Spot-Tailed Pit Viper

The Spot-Tailed Pit Viper is a green arboreal pit viper within the widespread Trimeresurus genus, endemic to peninsular India, and notable for the contrasting spotted or blotched pattern on its tail that sets it apart from many uniformly colored relatives.

As with other green pit vipers, it favors forested and vegetated habitats where it can remain camouflaged while hunting from an ambush position.

• Green dorsal body coloration, sometimes with a pale lateral stripe
• Tail marked with distinct dark spots or blotches, contrasting with the rest of the body — a key identification feature
• Slender, laterally compressed body for climbing
• Triangular head with heat-sensing pits, clearly set off from a narrow neck
• Vertically elliptical pupils
• The spotted tail pattern helps separate it from otherwise similar green pit vipers

Inhabits forests, forest edges, and dense vegetation including plantations and shrubland, from lowland to mid-elevation areas across peninsular India, notably in the Western Ghats and eastern hill ranges.

Nocturnal and arboreal, resting motionless on branches or foliage during the day and hunting frogs, lizards, and small mammals at night by ambush. Reproduces via live birth. Generally sluggish and relies on camouflage, striking defensively if disturbed.