Trimeresurus

Common names: Asian pit vipers, Asian lanceheads, Asian lance-headed vipers.

Trimeresurus is a genus of venomous pitvipers found in Asia from Pakistan, through India, China, throughout Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands. Currently 35 species are recognized.

Description

Most are relatively small, primarily arboreal species, with thin bodies and prehensile tails. They are typically green in color, but some species also have yellow, black, orange or red markings.

Feeding

Their diet includes a variety of other animals, including rodents, lizards, amphibians and birds.

Reproduction

Like most viper species, they are ovoviviparous.

Venom

Their venom varies between species in toxicity, but all are primarily hemotoxic and considered to be medically significant to humans.

Geographic range

Southeast Asia from India to southern China and Japan, and the Malay Archipelago to Timor.

Species

Species	Taxon author	Subsp.*	Common name	Geographic range
T. albolabris	Gray, 1842	2	White-lipped pitviper	India (Assam), Nicobar Islands, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, southern China (Fukien, Hainan, Kwangsi, Kwantung), Hong Kong, West Malaysia, Indonesia (Sumatra, Borneo, Sulawesi, Java, Madoera, Lombok, Sumbawa, Komodo, Flores, Sumba, Roti, Timor, Kisar, Wetar).
T. borneensis	(Peters, 1872)	0	Bornean pitviper	Indonesia: Borneo.
T. brongersmai	Hoge, 1969	0	Brongersma's pitviper	Indonesia: Simalur Island.
T. cantori	(Blyth, 1846)	0	Cantor's pitviper	India: Nicobar Islands, and possibly the Andaman Islands.
T. cornutus	M.A. Smith, 1930	0	Fan-Si-Pan horned pitviper	Vietnam: Bach Ma and Tonkin. Occurs in rainforests at low elevations. Also in central Vietnam.
T. elegans	(Gray, 1849)	0	Elegant pitviper	Japan: southern Ryukyu Islands.
T. erythrurus	(Cantor, 1839)	0	Red-tailed bamboo pitviper	India (Assam and Sikkim), Bangladesh and Myanmar.
T. fasciatus	(Boulenger, 1896)	0	Banded pitviper	Indonesia: Djampea Island.
T. flavomaculatus	(Gray, 1842)	2	Philippine pitviper	Philippine Islands: Agutayan, Batan, Camiguin, Catanduanes, Dinagat, Jolo, Leyte, Luzon, Mindanao, Mindoro, Negros and Polillo.
T. flavoviridis	(Hallowell, 1861)	0	Habu	Japan: Ryukyu Islands (Okinawa and Amami Islands).
T. gracilis	Oshima, 1920	0	Kikushi habu	Central Taiwan.
T. gramineus^T	(Shaw, 1802)	0	Bamboo pitviper	Southern India.
T. hageni	(Lidth de Jeude, 1886)	0	Hagen's pitviper	Peninsular Thailand, West Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia (Sumatra and the nearby islands of Bangka, Simalur, Nias, Batu and the Mentawai Islands.
T. jerdonii	Günther, 1875	2	Jerdon's pitviper	India (Assam) through northern Myanmar to Tibet, China (Hupeh, Szechwan and Yunnan) and Vietnam.
T. kanburiensis	M.A. Smith, 1943	0	Kanburi pitviper	Thailand.
T. karanshahi	Orlov & Helfenberger, 1997	0		Central Nepal in the Himalayas.
T. kaulbacki	M.A. Smith, 1940	0	Kaulback's lance-headed pitviper	Myanmar.
T. labialis	Steindachner, 1867	0	Nicobar bamboo pitviper	India: Nicobar Islands.
T. macrolepis	Beddome, 1862	0	Large-scaled pitviper	The mountains of southern India.
T. macrops	Kramer, 1977	0	Large-eyed pitviper	Thailand, Cambodia and southern Vietnam.
T. malabaricus	(Jerdon, 1854)	0	Malabar rock pitviper	Southern and western India at 600-2,000 m elevation.
T. mangshanensis	Zhao, 1990	0	Mangshan pitviper	China: Hunan Province.
T. medoensis	Zhao, 1977	0	Motuo bamboo pitviper	Northern India, northern Myanmar and China (southeastern Xizang).
T. mucrosquamatus	(Cantor, 1839)	0	Brown spotted pitviper	India (Assam) and Bangladesh to Myanmar, China (Fukien, Kwangshi, Kwantung and Szechwan) and Taiwan.
T. popeorum	M.A. Smith, 1937	2	Pope's bamboo pitviper	Northern India, Myanmar, Thailand, West Malaysia, Vietnam and Indonesia (Sumatra, the Mentawai Islands of Siberut, Sipora and North Pagai, and on the island of Borneo).
T. puniceus	(Kuhl, 1824)	0	Flat-nosed pitviper	Southern Thailand, West and East Malaysia (Sabah and Sarawak) and Indonesia (Borneo, Sumatra, the Mentawai Islands of Siberut and North Pagai, Simalur and Java.
T. purpureomaculatus	(Gray, 1832)	1	Mangrove pit viper	India (Assam and the Andaman Islands), Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, West Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia (Sumatra).
T. schultzei	Griffin, 1909	0	Schultze's pitviper	Philippines: Palawan and Balabac.
T. stejnegeri	Schmidt, 1925	2	Stejneger's bamboo pitviper	India (Assam), and Nepal through Myanmar and Thailand to China (Kwangsi, Kwangtung, Hainan, Fukien, Chekiang, Yunnan) and Taiwan.
T. strigatus	Gray, 1842	0	Horseshoe pitviper	The hills of southern India.
T. sumatranus	(Raffles, 1822)	1	Sumatran pitviper	Southern Thailand, West and East Malaysia (Sabah and Sarawak on Borneo) and Indonesia (Bangka, Billiton, Borneo, Sumatra and the nearby islands of Simalur, Nias, and possibly the Mentawai Islands [Sipora]).
T. tibetanus	Huang, 1982	0	Tibetan bamboo pitviper	China: Xiang (Tibet) Autonomous Region.
T. tokarensis	Nagai, 1928	0	Tokara habu	Japan: Takarajima and Kotakarajima.
T. trigonocephalus	(Donndorff, 1798)	0	Sri Lankan green pitviper	Throughout Sri Lanka from low elevations to about 1,800 m.
T. xiangchengensis	Zhao, Jiang & Huang, 1978	0	Kham Plateau pitviper	China: Yunnan and western Sichuan.

