The Sri Lankan krait (Bungarus ceylonicus) is a species of venomous elapid

Elapidae

Elapidae is a family of venomous snakes found in tropical and subtropical regions around the world, terrestrially in Asia, Australia, Africa, North America and South America and aquatically in the Pacific and Indian Oceans...

 snake which is endemic to the island Sri Lanka.

Distribution

Endemic to Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...

, it is fairly common to the central hilly areas of the island. It is frequently recorded from Kandy

Kandy

Kandy is a city in the center of Sri Lanka. It was the last capital of the ancient kings' era of Sri Lanka. The city lies in the midst of hills in the Kandy plateau, which crosses an area of tropical plantations, mainly tea. Kandy is one of the most scenic cities in Sri Lanka; it is both an...

, Uva Province

Uva Province

Uva is Sri Lanka's second least populated province, with 1,187,335 people, created in 1896. It consists of two districts: Badulla බදුල්ල பதுளை and Moneragala මොනරාගල மொனராகல. The provincial capital is Badulla. Uva is bordered by Eastern, Southern and Central provinces...

 hilly areas, Peradeniya

Peradeniya

Peradeniya is a town of about 50,000 inhabitants on the outskirts of Kandy in Sri Lanka. It is situated on the A1 main road connecting Kandy and Colombo, just a few kilometres west of Kandy....

, Nawalapitiya

Nawalapitiya

Nawalapitiya is a town in the country of Sri Lanka. It is in the Kandy administrative district, 38 kilometers away from Kandy. The town is near Mahaweli Ganga. Nawalapitiya is a one of the well planned towns of SriLanka.It is well connected to all nearby important places by Bus...

, Gampola

Gampola

Gampola is a town located near Kandy in the Central Province of Sri Lanka. Gampola was made the capital city of the island by King Buwanekabahu IV, who ruled for four years in the mid fourteenth century. The last king of Gampola was King Buwanekabahu V. He ruled the island for 29 years. A separate...

, Ritigala

Ritigala

Ritigala is an ancient Buddhist monastery in Sri Lanka. The ruins and rock inscriptions of the monastery date back to 1st century BCE. It is located 43 km away from the ancient monastic city of Anuradhapura.- Ritigala Mountain :...

 and Balangoda

Balangoda

Balangoda is a town in Sabaragamuwa Province of Sri Lanka. Its 143 km away from Colombo and 43 km away from Ratnapura. It is the one of biggest towns of the Ratnapura District which is one of the two districts belonging to Sabaragamuwa Province . According to the 2001 census Balangoda has a...

, but rarely recorded in low land areas.

Habitat

It prefers leaf litter in forests but often ventures into human dwellings, making itself at home in old masonry and crevices.

Description

The Sri Lankan krait is small and slender. On hatching, the length of the snake is about 250mm (10 in.). The average adult length for this species is 75cm (29½ in.) with 90cm (35½ in.) being the upper limit.
Its black skin is crossed with thin white transverse bands. It has an extraordinarily long lung which it inflates when angry.

Reproduction

Few details are recorded. The Sri Lankan krait is oviparous. It appears that either many females share a common nest, or a single female lays its eggs in several batches, making determination of clutch size difficult. The eggs are cylindrical with rounded ends and measure 30mm x 17mm (1¼ in. x ⅝ in.).

Behavior

The Sri Lankan krait is nocturnal and timid. It is very slow and sluggish by day. At night it may strike after considerable provocation, but behaves quite the contrary by day, often allowing itself to be handled or even bullied with impunity. During such rough treatment it usually does nothing but puff up its lung to display its discomfort.

Venom

The highly potent venom of this snake attacks the central nervous system

Central nervous system

The central nervous system is the part of the nervous system that integrates the information that it receives from, and coordinates the activity of, all parts of the bodies of bilaterian animals—that is, all multicellular animals except sponges and radially symmetric animals such as jellyfish...

 and gradually destroys it. Death is caused when the respiratory system

Respiratory system

The respiratory system is the anatomical system of an organism that introduces respiratory gases to the interior and performs gas exchange. In humans and other mammals, the anatomical features of the respiratory system include airways, lungs, and the respiratory muscles...

 is suppressed. Therefore, a bite from this snake should be treated immediately, or else the victim may die within 12 hours.

Diet

It feeds mainly on small mammals like rat

Rat

Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents of the superfamily Muroidea. "True rats" are members of the genus Rattus, the most important of which to humans are the black rat, Rattus rattus, and the brown rat, Rattus norvegicus...

s, on frog

Frog

Frogs are amphibians in the order Anura , formerly referred to as Salientia . Most frogs are characterized by a short body, webbed digits , protruding eyes and the absence of a tail...

s, and on other small reptiles. The fatal dose of venom is injected into the body of prey before beginning to consume it.