Aparallactus lunulatus
Silhouette: SeismicShrimp · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
Aparallactus lunulatus, or the reticulated centipede-eater, is a species of mildly venomous rear-fanged snake in the family Atractaspididae, which is endemic to Africa. It is found in Zimbabwe, Mozambique, the Republic of South Africa, Eswatini, Zambia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana to Eritrea, Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, Somalia, the Central African Republic, Cameroon, Botswana, and Tanzania.
Dorsally it is olive or pale brown, with each scale edged with blackish, giving the appearance of dark netting, to which the common name, "reticulated", refers. Sometimes the coloration is reversed so that it appears as a dark snake with light netting. The head is light-colored, followed by a large blackish crossbar which forms a collar. Ventrally it is whitish.
It may attain 39 cm (15+1⁄3 in) in total length, with a tail 8.5 cm (3+1⁄3 in) long. The smooth dorsal scales are arranged in 15 rows. Ventrals 151–158; anal plate entire; subcaudals 52–58, also entire. The portion of the rostral visible from above 1⁄3 its distance from the frontal. Internasals shorter than the prefrontals. Frontal 1+2⁄3 as long as broad, much longer than its distance from... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kruger National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
More parks will be added in future updates.
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Reticulated Centipede-Eater sighting in Kruger National Park on a given day, based on 7 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 55th most-seen of the 62 reptiles we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April, June, August and November
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Reticulated Centipede-Eater in Kruger National Park on a given day, against under 5% in May, July, September–October and December–March, the lowest months. Those are among Kruger National Park's driest months, with about 20 mm of rain a month against 110 mm in February.
Between 5 and 8 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Reticulated Centipede-Eater sightings with a recorded time, and about 6 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is most active around dawn and dusk.
Only Kruger National Park, in our data
Kruger National Park is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Reticulated Centipede-Eater sightings: under 5% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Reticulated Centipede-Eater is recorded against all the reptiles logged in Kruger National Park (7 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.
