Any of various venomous snakes of the genera Micrurus and Micruroides, native to tropical South America and Southern USA and having bright bands of red, yellow and black
Any of various venomous snakes of the genus Micrurus, native to tropical America and the southern United States, characteristically having brilliant red, yellow, and black banded markings. Any of about 90 species of strongly patterned burrowing elapids. "True" forms are limited to the New World, chiefly the tropics, but similar species live in Asia and Africa. Secretive and docile, coral snakes rarely bite when handled, but the venom of some can kill a person. Most prey on other snakes. More than 50 species in the largest genus, Micrurus, range from the southern U.S. to Argentina. They are ringed with red, black, and yellow or white. The eastern coral snake, or harlequin snake (Micrurus fulvius), ranges from North Carolina and Missouri in the U.S. to northeastern Mexico and is about 30 in. (76 cm) long, with wide bands of red and black separated by yellow. The rhyme "Red on yellow, dangerous fellow" distinguishes it from similarly coloured but harmless species
any of several venomous New World snakes brilliantly banded in red and black and either yellow or white; widely distributed in South America and Central America any of various venomous elapid snakes of Asia and Africa and Australia