Ablepharus kitaibelii

Locust lizard ( Ablepharus kitaibelii )

The locust lizard ( Ablepharus kitaibelii ) is a species of skinks ( Scincidae ) and heard here in the genus of snake eyes skinks ( Ablepharus ). It reaches a body length of about 10 to 13.5 inches and has lived in several subspecies in Eastern and Southeastern Europe.

Features

St. John's lizard is a very small Skinkart with 10 to 13.5 inches. The body is petite stretched thin and long, the legs are very short and the tail relatively thick. Note the fused eyelids, reminiscent of the eyes of a snake, and has given the whole genus its name. The body is oberseits monochrome metallic - brown to olive-green and has a dark mottling, forming longitudinal stripes on the body. The sides are dark brown, the belly grayish.

Distribution and habitat

The nominate the locust lizard Ablepharus is kitaibelii kitaibelii common across the Peloponnese and the Cyclades and the Southern Sporades. Ablepharus kitaibelii fitzingeri is from southern Slovakia and northern Hungary known Ablepharus kitaibelii stepaneki of the Balkan peninsula and the island shape Ablepharus kitaibelii fabichi of some islands of the eastern Aegean.

The species prefers warm and sunny areas in the lower altitudes and is found mainly in meadows, dry grasslands in olive groves as well as in low vegetation, deciduous forests.

Way of life

St. John's lizard is diurnal and hides during their phases of activity, especially in leaf litter and under flat stones. During the breeding season, females lay two to four eggs in a ground nest, the young hatch after two months.