New distribution records for the southern semiornate snake, Meizodon s. semiornatus (Peters, 1854), with a first record from the Kruger National Park and Transvaal

Abstract

The southern semiornate snake, Meizodon s. semiornatus, has a fairly wide distribution in south-east Africa, but due to its secretive habits, it is seldom seen or collected. In South Africa, this species was previously known from only one specimen collected in Zululand during 1965. A second specimen was collected near Crocodile Bridge in the Kruger National Park on 8 November 1987 and constitutes the first record of the species in the Transvaal. Other distribution records for the species were obtained from museums and an updated distribution map was compiled.