Coloration.—Yellowish-grey to dark olive-brown above, some of the scales with whitish lines on the margins occasionally forming a network; sometimes with a yellowish vertebral stripe or with four darker stripes along the body (var. romanus, Suckow); upper lip, and often also a triangular patch on each side behind the temple, pale yellow; a more or less distinct dark band on the temple, and a vertical dark bar below the eye ([Plate VII]., first figure). Lower parts uniform pale yellow. Young (second figure) with dark brown dorsal spots, forming four to seven longitudinal series, a Λ-shaped black marking on the nape behind the yellow nuchal blotches, which are brighter than in the adult, a dark brown bar across the forehead, and a black vertical line below the eye; belly greyish or yellowish-olive. Iris dark grey or brown. Tongue pinkish-brown.
COLUBER LONGISSIMUS
COLUBER LONGISSIMUS
Young, after Sordelli
COLUBER LEOPARDINUS
After Sordelli
C. LEOPARDINUS, VAR. QUADRILINEATUS
After Sordelli