Two subspecies are recognised: one of which, L. r. walli, is restricted to the Ryukyu Archipelago; the other, L. r. rufozonatus (Cantor 1842), is found in only in Korea & China.

[4] Lycodon rufozonatus typically grows to a total length (including tail) of around 70 centimetres (28 in), reaching up to 130 cm (51 in) in extreme cases.

[6] Lycodon rufozonatus lives in a wide variety of habitats; it can be found from near sea level to as high as 2,000 metres (6,600 ft), and is most common near river plains.

[2] The species was first described as "Lycodon rufo-zonatus " by Theodore Edward Cantor in an 1842 paper on the fauna of "Chusan" (Zhoushan, China) in the Annals and Magazine of Natural History.

[8] Cantor included it among the "innocuous" (not venomous) species, and described it as "Brown, with numerous transversal crimson bands; the abdominal surface pearl-coloured, spotted with black on the tail".