The Ahaetuliinae are a subfamily of vine snakes within the family Colubridae that was erected in 2016.

The name comes from the genus Ahaetulla, which gets its name from the Sri Lankan Sinhalese language words ahaetulla/ahata gulla/as gulla, meaning “eye plucker” or “eye picker”, because of the belief that they pluck out the eyes of humans, as first reported by the Portuguese traveler João Ribeiro in 1685.

Previously placed within Colubrinae, Ahaetuliinae was strongly supported as the sister group to Colubrinae in a 2016 study by Figueroa et al., as shown in the cladogram below:[3] Sibynophiinae Natricinae Pseudoxenodontinae Dipsadinae Grayiinae Calamariinae Ahaetuliinae Colubrinae Ahaetuliinae is split into two separate monophyletic groups: one group consists of the sharp-nosed snakes of the generas Dryophiops, Ahaetulla, and the recently named Proahaetulla, and the second group consists of the rectangular-snouted snakes of the generas Dendrelaphis and Chrysopelea.

[3][1] The most recent common ancestor (and origin) of Ahaetuliinae dates back to an estimated 33.63 million years ago, from the Oligocene epoch.

Ahaetuliine snakes are arboreal and have keeled ventral and subcaudal scales (laterally notched in some species), and enlarged posterior grooved fangs (lacking in some Dendrelaphis).