Dolichophis jugularis

Dolichophis jugularis, also known commonly as the black whipsnake and the large whip snake, is a species of snake in the family Colubridae. The species is native to West Asia. There are three subspecies.

Geographic range
Dolichophis jugularis is found in Cyprus, Greece, Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Malta, and Syria.

Habitat
D. jugularis is found in a variety of habitats including forest, shrubland, grassland, and freshwater wetlands, at altitudes up to 1,000 m.

Description
Dorsally, adults are black, but juveniles are tan with darker small blotches. The juvenile pattern disappears when the snake reaches the age of three to four years.

Reproduction
D. jugularis is oviparous. Clutch size is 7–11 eggs.

Subspecies
Three subspecies are recognized as being valid, including the nominotypical subspecies.
 * Dolichophis jugularis asianus (Boettger, 1880)
 * Dolichophis jugularis cypriacus (Zinner, 1972)
 * Dolichophis jugularus jugularis (Linnaeus, 1758)