Lycodon capucinus

Figueroa, Alex, Low, Martyn E. Y. & Lim, Kelvin K. P., 2023, Singapore’s herpetofauna: updated and annotated checklist, history, conservation, and distribution, Zootaxa 5287 (1), pp. 1-378 : 164-165

Lycodon capucinus (H. Boie in F. Boie, 1827)— Native.

Lycodon capucinus H. Boie in F. Boie, 1827: 551. Lectotype: specimen described and illustrated in Russell (1801: 41, pl. 37), designated by Wallach et al. (2014: 400). Type locality: “ Java ”, Indonesia .

House Wolf Snake

( Figure 19B )

Singapore records.

Lycodon aulicus (non-Linnaeus, 1758)— Dennys, 1880a: 3.— Blanford, 1881: 216.— Davison, 1892: 90.— Flower, 1896: 881.— Hanitsch, 1898: 19.— Flower, 1899: 664.—Ridley, 1899: 207.— Barbour, 1912: 114.— Boulenger, 1912: 131.— Hanitsch, 1912b: 16. de Rooij, 1917: 111.—Sworder, 1923: 62.— Harman, 1961: 182.—D.S. Johnson, 1964: 26.— Chuang, 1973: 4.—F.L.K. Lim, 1984: 17.— F. Lim, 1988: 4 (Seaside Park [Siglap]).—L.M. Chou, 1988a: 59 (Sheares Hall [NUS]).— Hall, 1988: 88 (Pasir Panjang Hill).—R. Ngim et al., 1988: 91 (Alexandra Park [= AW]).—K. Lim & F. Lim, 1989: 2 (Bukit Turf Club).—F.L.K. Lim & M.T.-M. Lee, 1989: 115.—K. Lim, 1990a: 7 (Lim Chu Kang Road).—K.K.P. Lim & L.M. Chou, 1990: 54.—F.L.K. Lim, 1991: 62.—D.S. Johnson, 1992: 37.—K.K.P. Lim & Subharaj, 1992: 6 (Clementi Road-Clementi Avenue 2; Lorong Danau Poyan; Neo Tiew Road [LCK]; Old Upper Thomson Road; Rifle Range Road).—K.K.P. Lim & F.L.K. Lim, 1992: 58, 145.—Wee, 1992: 74 (Lower Peirce Reservoir Park).—E.K. Chua, 1993: 122.—K.K.P. Lim & Subaraj, 1994: 5 (Andover Road; Jalan Suasa; Neo Tiew Road [LCK]).— K.K.P. Lim & Subaraj, 1994: 7 (Pasir Ris Mangroves [PRPM]).—R. Subaraj, 1994: 12 (Venus Drive [WNP]; Ulu Sembawang).—L.M. Chou et al., 1994: 105.—Daltry & W̧ster, 2002: 95.— Anonymous, 2003: 92 (Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve).— Cross, 2020a: 2 (Sime Road Camp [= SICC]).— Cross, 2020b: 2 (Sime Road Camp [= SICC]).— Cross, 2020d: 1, 3 (Sime Road Camp [= SICC]).— Cross, 2020e: 1, 2 (Sime Road Camp [= SICC]).— Cross, 2020f: 1, 2 (Sime Road Camp [= SICC]).— Cross, 2020g: 1, 2 (Sime Road Camp [= SICC]).— Cross, 2020h: 1, 3, 4, 5, 7 (Sime Road Camp [= SICC]).— Cross, 2020i: 1 , 2, 3 (Sime Road Camp [= SICC]).— Cross, 2020j: 1 (Sime Road Camp [= SICC]).— Cross, 2020l: 1 (Sime Road Camp [= SICC]).— Cross, 2020m: 1, 5 (Sime Road Camp [= SICC]).— Cross, 2020n: 1, 3, 7 (Changi; Sime Road Camp [= SICC]).

Lycodon aulicus capucinus — de Haas, 1950: 551.

