Pareas margaritophorus
Silhouette: Marius Burger (photograph) · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~50%
The mountain slug snake (Pareas margaritophorus), also known as the white-spotted slug snake, is a small, harmless species of snake that is rather common in South, South-East, and East Asia, and feeds on small invertebrates.
Mountain slug snakes are forest-dwellers that are about small to medium-sized. They have fangs that are located on their lower jaw in which they can use to remove the snail from their shells to eat. They have blunt heads that are wider than their actual body width. It averages about 47 cm in length and can be spotted by its collar that can be yellow or orange with a grey or brown body. It also has black scales with a pale underside with dark spots.
The mountain slug snake is a nocturnal species that is active on the forest floor or on shallow vegetation that are usually found in lowland or lower mountain forests that are at the elevation of 1500 meters. Mountain slug snakes feed on the following invertebrates:
snails slugs earthworms It is found in NE India, Myanmar, Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Hong Kong, and China. Jan, Giorgio. 1866. in: Bocourt, F.... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kaeng Krachan National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand |
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Guangzhou | 🇨🇳 China | |
| 2 | Hong Kong | 🇨🇳 China | |
| 3 | Kuala Lumpur | 🇲🇾 Malaysia | |
| 4 | Singapore | 🇸🇬 Singapore |
No species of the same family or order lives in Hong Kong, so these are its closest relatives here: other reptiles.
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a White-spotted slug snake sighting in Hong Kong on a given day, based on 60 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 14th most-seen of the 43 reptiles we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
June and September
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a White-spotted slug snake in Hong Kong on a given day, against under 5% in November to March, the lowest months. Those are among Hong Kong's wettest months, with about 220 mm of rain a month against 25 mm in December.
Between 8 and 11 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most White-spotted slug snake sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 pm and 6 am: it is mostly seen at night.
Among the best
Of the 4 cities where we can rate White-spotted slug snake sightings, Hong Kong ranks 2nd at about 10%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Guangzhou (China, about 10%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the White-spotted slug snake is recorded against all the reptiles logged in Hong Kong (60 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
