212 



THE AMERICAN MIDLAND NATURALIST 



a large and a small, or two large postlabials; these occur in various combina- 

 tions and sometimes there is the normal single enLarged postlabial on one side 

 of the head and one of the variations on the other side. The frequency of 

 each type of scutellation is: 1 enlarged scale (34 times); 1 large and one small 

 (3 times); 2 small (7 times); and 2 enlarged scales (4 times). 



An analysis of the above statistics will show that specimens of laticeps 

 occasionally exhibit characteristics that are more frequently associated v/ith 

 fasciatus. But in no case c'ces any large-headed skink have more than one of 

 the characteristics of fasciatus. Two specimens of laticeps have two enlarged 

 postlabial scales on each side of the head, but each of these skinks has 5 supra- 

 labials and the scale rows at midbody are 32 and 33, respectively. Specimens 

 with 4 supralabials on each side of the head have only a single postlabial, etc. 



Table 4 

 Characteristics of Ohio Eumeces 



Table 4 should prove helpful in distinguishing between these two con- 

 fusing skinks. Juveniles sometimes are difficult to diagnose, and occasion- 

 ally it may be necessary to check on other characters besides those discussed 

 above. Smith's Handbook of Lizards (1946) should be consulted for de- 

 tails. The possibility also should be borne in mind that the two species, 

 laticeps and fasciatus, may occasionally hybridize, in which case some of 

 the offspring might be expected to show characteristics of both parents. 



Several of the recently-acquired specimens of laticeps are large, but they 

 do not quite equal the dimensions of the longest individual preyiously record- 

 ed. The one from Montgomery County is a hatchling with a head-body 

 length of 33 mm. It was collected by Walter in the moist, wooded ravine 

 about one-quarter of a mile downstream from Sunderland Falls. The speci- 

 men was beneath the loosely adhering bark of a nearly horizontal tree trunk 

 approximately two and one-half feet in diameter. Walter, in describing the 



