Description

A medium-sized, fairly slender snake. Largest Egyptian specimen has a total length of 1,021 mm. Tail short, tail / total length = 0.09-0.15; nostril in a partly divided nasal; loreal elongate, entering the eye below a preocular; 7-9 supralabials, third, fourth and fifth enter the eye; eye rather small, iris dark, pupil vertical; 214-223 ventrals, 51-59 paired subcaudals, dorsals smooth, 19 scale rows around mid-body, anal divided (based on 3 Egyptian specimens). Dorsum gray, with about 40 thin, blackish, transverse bands (between neck and vent); head and neck black, both dorsally and ventrally, with fine white and gray specks. Venter lighter gray covered with a wide, longitudinal, blackish band. The dorsal bars become reduced and indistinct in adult animals.