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Mimic glass lizard

Ophisaurus mimicus · Lizards · Reptiles

Mimic glass lizard (Ophisaurus mimicus): Legless with movable eyelids, external ear openings, a lateral fold and a tail up to three-quarters of total length; 38-66 cm. Dark middorsal stripe (sometimes faint) bordered by tan and another dark stripe; 3-4 narrow dark stripes above the lateral fold continuing onto the tail. This profile does not establish whether taking it is legal anywhere.

Check rules for a place and date

Certified rules currently represented in Hunt: coverage in development. This is coverage, not a legal answer.

Scientific name
Ophisaurus mimicus
Family
Anguidae
In North America
Native
Range
Coastal Plain of the southeastern United States, including Florida, coastal South Carolina and coastal and southern Georgia; rare and poorly documented. Not in Canada.
Biology

How to identify it

Legless with movable eyelids, external ear openings, a lateral fold and a tail up to three-quarters of total length; 38-66 cm. [1][2]

Dark middorsal stripe (sometimes faint) bordered by tan and another dark stripe; 3-4 narrow dark stripes above the lateral fold continuing onto the tail. [1][2]

Below the lateral fold, marking is reduced to freckles, spots or dashes; 95 or fewer scales along the lateral fold. [1][2]

Smallest of the four Florida glass lizards; lateral striping poorly developed in juveniles. [1][2]

Compared with the snakes (legless look-alikes): Snakes have wide belly scales, fixed eye coverings, no ear openings, short tails and more flexible bodies. [1][2]

Compared with the slender glass lizard: Mimic has a low lateral-fold scale count (95 or fewer); the species are separated by colour pattern and scalation. [1][2]

Species it is confused with

Check these before deciding what you are looking at. If you are not certain what it is, do not shoot.

Field notes

  • Identification Confirm a mimic glass lizard before you act. Compared with the snakes (legless look-alikes): Snakes have wide belly scales, fixed eye coverings, no ear openings, short tails and more flexible bodies.[1][2]
Field knowledge

Where it lives

Longleaf (occasionally slash) pine uplands with grassy groundcover, especially mesic to wet flatwoods; occasionally hillside seepage bogs, dome swamp edges and wet prairies next to pine uplands. [1][2]

Field knowledge

How it behaves

Surface records run 27 March to 16 November, peaking April-June; less active in winter, possibly underground. [1][2]

Eats crickets and other insects. [1][2]

Forages actively by day in open habitat and shelters under boards and debris; tail breaks off when seized. [1][2]

Regulatory handoff

Limited legal take

Legal take of this species exists only under narrow conditions — a quota, a draw, a permit, a small area, or animals released or held on private land — set by the authorities below. Nowhere else is a legal opportunity implied, and Hunt shows one only where a certified rule establishes it.

Where legal take is listed

Being listed is not an open season. Seasons, zones, licences, methods and limits decide whether this animal may be taken on a given day and place — check Hunt or the authority before you go. Listings read 2026-09-30.

Geospatial intelligence

Where it is found

Coastal Plain of the southeastern United States, including Florida, coastal South Carolina and coastal and southern Georgia; rare and poorly documented. Not in Canada.

Biology

Sources

Every claim above is attributed to one of these published sources.

  1. NatureServe · reviewed 2026-09-30

    NatureServe

  2. Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, University of Georgia · reviewed 2026-09-30

    Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, University of Georgia