in the region (Wikipedia, general species account).

The colour is generally black or bluish-black with about 40 thin white crossbars, which may be indistinct or absent towards the front of the body. The pattern is complete and well defined in the young, which are conspicuously barred even anteriorly. The scales are highly polished and the row down the middle of the back is distinctly enlarged and hexagonal. Nationally Least Concern (Sri Lanka National Red List 2012).