Lycodon capucinus —K.K.P. Lim, 1993a: 3 (Pulau Ubin).— David & Vogel, 1996: 96.— Manthey & Grossmann, 1997: 362.—Chan-ard et al., 1999: 33.— Iskandar & Colijn, 2001: 66.—B.P.L. Goh et al., 2002: 55.—K.P. Lim & F.L.K. Lim, 2002: 146.— de Lang & Vogel, 2005: 138.—N. Baker & K.P. Lim, 2008: 104, 161.—M.F.C. Ng, 2009: 59, 109 (Semakau Landfill [PS]).— Das, 2010: 282.—M.A.H. Chua, 2011: 282 (Semakau Landfill [PS]).—L.L. Grismer, 2011a: 203.—P.K.L. Ng et al., 2011: 273.—N. Baker & K.P. Lim, 2012: 104, 161.— Das, 2012a: 46.— Ang et al., 2012: 61 (Hort Park).—M.F.C. Ng, 2012: 69, 146 (Semakau Landfill [PS]).—Vogel & Harikrishnan, 2013: 22.— Chim, 2014: 112, 114 (Saint John’s Island).—Wallach et al., 2014: 400.—Chan-ard et al., 2015: 196.— D’Rozario, 2016: 83 (Kew Drive).—K.K.P. Lim et al., 2016: 184 (Pulau Tekong).— de Lang, 2017: 159.—Udhaya et al., 2017: 15 ( Singapore Zoo).— Das, 2018: 56.—H.C. Ho et al., 2019: 124, 125 (Alexandra Woodlands; Clementi Forest ).— H.T.W. Tan et al., 2019: 134 (Kent Ridge Park; National University of Singapore Kent Ridge Campus).—R.C.H. Teo & Thomas, 2019: 163, 181 (Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, after R.C.H. Teo & Rajathurai, 1997).— Charlton, 2020: 175.—K.K.P. Lim, 2020: 4 (Changi; Sime Road Camp [= SICC]).

Ophites aulicus (non-Linnaeus, 1758)—R. Subaraj et al., 1995: 2 ( Singapore Island Country Club).—K. Lim et al., 1995: 13 (Island Country Club Road [SICC]; Jalan Suasa).—K. Lim, 1995: 15 (Seletar Air Base).—R.C.H. Teo & Rajathurai, 1997: 382.

Remarks. After Cantor (1847) synonymised L. capucinus with L. aulicus , all accounts of L. capucinus from Singapore prior to 1992 were designated as L. aulicus (see Lim & Lim 1992). Taylor & Eibel (1958) regarded L. capucinus as a separate species, but a formal description splitting the two was only provided in Taylor (1965). Yet, some researchers still recognised L. capucinus as L. aulicus . Dennys (1880a) was the first to report L. capucinus from Singapore in a newspaper article, followed by Blanford (1881), and then Davison (1892) who considered it rare. Today, L. capucinus is common ( Baker & Lim 2012), and Sworder (1923) also found it common; yet, no observations were made aside from the few specimens at the Raffles Museum ( Hanitsch 1912b). Harman (1961) reported the next observation 38 years later ( Table 2 ), and Johnson (1964) mentioned it was one of the most common snakes in Singapore. Cross (2020n) also recorded several specimens between 1944 and 1945. Afterwards, numerous observations of L. capucinus were published and many specimens were collected for museums, with most records emerging from urban areas ( Baker & Lim 2012).

Occurrence. Widespread. Common.

Singapore conservation status. Least Concern.

Conservation priority. Lowest.

IUCN conservation status. Least Concern [2012].

