Trimeresurus is a genus of pit vipers native to Asia. They are found from the Indian subcontinent throughout Southeast Asia, China, and the Pacific Islands. The genus currently contains 44 recognized species. Common names include Asian palm pit vipers, Asian lanceheads, and green pit vipers.

Description

Most species in the genus Trimeresurus are relatively small, primarily arboreal species, with thin bodies and prehensile tails. Most Trimeresurus species are typically green in color, but some species also have yellow, black, orange, red, or gold markings.

Feeding

The diet of Trimeresurus species includes a variety of animals, including lizards, amphibians, birds, rodents, and other small mammals.

Reproduction

Like most viper species, many of the species in the genus Trimeresurus are ovoviviparous, bearing live young. However, some species such as T. macrolepis and T. hageni are oviparous, laying eggs. Also, the reproductive biology of some Trimeresurus species is as yet unknown.

Venom

Trimeresurus venom varies in toxicity between species, but all are primarily hemotoxic and considered to be medically significant to humans.

Geographic range

Species in the genus Trimeresurus are found in Southeast Asia from India (including regions of the North Chotanagpur division of Jharkhand) to Southern China, Taiwan, and Japan, and the Malay Archipelago to Timor.

!Geographic range

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|Car Nicobar, India.

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|T. erythrochloris

|Pawangkhanant, Idiiatullina, Smits, Dugdale, Pierce, Suwannapoom & Poyarkov, 2025

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|Red barred green pit viper

|Thailand

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|T. erythrurus

|Cantor, 1839

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|red-tailed bamboo pit viper

|India (Assam and Sikkim), Bangladesh and Myanmar.

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|T. fasciatus

|Boulenger, 1896

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|banded pit viper

|Indonesia: Djampea Island.

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|T. flavomaculatus

|Gray, 1842

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|Philippine pit viper

|Philippine Islands: Agutayan, Batan, Camiguin, Catanduanes, Dinagat, Jolo, Leyte, Luzon, Mindanao, Mindoro, Negros and Polillo.

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|T. gracilis

|Ōshima, 1920

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|Kikushi habu

|Central Taiwan.

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|T. gumprechti

|David, Vogel, Pauwels & Vidal, 2002

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|Gumprecht's green pit viper

|China (Yunnan), Laos, Thailand, Vietnam.

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|T. gunaleni

|Vogel, David & Sidik, 2014

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|Gunalen's pit viper

|Sumatra.

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|T. guoi

|Chen, S. Shi, Vogel & Ding, 2020

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|Guo's green pit viper

|China, Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar.

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|T. hageni

|Lidth de Jeude, 1886

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|Hagen's pit viper

|Peninsular Thailand, West Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia (Sumatra and the nearby islands of Bangka, Simalur, Nias, Batu and the Mentawai Islands.

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|T. honsonensis

|L. Grismer, Ngo & J. Grismer, 2008

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|Hon Son pit viper

|Southern Vietnam.

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|T. insularis

|Kramer, 1977

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|Sunda Island pit viper, white-lipped island pit viper

|Indonesia, Timor-Leste

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|T. kanburiensis

|M.A. Smith, 1943

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|Kanburi pit viper

|Thailand.

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|T. kirscheyi

|Vogel, David & Sidik, 2022

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|Simeulue pit viper

|Indonesia (Simeulue Island).

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|T. kraensis

|Idiiatullina, Nguyen, Pawangkhanant, Suwannapoom, Chanhome, Nguyen, David, Vogel & Poyarkov, 2024

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|Nicobar Kra isthumus pit viper

|India: Thailand.

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|T. kuiburi

|Sumontha, Suntrarachun, Pauwels, Pawangkhanant, Chomngam, Iamwiriyakul & Chanhome, 2021

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|Kui Buri pit viper

|Thailand.

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|T. labialis

|Steindachner, 1867

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|Nicobar bamboo pit viper

|India: Nicobar Islands.

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|T. lanna

|Idiiatullina, Nguyen, Pawangkhanant, Suwannapoom, Chanhome, Mirza, David, Vogel & Poyarkov, 2024

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|Nicobar Lanna pit viper

|India: Thailand.

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|T. lii

|Cai et al., 2026

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|Huaxi Green Pitviper

|West Sichuan, China.

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|T. liqibini

|Liang et al., 2026

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|Li Qibin’s Green Pit Viper

|Yunan Province, China.

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|T. macrops

|Kramer, 1977

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|large-eyed pit viper

|Thailand, Cambodia and southern Vietnam.

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|T. malcolmi

|Loveridge, 1938

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|Malcolm's pit viper

|Borneo.

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|T. mayaae

|Rathee, Purkayastha, Lalremsanga, Dalal, Biakzuala, Muansanga & Mirza, 2022

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|Maya's pit viper

|India: Meghalaya (Ri Bhoi), Mizoram (Champhai), Assam (Guwahati)

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|T. mcgregori

|Taylor, 1919

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|McGregor's pit viper, McGregor's tree viper, Philippine pit viper

|Batan Island, Philippines.

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|T. medoensis

|Zhao, 1977

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|Motuo bamboo pit viper

|Northern India, northern Myanmar, and China (southeastern Xizang).

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|T. mutabilis

|Stoliczka, 1870

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|Central Nicobar pit viper, Central Nicobar bamboo pit viper

|Central Nicobar Island.

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|T. nebularis

|Vogel, David & Pauwels, 2004

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|Cameron Highlands pit viper, clouded pit viper

|West Malaysia (Cameron Highlands), Thailand.

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|T. phuketensis

|Sumontha, Kunya, Pauwels, Nitikul & Punnadee, 2011

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|Phuket pit viper

|Thailand: Phuket Island.

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|T. popeiorum

|M.A. Smith, 1937

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|Popes' pit viper

|Northern India, Myanmar, Thailand, West Malaysia, Vietnam and Indonesia (Sumatra, the Mentawai Islands of Siberut, Sipora, and North Pagai, and on the island of Borneo).

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|T. purpureomaculatus

|Gray, 1832

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|mangrove pit viper

|Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, West Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia (Sumatra).

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|T. rubeus

|(Malhotra, Thorpe, Mrinalini & L. Stuart, 2011)

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|ruby-eyed green pitviper

|southern Vietnam and eastern Cambodia

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|T. sabahi

|Regenass & Kramer, 1981

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|Sabah bamboo pit viper, Sabah pit viper

|Sabah, Sarawak

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|T. salazar

|Mirza, Bhosale, Phansalkar, Sawant, Gowande & Patel (2020)

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|Salazar's pit viper

|India: western lowlands of Arunachal Pradesh

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|T. schultzei

|Griffin, 1909

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|Schultze's pit viper

|Philippines: Palawan and Balabac.

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|T. septentrionalis

|Kramer, 1977

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|Nepal pit viper, Himalayan white-lipped pit viper

|Bangladesh, India, Nepal

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|T. sichuanensis

|Guo & Wang, 2011

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|Sichuan pit viper

|Sichuan, China

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|T. stejnegeri

|Schmidt, 1925

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|Stejneger's pit viper

|India (Assam), and Nepal through Myanmar and Thailand to China (Guangxi, Guangdong, Hainan, Fujian, Zhejiang, Yunnan) and Taiwan.

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|T. sumatranus<span style="font-size:100%;"><sup>T</sup></span>

|Raffles, 1822

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|Sumatran pit viper

|Southern Thailand, West and East Malaysia (Sabah and Sarawak on Borneo) and Indonesia (Bangka, Billiton, Borneo, Sumatra and the nearby islands of Simalur, Nias, and possibly the Mentawai Islands [Sipora]).

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|T. Tennasserimensis

|Idiiatullina, Nguyen, Pawangkhanant, Suwannapoom, Chanhome, Mirza, David, Vogel & Poyarkov, 2024

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|Tennasserim pit viper

|Thailand.

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|T. tibetanus

|Huang, 1982

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|Tibetan bamboo pit viper

|China: Xiang (Tibet) Autonomous Region.

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|T. truongsonensis

|Orlov, Ryabov, Thanh & Cuc, 2004

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|Quang Binh pit viper

|Central Vietnam

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|T. uetzi

|Vogel, Nguyen, David, 2023

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|Uetz's pit viper

|Myanmar.

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|190px

|T. venustus

|Vogel, 1991

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|beautiful pit viper, brown-spotted pit viper

|Southern Thailand

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|T. vogeli

|David, Vidal & Pauwels, 2001

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|Vogel's pit viper

|Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam.

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|T. whitteni

| Vogel, David & Sidik, 2022

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|Siberut pit viper

|Indonesia (Siberut Island).

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|T. yingjiangensis

|Chen, Ding, J. Shi & Zhang, 2019

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|Southwest China

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|T. yunnanensis

|Schmidt, 1925

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|Yunnan bamboo pit viper

|Southern China

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*) Not including the nominate subspecies.<br />

<span style="font-size:100%;"><sup>T</sup></span>) Type species. since these have been shown not to be closely related to other Trimeresurus in recent phylogenetic analyses.

In addition, Malhotra and Thorpe (2004) but not all subsequent authors.

David et al. (2011) considered some of the genera of Malhotra & Thorpe to be subgenera of the genus Trimeresurus, creating new combinations such as "Trimeresurus (Parias) flavomaculatus", "Trimeresurus (Popeia) popeiorum", "Trimeresurus (Viridovipera) stejnegeri", etc.

<gallery>

Image:Trimeresurus vogeli, Vogel's Pit Viper (juvenile) - Khao Yai National Park 01.jpg|A juvenile T. vogeli in Khao Yai National Park, Thailand

Image:Trimeresurus fucatus, Banded pit viper.jpg|Trimeresurus fucatus from Khao Sok National Park, Thailand

Image:Trimeresurus albolabris (adult, female).jpg|Trimeresurus albolabris from Kaeng Krachan National Park, Thailand

Image:Trimeresurus gumprechti.jpg|Trimeresurus gumprechti, Gumprecht's green pit viper, from Phu Hin Rong Kla National Park, Thailand

Image:Trimeresurus macrops, Large-eyed pit viper.jpg|Trimeresurus macrops from Khao Yai National Park, Thailand

Image:Trimeresurus-popeorum-Pope's-pit-viper-(female)-Kaeng-Krachan-National-Park.jpg|Trimeresurus popeiorum from Kaeng Krachan National Park, Thailand

</gallery>

See also

  • Craspedocephalus
  • Ovophis
  • Protobothrops

References

Further reading

  • Lacépède BG (1804). "Mémoire sur plusieurs animaux de la Nouvelle-Hollande dont la description n'a pas encore été publiée " [= Memoir on several animals of New Holland whose description has not yet been published]. Annales du Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris 4: 184–211. (Trimeresurus, new genus, p.&nbsp;209). (in French).