28 THE AMERICAN MIDLAND NATURALIST 



Eumeces fasciatus (Linne) 



Blue-Tailed Skink; Scorpion 



Description. — A small lizard reaching a length of 7 inches or -more. 

 Largest perfect Ohio specimen { S ), 71/2 inches; smallest newly hatched in- 

 dividual, 2 1/1 6 inches. Head small and usually little, if at all, distinct from 

 neck; eye small. Limbs well developed; five toes and claws on each foot. 

 Body moderately slender in young specimens; stouter in large adults. Tail 

 long and slender and from L19 to L66, average L42, times the length from 

 snout to vent. 



Scales around middle of body 27 to 30, average 29. Scales smooth. Upper 

 labials usually 7 (in 87.5% of the cases), of which 4 precede the subocular 

 labial. In several specimens there are 8 upper labials (of which 5 precede the 

 subocular labial) but this number ordinarily occurs on only one side of the 

 head, the other side bearing the customary 7. Only 6% of the specimens 

 examined have 8 upper labials on both sides. Lower labials 7, rarely 6 or 8. 



Last upper labial followed by two small scales of nearly equal size and 

 shape and lying one above the other. Occasionally these scales may be un- 

 equal in size or misshapen, but departures from the normal occur in only 10% 

 of the cases. Prefrontals broadly in contact with each other in 50% of the 

 specimens, narrowly in contact in 20% and not in contact in 30%. 



Color pattern above consisting of five light stripes, each about the width 

 of a scale, on a darker ground. In small specimens the stripes are bright 

 yellow and the ground color is black, but with increasing size and age the 

 contrast lessens. The stripes become brownish or olive and the areas between 

 them lighten. The two contrasting colors approach each other in tone until 

 eventually the pattern may be discerned only with difficulty and the lizard 

 may appear nearly uniform olive or olive brown. The change is most com- 

 plete in large adult males and is accompanied by an increase in size of the 

 temporal region and the appearance of reddish pigment on the head. Adult 

 females have the last two characters little developed and always exhibit the 

 striped pattern to a greater or lesser degree. One of the last portions of the 

 pattern to lose its identity is the dark area between the first and second light 

 stripes on either side. 



Legs similar in color to the darker dorsal areas and occasionally with 

 indications of light stripes. Under surface uniform yellow, the scales some- 

 times edged with darker. Tail in juveniles bright blue but with the striping 

 of the dorsum continued on a third or more of its anterior end. The tail 

 becomes greyish as the lizard grows and soon blends in color with the dorsal 

 surface. 



Specimens examined, 140; specimens preserved, 104; specimens studied, 140. 



Range. — Southern New England to Florida and west to the Great Plains 



in South Dakota and Texas. The blue-tailed skink has been collected in a 



number of widely separated localities in Ohio (Map 4). Specific records are: 



Adams County: Green Twp. (OSM 247). Ashtabula County: Eagleville 

 (CMNH) ; Pymaluning Swamp, near Andover (TZS 1043, 1795). AuGLAIZE COUN- 

 TY: 3 mi. SW of St. Mary's (ANSP 20604; TZS 2460). Butler County: Near 

 Oxford (TZS 392). Clermont County: (CSNH 1983); Union Twp. (TZS 



