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Oriental whip snake (Ahaetulla prasina)

Dlium Oriental whip snake (Ahaetulla prasina)

Oriental whip snake (Ahaetulla prasina) is a species of snake in the family Colubridae. It is an arboreal snake with a slender body resembling a vine, reaching lengths of up to 2 meters. It features an arrow-shaped, pointed head and large eyes with horizontal pupils—giving it the appearance of squinting—as well as a long, prehensile tail used for gripping branches.

The upper body is green or grayish-green, with the edges of the scales colored black, white, or pale blue. The underside is lighter in color—often a yellowish-green—with a thin yellow stripe running along both sides.



When threatened, the snake curves its neck into an "S" shape and flattens it. This action reveals the black, white, or pale blue scale edges, serving as a warning to deter intruders. As a further defensive behavior, it may open its mouth wide to display a contrasting color on the inside.

A. prasina inhabits trees, plants, and shrubs found in open forests, plantations, and home gardens. They are viviparous; females give birth to 4–10 offspring, with newborns measuring between 24 and 49 cm in length.

Equipped with rear-facing fangs (opisthoglyphous), they possess a mild venom used to immobilize prey. As diurnal predators, they primarily feed on lizards, frogs, and occasionally small birds—specifically targeting tree-dwelling lizards, tree frogs, and bird chicks left unattended by their parents.

TAXON

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Colubridae
Subfamily Chrysopeleinae
Genus: Ahaetulla Link (1807)
Species: Ahaetulla prasina Boie (1827)
Subspesies: Ahaetulla prasina prasina Boie (1827), Ahaetulla prasina medioxima Lazell (2002), Ahaetulla prasina preocularis Taylor (1922), Ahaetulla prasina suluensis Gaulke (1994)

SYNONYMS

Ahaetula prasina Woning (2004)
Ahaetulla cf. prasina prasina Koch (2012)
Ahaetulla flavescens Malsawmdawngliana (2022)
Ahaetulla prasina Cox (1998)
Ahaetulla prasina Cox (2012)
Ahaetulla prasina Gaulke (1999)
Ahaetulla prasina Manthey & Grossmann (1997)
Ahaetulla prasina medioxima Lazell (2002)
Ahaetulla prasina medioxima O’shea (2018)
Ahaetulla prasina preoccularis Sanguila (2016)
Ahaetulla prasina preocularis Brown (2012)
Ahaetulla prasina preocularis Brown (2013)
Ahaetulla prasina preocularis Devan-song & Brown (2012)
Ahaetulla prasina preocularis Gojo-cruz (2018)
Ahaetulla prasina preocularis Mcleod (2011)
Ahaetulla prasina preocularis Meneses (2022)
Ahaetulla prasina preocularis Pitogo (2021)
Ahaetulla prasina preocularis Supsup (2016)
Ahaetulla prasina preocularis Supsup (2017)
Ahaetulla prasina preocularis Taylor (1922)
Ahaetulla prasina Stejneger (1933)
Ahaetulla prasina suluensis Gaulke (1994)
Ahaetulla prasina suluensis O’shea (2018)
Ahaetulla prasina Wallach (2014)
Ahaetulla prasina Wang (2022)
Ahaetulla prasinus Sharma (2004)
Coluber mycterizans Raffles (1822)
Coluber nasutus Shaw (1802)
Dryinus prasinus Cantor (1847)
Drynius prasinus Kelaart (1854)
Dryophis prasina Reinwardt (1827)
Dryophis prasinus Boie (1827)
Dryophis prasinus Boulenger (1897)
Dryophis prasinus chinensis Bourret (1934)
Dryophis prasinus chinensis Mell (1930)
Dryophis prasinus flavescens Wall (1910)
Dryophis prasinus Hendrickson (1966)
Dryophis prasinus Smith (1943)
Dryophis preocularis Taylor (1922)
Dryophis xanthozona Holtzinger-tenever (1919)
Passerita prasina Mertens (1930)
Passerita prasina Smith (1930)
Passerita prasina Stejneger (1923)
Tragops prasinus Anderson (1871)
Tragops prasinus Duméril & Bibron (1854)
Tragops prasinus Fischer (1885)
Tragops prasinus Peters (1867)
Tragops prasinus Theobald (1868)
Tragops prasinus Wagler (1830)
Tragops xanthozonius Duméril & Bibron (1854)

VERNACULAR NAME

Chinese (simplified): 绿瘦蛇
Chinese (traditional): 綠瘦蛇
Czech: Bičovka stromová
Danish: Kortsnudet Grøn Piskesnog
English: Oriental whip snake, Asian vine snake, Boie's whip snake, Green vine snake, Gunther’s whip snake, Jade vine snake, Judgemental shoelace, Oriental whipsnake
French: Serpent-liane oriental
German: Baumschnüffler, Grüne Peitschennatter, Grüner Baumschnüffler
Hungarian: Hagymazöld ostorkígyó
Indonesian: Ular Gadung, Ular Pucuk, Ular anggur
Italian: Serpente frusta orientale
Japanese: オオアオムチヘビ
Java: Ula gadung
Russian: Травянисто-зелёная плетевидка
Sunda: Oray pucuk
Tagalog: Puno ng ubas ahas
Thai: งูเขียวปากจิ้งจก - งูเขียวหัวจิ้งจกป่า - งูหัวจิ้งจก - งูเขียวหัวจิ้งจก

Aryo Bandoro
Dlium TheDlium
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Dlium
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