LKCNHM & NHMUK Museum specimens. Singapore (no locality) : BMNH 1978.817 (no date) , ZRC.2.4344, ZRC.2.5008, ZRC.2.5460 (no date), ZRC.2.4350 (07-Oct-1922) , ZRC. 2.5918 (28-Jan-1933); Ayer Rajah Road [= NUS Kent Ridge] : ZRC.2.4741 (03-Mar-1977); Botanic Gardens : ZRC.2.4347 (1927), ZRC.2.7072 (21-Feb-2004); Bukit Timah Nature Reserve : ZRC.2.5059 (03-Jul-2001); Changi : ZRC.2.5073 (Mar-2001); College Green : ZRC.2.4742 (03-Jul-1984); Fernhill Drive : ZRC.2.5371 (Apr-1999); Fort Canning : ZRC.2.4343 (11-Sep-1911); Grange Road : ZRC.2.5632 (06-Feb-2002); Holland Road : ZRC.2.6170 (28-Mar-1992); Holland Road Camp : ZRC. 2.4744 (27-Feb-1975); Infantry Training Depot Camp 3 [= SAF Yacht Club] : ZRC .2.6422 (1986); Island Club Road [ SICC]: ZRC.2.6122 (16- Feb-2005); Jalan Hang Jebat : ZRC. 2.6839 (03-Aug-2009); Kent Ridge Campus [ NUS] : ZRC.2.6741 (21-Jun-2006); Kew Drive : ZRC.2.6703 (01-Jun-2008); Lim Chu Kang : ZRC.2.3173 (29-Oct-1990); Midway Drive [= Serangoon Gardens] : ZRC. 2.5282 (05-Dec-2001); Mt. Faber [ MFP] : ZRC.2.4740 (1986); NUS Kent Ridge : ZRC.2.6424 (17-Mar-1990); Portsdown Road : ZRC.2.5536 (16-Mar-2001); RAF Seletar [= Seletar Air Base] : BMNH 1983.963 (no date) ; Singapore General Hospital : ZRC.2.4743 (no date); St. John’s Island : ZRC. 2.7245 (02-May-2017); Stamford Road [ NMS] : ZRC.2.5934 (05-Sep-1932); Tanjong Katong : ZRC.2.4346 (Sep-1922); Tank Road : ZRC.2.4340 (no date); Telok Blangah Heights : ZRC.2.7219 (18-Jun-2012); Upper Serangoon : ZRC. 2.5065 (22-Jan-2001); Venus Drive [ WNP] : ZRC.2.7224 (13-Aug-2016) .

Additional Singapore museum specimens. Singapore (no locality): CAS, FMNH, MCZ, SAMA, ZMUC; Bukit Timah Nature Reserve: UWBM; Changi Road: UWBM; Eng Neo Avenue Forest: MCZ; Island Club Road [= SICC]: UWBM; National University of Singapore: UWBM; University of Malaya [= NUS Bukit Timah]: BPBM.

Singapore localities. Alexandra Woodlands—Andover Road—Bukit Timah Nature Reserve—Bukit Timah Turf Club—Changi—Changi Road—Clementi—Clementi Forest—College Green—Eng Neo Avenue Forest—Fernhill Drive—Fort Canning—Grange Road—Holland Road—Holland Road Camp—Hort Park—Jalan Hang Jebat—Jalan Suasa—Kent Ridge Park—Kew Drive—Lim Chu Kang—Lorong Danau Poyan—Lower Peirce Reservoir Park—Mount Faber Park —National Museum of Singapore—National University of Singapore Bukit Timah Campus—National University of Singapore Kent Ridge Campus— Old Upper Thomson Road—Pasir Panjang Hill—Pasir Ris Park Mangroves—Portsdown Road—Pulau Semakau—Pulau Tekong—Pulau Ubin—Rifle Range Road—SAF Yacht Club—Saint John’s Island— Seletar Air Base—Serangoon Gardens—Siglap—Singapore Botanic Gardens—Singapore General Hospital—Singapore Island Country Club—Singapore Zoo—Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve—Tanjong Katong—Tank Road—Telok Blangah Heights—Ulu Sembawang Forest—Upper Serangoon—Windsor Nature Park.

Figures

FIGURE 19. A) Liopeltis tricolor, B) Lycodon capucinus, C) Lycodon subannulatus, D) Lycodon subcinctus, E) Oligodon octolineatus, F) Oligodon purpurascens, G) Oligodon signatus, and H) Ptyas carinata. Photographs by: Evan S.H. Quah [A], Alex Figueroa [B, E, G], Mary-Ruth Low [C], Daniel J.J. Ng [D], Benjamin Y.H. Lee [F], and Law Ing Sind [H],