Description
The scales on the back are smooth and shiny. The middle of the underside of the tail has a row of enlarged scales. Coloration varies with age. Adult males are almost uniformly brown or olive and may have "faded" light stripes; the tail is gray and the jaws are orange-red during the breeding season. Adult females have a gray tail, and the back has five white or yellowish stripes on a dark background. Hatchlings are black with five white or yellowish stripes on the back and sides; the tail is bright blue. Maximum snout-vent length is about 3.4 inches (8.6 cm).
Habitat
Habitats include wooded areas of many kinds, especially those that are humid, well-drained, supply abundant cover (rocks, logs, stumps, leaf litter), and have a patchy canopy; also seasonally flooded lowlands in some areas (Bartlett and Bartlett 1999). Most activity occurs on the ground, but these lizards also climb trees and are distinctly arboreal in Texas. Generally secretive, five-lined skinks spend much time under cover
Eggs are laid in or under rotting logs, stumps, or humus, or under rocks (Fitch 1954, Vogt 1981). In Ontario, preferred nest sites were large, moderately decayed logs with high substrate moisture (Hecnar 1994). Oviposition sites may be outside the non-nesting home range (Seburn 1993).
Ecology
In Kansas, home range diameter approximately 27 m in males, 9 m in females; may shift home range after hibernation (Fitch 1954). Aggregations may occur during the breeding season.
As is true of other skinks, the tail of this species is readily detached if the skink is attacked. A detached tail initially wiggles vigorously and may attact the attention of a would-be predator as the lizard escapes. Later, if the tail was not eaten by the predator, the skink may return to the site, find its detached tail using chemical cues, and eat it.
Reproduction
Courtship and mating occur in spring. Clutches of 4-14 eggs are laid mostly in May-June. The female attends the eggs during incubation. Eggs hatch in 4-7 weeks (mid-July to mid-August in South Carolina). Individuals become sexually mature in their second year (Vitt and Cooper 1986, Fitch 1954). Multiple and communal nests are common in some areas (Hecnar 1994).