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Six-lined racerunner

Aspidoscelis sexlineatus · Lizards · Reptiles

Six-lined racerunner (Aspidoscelis sexlineatus): Long, slender, fast lizard 6-9.5 in with six light stripes (yellow, white, grey or pale blue) running from head onto the tail on a dark brown, black or dark grey ground colour. Tail is grey or brown, rougher in feel and often shows only one or two light stripes on its side; skinks, which look similar, have smooth shiny scales. 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
Aspidoscelis sexlineatus
Family
Teiidae
In North America
Native
Range
NatureServe lists it across the central and southeastern US, from Maryland, Michigan, