the king snake are within the black bands The adage about coral snakes holds true FIGURE 90.20 Comparison of poisonous and nonpoisonous snakes Red on yellow, kill a fellow Red on black, venom lack There are three species of coral snakes: the eastern (Micrurus fulvius ), the Arizona (Micruroides euryxanthus ) and the Texas coral snake (Micrurus tener ) M fulvius is responsible for most human envenomations and is found in most states east of the Mississippi, with the exception of the Northeast M euryxanthus is indigenous only to Arizona and New Mexico, whereas M tener resides west of the Mississippi river in Louisiana, Arkansas, and Texas Bites by the eastern coral snake are usually more severe than those of the Texas or the Arizona coral snake Clinical Considerations