About Chrysopelea pelias (Linnaeus, 1758)
Chrysopelea pelias, commonly known as the twin-barred tree snake or the banded flying snake, is a species of colubrid snake native to Southeast Asia. Like all other members of the genus Chrysopelea, this snake can glide. It achieves gliding by stretching its body into a flattened strip using its ribs. This species is fully arboreal, and it occurs mostly in moist forests. When gliding from the top of a tree, it can cover a horizontal distance of approximately 100 metres. It is an oviparous species. Its confirmed distribution covers Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore, Thailand, and Myanmar. Reports of this species occurring in India are erroneous. The range of Chrysopelea pelias overlaps with that of the paradise tree snake (Chrysopelea paradisi) across Malaysia, Singapore, Borneo, and Indonesia, but Chrysopelea pelias is far less common than the paradise tree snake.
