Six-lined Racerunner

Description:

Although the six-lined racerunner is the only lizard in the midlands of South Carolina with six light yellow or white stripes down its back, the racerunner's ground-dwelling habits and impressive speed are often sufficient to identify this species from a distance.

Habitat:

The six-lined racerunner is a common lizard throughout Georgia and South Carolina, but is absent from some areas in the mountains. This species is most common in hot, open areas such as fields, woodland edges, and sand dunes and is almost always found on the ground. This one was photographed in a long-leaf pine ecosystem at the Silver Bluff Audubon Center near Jackson, SC.

Notes:

Six-lined racerunners eat a wide variety of insects, spiders, and other invertebrates. In hot, open habitats racerunners are often the most common lizards. However, they are almost never found in moist, shady habitats such as thick forests or river swamps. Female racerunners lay 1 - 5 eggs in a shallow nest in the summer. Young resemble adults and lack the bright blue tails of the skinks.