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Five-lined skink

Plestiodon fasciatus

Photo by AnaCristinaLu
Published on Project Noah
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38.7688, -76.6976

Field Notes

Description:

Five lined lizard
This lizard ranges from 12.5-21.5 cm long (males growing slightly larger than females).
They are usually black or dark brown, with five light stripes down their backs. Stripes fade as the skink gets older, so adults may look all brown.
Young skinks have very clear stripes and a bright blue tail. Females may keep a very full bluish-gray tail as they age, but males' tails will turn brown.

What they eat?insects, including: crickets, grasshoppers, beetles, and caterpillars. They also eat spiders, earthworms, snails, slugs, isopods, other lizards, and small mice.

Habitat:

Old woodlots or areas with a great deal of downed, decaying wood or debris. They usually seek the moist places under debris but may also be found in dead or decaying snags where insects are abundant.

Notes:

Diurnal .
Reproduction occurs in late spring or early summer

Species ID Suggestions

Comments (1)

Sometimes it's so hard to get them to sit still for a shot. I have the best luck in Spring before they warm up and get the energy to dart away. Nice picture

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