Alapangyan (Pit viper)

Description:

This specimen was caught at my apartment in Indang Cavite Philippines around 7 am in the morning. It's green with yellow lateral line and has some red dots along its dorsal body. According to Leviton (1964), the scalation includes 21 rows of dorsal scales at midbody, 170-178/175-184 ventral scales in males/females, 62-71/58-63 subcaudal scales in males/females, and 9-11 supralabial scales of which the 3rd is the largest. Toriba and Sawai (1990) give 167-179/172-184 ventral scales in males/females, 56-70/53-63 subcaudal scales in males/females, and 9-10/9-12 supralabial scales in males/females.

Habitat:

This species may be encountered in a wide variety of habitats, ranging from lowland disturbed sites to mid-elevation primary tropical moist forest. Animals have been recorded within both agroforesty and second growth forest habitats. Individuals can be found close to water hunting frogs and similar prey. Humid, this specimen loves hanging on tree branches

Notes:

This species has been recorded from some protected areas. Further taxonomic work is needed to better understand the systematic status of the recognized subspecies and isolated populations. This especially applies to currently recognized subpopulations, that may be threatened at a global level (such as that of Luzon). Additional fieldwork is needed to determine the impact of collection or persecution on some subpopulations.