{{Short description|Genus of snakes}} {{Italic title}} {{Speciesbox | name = ''Micruroides euryxanthus'' | image =Micruroides euryxanthus.jpg | image_caption = | status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref>Frost DR, Hammerson GA, Gadsden H (2007). "''Micruroides euryxanthus'' ". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2007: https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2007.RLTS.T64017A12736062.en. Accessed on 27 March 2026.</ref> | genus = Micruroides | parent_authority = K.P. Schmidt, 1928<ref name=Karl1928/> | species = euryxanthus | authority = (Kennicott, 1860) | synonyms = *''Elaps euryxanthus'' <br>{{small|Kennicott, 1860}} *''Micrurus euryxanthus'' <br>{{small|— Stejneger & Barbour, 1917}}<ref>Stejneger L, Barbour T (1917). ''A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles''. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. 125 pp. (''Micrurus euryxanthus'', p. 106).</ref> *''Micruroides euryxanthus'' <br>{{small|— K.P. Schmidt, 1928}}<ref name=Karl1928>Schmidt KP (1928). "Notes on American Coral Snakes". ''Bulletin of the Antivenin Institute of America'' '''2''' (3): 63–64. (''Micruroides'', new genus).</ref> }} [[File:Micruroides 2.jpg|thumb|right|Sonoran coral snake in Arizona.]] '''''Micruroides''''' is a genus of venomous coral snake in the family Elapidae. The genus is monotypic, containing only the species ''Micruroides euryxanthus''.
'''''Micruroides euryxanthus''''', commonly known as the '''Sonoran coral snake''', '''western coral snake''' or the '''Arizona coral snake''', is endemic to northwestern Mexico and the southwestern United States.
==Description== Adults of ''Micruroides euryxanthus'' are {{convert|11|–|24|in|cm|abbr=off}} in total length (tail included).<ref name="reptofaz"/>
The color pattern consists of broad, alternating rings of red and black, separated by narrower rings of white or yellow. Markings become paler as they reach the belly. The head is black,<ref name="reptofaz">Reptiles and Amphibians of Arizona. www.reptilesofaz.org/Snakes-Subpages/h-m-euryxanthus.html.</ref> the black extending to the posterior border of the parietals.<ref>Boulenger GA (1896). ''Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume III., Containing the Colubridæ (Opisthoglyphæ and Proteroglyphæ)'' ...'''.''' London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, Printers.) xiv + 727 pp. + Plates I–XXV. (''Elaps euryxanthus'', p. 415).</ref>
The smooth dorsal scales are arranged in 15 rows at midbody. The ventrals number 214–241. The anal plate is divided. The subcaudals number 21–34, and are divided (paired).<ref name="Sm&Br1982">Smith HM, Brodie ED Jr (1982). ''Reptiles of North America: A Guide to Field Identification''. New York: Golden Press. 240 pp. {{ISBN|0-307-13666-3}} (paperback). ("Elapids{{snd}}family Elapidae" and ''"Micruroides euryxanthus"'', pp. 196–197).</ref>
''Micruroides euryxanthus'' resembles ''Micrurus fulvius''. However, the white or yellow rings are broader than in ''M. fulvius'', and there are fewer black rings on the tail, usually only 2.<ref name="Sm&Br1982"/> Also, the first ring on the body (the first ring behind the white or yellow ring on the back of the head) is red, whereas in ''Micrurus fulvius'' it is black.<ref>Schmidt KP, Davis DD (1941). ''Field Book of Snakes of the United States and Canada''. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. 365 pp. (''Micruroides euryxanthus'', pp. 276–277, Figure 91).</ref>
==Venom== The venom of ''Micruroides euryxanthus'' is neurotoxic and extremely potent, but no fatalities have been reported.<ref name="reptofaz"/>
==Habitat== ''Micruroides euryxanthus'' is found in arid and semiarid regions in numerous habitats, both on plains and on lower mountain slopes, from sea level to {{convert|5800|ft|abbr=on}}. In Arizona it is abundant in rocky upland desert.
