Pliocercus elapoides

Pliocercus elapoides, also known commonly as the  variegated false coral snake, is a species of snake in the family Colubridae. The species is native to southern North America and northern Central America. There are four recognized subspecies.

Geographic range
P. elapoides is found in Belize, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and southeastern Mexico.

Habitat
The preferred natural habitat of P. elapoides is forest.

Description
Resembling a venomous coral snake, P. elapoides has a dorsal color pattern of red, black, and yellow rings. The red scales are tipped with black.

Behavior
P. elapoides is nocturnal, terrestrial and semi-fossorial.

Reproduction
P. elapoides is oviparous.

Subspecies
Four subspecies are recognized as being valid, including the nominotypical subspecies.
 * Pliocercus elapoides aequalis Salvin, 1861
 * Pliocercus elapoides diastema (Bocourt, 1886)
 * Pliocercus elapoides elapoides Cope, 1860
 * Pliocercus elapoides occidentalis H.M. Smith & Landy, 1965

Nota bene: A trinomial authority in parentheses indicates that the subspecies was originally described in a genus other than Pliocercus.