Range: Jaen to possibly southeast of Lima, Andes, Peru

 

The Three-Colored Blind Snake is a highly distinctive species due both to its appearance and range, stretching at high elevations down the north-central eastern flanks of the westernmost range of the Andes in Peru. It is large for a blind snake, exceeding 32 cm with a slender, mostly cylindrical but slightly dorsolaterally flattened body. The head is small and rounded, slightly flattened, and barely broader than the neck; the tail is extremely short and blunt at only 1.4 cm long, rounded more than tapered and tipped in a small conical spine scale. Dorsal scale count is 285-310, scale row count 14 reducing to 10 caudally. The color is highly distinctive, with a broad rusty red to brownish dorsal stripe bordered by black stripes running full from nose to tail, bordered again by cream or lemon yellow lateral stripes, and a dark brown to black belly. The rostral scale is cream or yellow and interrupts the lateral black stripes, and the ventral gives way to a black-centered yellow chin and undertail/tip past the vent. This species can be distinguished from all relatives by range and elevation, the tricolor fully striped pattern with no well-defined black stripes within the red dorsal, and the black-centered lighter throat.

 

Habitat: ranges between 2700-3250 meters in elevation, presumably underground or under cover, but all other habitat details could not be found. Most likely to be grasslands or open forest.

 

Prey: likely small soft-bodied invertebrates such as ants and termites and their larvae.

 

Lifespan and reproduction: lifespan unknown, likely under 10 years. Oviparous.

 

Sources: https://www.inaturalist.org/photos/63898126 Author John G. Phillips under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/Epictia/tricolor
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/34672856#page/190/mode/1up
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/32449-Epictia-tricolor#map-tab
Zug, G. R. (1977). Distribution and Variation of Leptotyphlops tricolor. Copeia 1977(4): 744-745.