Virginia is home to a diverse array of reptile species, including several lizards. These reptiles inhabit various landscapes across the Commonwealth, from its mountainous regions to its coastal plains. While often elusive, these lizards play a role in their local ecosystems. Understanding their characteristics, preferred environments, and behaviors provides insight into Virginia’s natural world.
Identifying Virginia’s Lizards
Virginia hosts several native lizard species, each with distinct features. Many skink species, including the Common Five-lined Skink (Plestiodon fasciatus), Broad-headed Skink (Plestiodon laticeps), Southeastern Five-lined Skink (Plestiodon inexpectatus), and Northern Coal Skink (Plestiodon anthracinus), share common traits. They have smooth, shiny scales, and juveniles often display bright blue tails that fade with age. Males can develop reddish-orange heads during breeding season.
The Common Five-lined Skink has five narrow, light stripes on a dark background. The Broad-headed Skink is Virginia’s largest, with males developing noticeably broad, orange-red heads. The Southeastern Five-lined Skink closely resembles the Common Five-lined Skink, but its stripes are typically narrower and may fade more in adults. The Northern Coal Skink has a gray or brown body with four light tan or olive-brown stripes extending to the tail.
The Eastern Fence Lizard (Sceloporus undulatus) has rough, spiny, keeled scales. These lizards are typically gray or brown with wavy dark crossbands, and males display bright blue patches on their throat and belly during breeding season.
The Slender Glass Lizard (Ophisaurus attenuatus) is legless, often mistaken for a snake. However, glass lizards possess movable eyelids and external ear openings, features absent in snakes. They have long, slender bodies, tan to greenish coloration, and a prominent dark stripe down their back.
Habitats and Behaviors
Virginia’s lizard species occupy a variety of terrestrial habitats across the state. Many prefer open woodlands, forest edges, rocky outcrops, and areas with abundant ground debris like logs and leaf litter. Some species, like the Broad-headed Skink, are more arboreal, climbing trees for cover and protection. Others, such as the Eastern Fence Lizard, frequently bask on fence posts, tree trunks, or rock piles to regulate their body temperature.
Lizards are diurnal, meaning they are most active during the day. Their diets primarily consist of insects, spiders, and other invertebrates, making them effective predators of pests. Some larger species may also consume small mammals or other reptiles.
Lizards play a role in the food web, serving as prey for larger animals such as snakes, birds, and some mammals. A common defensive behavior among many species, particularly skinks and glass lizards, is autotomy, where they can shed their tail when grasped by a predator. This allows the lizard to escape while the detached tail twitches to distract the threat. These shed tails can regenerate over time.
Are Virginia’s Lizards Harmless?
A common concern revolves around lizard danger. In Virginia, most native lizard species are not venomous and pose no significant threat to humans. The only two venomous lizard species globally, the Gila Monster and Beaded Lizard, are not found in Virginia. Lizards are shy and primarily flee when approached.
While a lizard might bite if threatened or handled, these bites are typically minor. Their small teeth are not designed to inflict serious injury on humans and usually result in a superficial scratch. Such bites are not medically significant and rarely require first aid. It is advisable to observe these reptiles from a distance and avoid handling them. Allowing them to go about their natural behaviors undisturbed benefits both the lizards and human safety.