New England is home to dozens of species of mammals, hundreds of varieties of birds, and tens of thousands of different insects, but only one lizard: the five-lined skink. Though I am fond of reptiles and often seek them out, I have never seen a skink. Juveniles and adult females are recognizable by the five cream-colored stripes running the length of their bodies. Young skinks also have electric blue tails, which fade to gray as they age.
Older males retain only the faintest trace of their eponymous stripes, morphing instead into a uniform olive-brown, though they do sport reddish chins during the spring courtship season ooh la la. Five-lined skinks dine primarily on insects, including crickets, grasshoppers, and beetles. To the delight of one Vermont kayaker — who witnessed a skink leaping from lily pad to lily pad before launching itself directly into their boat, no doubt in hot pursuit of a meal — they also eat mayflies, dragonflies, and other arthropods fond of freshwater.
In Connecticut, skinks eke out a living in four distinct, disconnected ledgy areas in the western part of the state, including bluffs overlooking the Housatonic River.
When pursued, five-lined skinks generally run for the nearest tree or log and can be quite difficult to capture. Like many other lizards, five-lined skinks will break off their tails when restrained, distracting the predator and allowing the lizard to escape.
Prey: Five-lined skinks prey on a wide variety of insects, spiders, and other invertebrates. Reproduction: Female five-lined skinks lay clutches of several eggs in moist soil or rotten logs during the summer and attend the eggs until they hatch about 60 days later. Abundance: Five-lined skinks are common in most areas of Georgia and South Carolina, but are most abundant in the Piedmont.
This species is notably absent from many coastal areas and barrier islands. Notes: The blue-tailed young of five-lined, southeastern five-lined, and broadhead skinks are widely referred to as "scorpions" and are believed to have a venomous sting. Female five-lined skinks demonstrate high levels of parental care which reduces of egg mortality. Females exhibit several brooding positions of variant contact levels with the body placed beside, over, through, or in a coil around the eggs.
Brooding position varies according to soil moisture. Maternal body contact increases at lower moisture levels potentially reducing transpirational loss of the eggs. In communal nests, females may alternate foraging and guarding of the nests, leaving eggs protected at all times Hecnar Females may also urinate in the nests and turn eggs to maintain humidity. In addition, females transfer heat from basking through body contact.
Any eggs displaced from the nest are retrieved by head or snout rolling, and rotten eggs are eaten Harding Five-lined skinks also exhibit antipredation behavior.
In evasion of various predators including snakes, crows, hawks, shrews, moles, opossums, skunks, raccoons, and domestic cats, skinks may disconnect their entire tail or a small segment. Skinks run to shelter to escape their distracted predators as the disconnected tail continues to twitch. Skinks may also utilize biting as a defensive strategy Harding Five-lined Skinks use their vision and their ability to detect chemicals pheromones to determine the sex of other skinks.
Five-lined skinks are generally insectivorous, feeding on spiders, millipedes, crickets, termites, grasshoppers, caterpillars, beetles, and beetle larvae. They may also consume snails, as well as small vertebrates including frogs, smaller lizards, and newborn mice Harding Five-lined skinks are preyed on by large birds, such as American crows , northern shrikes , American kestrels , or sharp-shinned hawks.
They are also preyed on by foxes , raccoons , opossums , skunks , shrews , moles , domestic cats , and snakes. Five-lined skinks are quick to escape and take refuge in crevices. If confronted with a predator, skinks may disconnect their entire tail or a small segment. The tail is often brightly colored and twitches, this distracts the predator long enough for the skink to run away. They re-grow their tails over time.
Skinks also bite at their attackers. Five-lined Skinks act as a food source for their predators and help to control insect and other invertebrate populations. Where populations are abundant, five-lined skinks may aid in controlling insect pests Harding Five-lined skinks are hosts and carriers of the common chigger, a species that regularly attacks humans Fitch Distribution of the five-lined skink is often patchy and colonial, with small isolated populations in parts of its range.
Habitat destruction in these regions could lead to local extinctions of the species Harding This includes Greenland, the Canadian Arctic islands, and all of the North American as far south as the highlands of central Mexico. Iteroparous animals must, by definition, survive over multiple seasons or periodic condition changes. Cooper, W. Responses of skinks, E. Journal of Herpetology , Fitch, H. Life history and ecology of the five-lined skink, Eumeces fasciatus.
Topeka, Kansas: University of Kansas. Harding, J. Amphibians and Reptiles of the Great Lakes Region. Hecnar, S. Nest distribution, site selection, and brooding in the five-lined skink Eumeces Fasciatus. Canadian Journal of Zoology , Vitt, L. Skink reproduction and sexual dimorphism: Eumeces fasciatus in S.
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