*) Not including the nominate subspecies.
^T) Type species.

Taxonomy

This is a relatively large group that is currently undergoing taxonomic reclassification. Consequently, the number of species may vary depending on the source.

Other taxonomies may include species such as:

T. andersonii - Theobald (1868). Commonly called Anderson's pit viper, found in the Andaman Islands of India.
T. barati - Regenass & Kramer (1981). Commonly called Barat's bamboo viper, found in Indonesia.
T. fucatus - Vogel, David & Pauwels (2004). Commonly called the Siamese peninsula pit viper and found in southern Thailand, Myanmar, Malaysia.
T. gumprechti - David, Vogel, Pauwels & Vidal (2002). Commonly called Gumprecht's green pit viper and found in northeastern Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, China and Myanmar.
T. insularis - Kramer (1977). Commonly called the white-lipped island pit viper and found in Indonesia.
T. malcolmi - Loveridge (1938). Commonly called Malcolm's pit viper and found on Borneo (Indonesia).
T. nebularis - Vogel, David & Pauwels (2004). Commonly called the Cameron Highlands pit viper and found in West Malaysia (Cameron Highlands).
T. sabahi - Regenass & Kramer (1981). Commonly called Sabah's bamboo viper and found on Borneo, Indonesia.
T. truongsonensis - Orlov, Ryabov, Thanh & Cuc (2004). Found in central Vietnam.
T. venustus - Vogel (1991). Commonly called the beautiful pit viper and found in southern Thailand.
T. vogeli - David, Vidal & Pauwels (2001). Commonly called Vogel's pit viper and found in Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.