THE REPTILES OF OHIO 



snakes, red-bellied water snakes and massasaugas often were collected at the 

 same times and places as blue-tailed skinks. 



The food of this lizard consists largely of insects. Examinations of the 

 the stomach contents of a few Ohio specimens revealed the presence of grass- 

 hopper nymphs and small beetles. Specimens kept in captivity ate meal 

 worms, crickets, grasshoppers, spiders, roaches and newborn mice. A few 

 individuals would lap egg from a mixture of chopped meat and eggs, and one 

 large male killed and ate a small common swift which it swallowed head first. 



Several clutches of eggs were found in the field and a number of young 

 were hatched in captivity. In every case a brooding female was discovered 

 with the eggs. Unless she was badly frightened she would remain with them, 

 although she usually tried to conceal herself beneath the wood pulp or sawdust 

 which formed the hatching medium. Females were always close to the eggs 

 and if not actually upon them usually were touching at least one or two. 



Noble and Mason (1933) have studied the brooding habits of this and 

 other species of lizards and have shown that females will drive away small 

 lizards, snakes and mice which might harm their eggs. They have also shown 

 that the female, in leaving her nest and basking or running about in the sun, 

 will have her temperature raised, and that this additional heat may aid in in- 

 cubation when she returns to lie against or upon her eggs. 



The eggs which were found in the field were an inch to six inches beneath 

 the upper surface of the log or stump which sheltered them. They were oval 

 in shape with thin leathery shells which were not easily indented by the fingers 

 when handled. They were whitish in color but were usually stained buff by 

 the hatching medium. Information concerning five clutches of eggs collected 

 near Mt. Victory is given in Table 2. 



Table 2 



Eggs and Young of Eumeces fascialus 



In the laboratory the eggs were placed in the same material in which they 

 were found. Two clutches collected July 27, 1930, were hatching when they 

 were discovered and another group hatched in the laboratory August 9, 1932. 

 The number of eggs in a clutch varied from 7 to 13 and the newly hatched 

 young ranged from 21/4 to 2 S/^g inches in length. Juveniles shed their skins 

 within a few hours after hatching. 



The number of eggs has been variously reported in the literature as from 

 2 to 15 but since Eumeces inexpectatus (Taylor, 1932a) and E. laticeps (Tay- 



