Page 119 - A Field Guide to Fairfax County's Plants and Wildlife
P. 119
mon Five-lined Skink
(Eumeces fasciatus)
Description
This skink has a slender
body shape, small limbs and
a wedge-shaped head. The
young skink has five whitish
stripes running down the back
of its dark body and a bright
blue tail. Males turn olive
brown all over as the tail color
and stripes fade with age.
An adult is usually 13 to 22
centimeters long. It matures at
two to three years old. Skinks
mate in May. In June or July,
females lay up to a dozen eggs which may take 55 days to hatch. Females
keep guard until two days after the eggs hatch. Skinks may live six years.
Distribution and Habitat
They live in all five physiographic Common Five-lined Skinks are
provinces. Their habitat is moist, diurnal, which means that they move
wooded or partially wooded areas around during the day. If you happen
with good cover and places to warm to spot one, it is unlikely that it will
themselves. They often stay near stay around for long. They are good
small streams or standing water. at running for cover, and they are
quick to find a crevice to hide in.
Role in Food Web
They eat mainly insects. Food items
include Differential Grasshoppers,
Rabid Wolf Spiders, Leopard Slugs, earthworms, Eastern Tent Caterpillar
Moths, Eastern Black Swallowtails, Horned Fungus Beetles, Harvestman
Spiders, Garden Centipedes and North American Millipedes. Skinks are
eaten by American Crows, Northern Shrikes, American Kestrels, Barred Owls,
Red-tailed Hawks, Great Blue Herons, Northern Mockingbirds, Red Foxes,
Raccoons, Virginia Opossums, cats, Northern Copperheads and Eastern Hog-
nosed Snakes.
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(Eumeces fasciatus)
Description
This skink has a slender
body shape, small limbs and
a wedge-shaped head. The
young skink has five whitish
stripes running down the back
of its dark body and a bright
blue tail. Males turn olive
brown all over as the tail color
and stripes fade with age.
An adult is usually 13 to 22
centimeters long. It matures at
two to three years old. Skinks
mate in May. In June or July,
females lay up to a dozen eggs which may take 55 days to hatch. Females
keep guard until two days after the eggs hatch. Skinks may live six years.
Distribution and Habitat
They live in all five physiographic Common Five-lined Skinks are
provinces. Their habitat is moist, diurnal, which means that they move
wooded or partially wooded areas around during the day. If you happen
with good cover and places to warm to spot one, it is unlikely that it will
themselves. They often stay near stay around for long. They are good
small streams or standing water. at running for cover, and they are
quick to find a crevice to hide in.
Role in Food Web
They eat mainly insects. Food items
include Differential Grasshoppers,
Rabid Wolf Spiders, Leopard Slugs, earthworms, Eastern Tent Caterpillar
Moths, Eastern Black Swallowtails, Horned Fungus Beetles, Harvestman
Spiders, Garden Centipedes and North American Millipedes. Skinks are
eaten by American Crows, Northern Shrikes, American Kestrels, Barred Owls,
Red-tailed Hawks, Great Blue Herons, Northern Mockingbirds, Red Foxes,
Raccoons, Virginia Opossums, cats, Northern Copperheads and Eastern Hog-
nosed Snakes.
r 115 r