==Behavior== The Sonoran coral snake usually stays underground and comes out at night, but can also appear during and after rains.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Dan|date=2020-11-17|title=9 Most Dangerous Animals in Arizona: Top Deadly Creatures|url=https://www.journeyingtheglobe.com/most-dangerous-animals-in-arizona/|access-date=2021-04-09|website=Journeying The Globe|language=en-gb}}</ref>
==Defense== When startled, frightened, or threatened, ''Micruroides euryxanthus'' will hide its head under its body and raise and tightly curl its tail. While in this posture, it will "fart": snakes do not have an anal cavity in the sense that humans and most mammals do, but rather a tract that allows for both disposal of waste and for laying of eggs in females. Instead, it will forcibly and noisily emit gas from its cloaca, a behavior known as "cloacal popping", and predictably this phenomenon has a very unpleasant smell.<ref name="Sm&Br1982"/><ref>Ernst CH, Ernst EM (2011). ''Venomous Reptiles of the United States, Canada, and Northern Mexico. Volume 1:'' Heloderma, Micruroides, Micrurus, Pelamis, Agkistrodon, Sistrurus. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xviii + 392 pp. {{ISBN|0-8018-9875-7}}. (''Micruroides euryxanthus'' ... behavior, p. 111).</ref>
==Diet== The Arizona coral snake preys upon small snakes, predominantly ''Rena (snake)'', but also ''Sonora'', and ''Tantilla''.<ref name="Hbs&OCnr2012">Hubbs B, O'Connor B (2012). ''A Guide to the Rattlesnakes and other Venomous Serpents of the United States''. Tempe, Arizona: Tricolor Books. 129 pp. {{ISBN|978-0-9754641-3-7}} (paperback). (''Micruroides euryxanthus euryxanthus'', pp. 86-87, 122).</ref> It will also eat small lizards such as skinks.<ref name="Stbns2003"/>
==Reproduction== Like all other species of New World coral snakes (genera ''Leptomicrurus'' and ''Micrurus''), ''Micruroides euryxanthus'' is oviparous.<ref name="Sm&Br1982"/> Adult females may lay up to 3 eggs, and each hatchlings is {{convert|18|–|20|cm|in|round=0.5|abbr=on}} in total length.<ref name="Hbs&OCnr2012"/>
==Geographic distribution== thumb|Geographic distributions of the three species of coral snakes native to the United States
''Micruroides euryxanthus'' is found from central Arizona and southwestern New Mexico to Mazatlán in southern Sinaloa. Isolated populations are also found in the Chocolate Mountains, La Paz County, western Arizona and on Tiburón Island in the Gulf of California.<ref name="Stbns2003">Stebbins RC (2003). ''A Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians, Third Edition''. The Peterson Field Guide Series ®. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin. 533 pp. {{ISBN|0-395-98272-3}} (paperback). (''Micruroides euryxanthus'', pp. 405–496 + Plate 44 + Map 181).</ref>
==Subspecies== Three subspecies are recognized, including the nominotypical subspecies.<ref>"''Micruroides euryxanthus'' ". ITIS (Integrated Taxonomic Information System). www.itis.gov.</ref>
*''Micruroides euryxanthus australis'' {{small|Zweifel & Norris, 1955}} *''Micruroides euryxanthus euryxanthus'' {{small|(Kennicott, 1860)}} *''Micruroides euryxanthus neglectus'' {{small|Roze, 1967}}
''Nota bene'': A trinomial authority in parentheses indicates that the subspecies was originally described in a different genus than the one within which it is currently classified.
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Further reading== {{refbegin}} *Behler JL, King FW (1979). ''The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Reptiles and Amphibians''. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. 743 pp., 657 color plates. {{ISBN|0-394-50824-6}}. (''Micruroides euryxanthus'', pp. 680–681 + Plate 616). *Kennicott R (1860). "Descriptions of New Species of North American Serpents in the Museum of the Smithsonian Institution, Washington". ''Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia'' '''12''': 328–338. (''Elaps euryxanthus'', new species, pp. 337–338). *Roze JA (1974). "''Micruroides, M. euryxanthus'' ". ''Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles'' (163): 1–4. (''Micruroides euryxanthus neglectus''). *Wright AH, Wright AA (1957). ''Handbook of Snakes of the United States and Canada''. Ithaca and London: Comstock Publishing Associates, a division of Cornell University Press. 1,105 pp. (in 2 volumes) (Family Elapidae, p. 885; Genus ''Micruroides'', pp. 885–886; ''Micruroides euryxanthus'', pp. 886–890, Figures 253–255 + Map 63 on p. 891). *Zweifel RG, Norris KS (1955). "Contributions to the herpetology of Sonora, Mexico: Descriptions of new subspecies of snakes (''Micruroides euryxanthus'' and ''Lampropeltis getulus'') and miscellaneous collecting notes". ''American Midland Naturalist'' '''54''': 230–249. (''Micruroides euryxanthus australis'', new subspecies, p. 238.) {{refend}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q167912}}
Category:Elapidae Category:Monotypic snake genera Category:Taxa named by Karl Patterson Schmidt Category:Reptiles described in 1860