Ninia, commonly referred to as coffee snakes, is a genus of snakes in the family Colubridae. The genus consists of 12 species that are native to south-eastern Mexico, Central America, and the northern part of South America. Some species are also found on Caribbean islands.

Species

There are 12 species that are recognized as being valid.

ImageScientific nameCommon nameDistribution
Ninia atrata (Hallowell, 1845)Hallowell's coffee snakesouthern Central America, Ecuador, Venezuela and Trinidad and Tobago
Ninia celata McCranie & Wilson, 1995Costa Rica; Panama
Ninia diademata Baird & Girard, 1853ringneck coffee snakeBelize; Guatemala; Honduras; Mexico
Ninia espinali McCranie & Wilson, 1995Espinal's coffee snakeEl Salvador; Honduras
Ninia franciscoi Angarita-Sierra, 2014Simla coffee snakeTrinidad
Ninia guytudori Angarita-Sierra & Arteaga, 2023Ecuador
Ninia hudsoni H. Parker, 1940Guiana coffee snake, Hudson's coffee snakeGuiana, Ecuador (Amazonas), Peru (Pasco, Tambopata, Madre de Dios), Brazil (Rondônia), SW Colombia
Ninia maculata (W. Peters, 1861)Pacific banded coffee snake, spotted coffee snakeCosta Rica; Honduras; Nicaragua; Panama
Ninia pavimentata (Bocourt, 1883)northern banded coffee snakeGuatemala
Ninia psephota (Cope, 1876)red-bellied coffee snake, Cope's coffee snakePanama, Costa Rica
Ninia sebae (A.M.C. Duméril, Bibron & A.H.A. Duméril, 1854)redback coffee snake, culebra de cafetal espalda rojaMexico and Central America.
Ninia teresitae Angarita-Sierra & Lynch, 2017Colombia; Ecuador

Nota bene: A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Ninia.

Further reading

  • Baird SF, Girard C (1853). Catalogue of North American Reptiles in the Museum of the Smithsonian Institution. Part I.—Serpents. Washington, District of Columbia: xvi + 172 pp. (Ninia, new genus, pp. 49–50).
  • Freiberg M (1982). Snakes of South America. Hong Kong: T.F.H. Publications. 189 pp. ISBN 0-87666-912-7. (Genus Ninia, p. 104).