harlequin snake

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• noun any of several venomous New World snakes brilliantly banded in red and black and either yellow or white, especially the eastern coral snake, a small poisonous snake (Micrurus fulvius or Elaps fulvius), ringed with red and black, found in the Southeastern United States. They are widely distributed in Southern and Central America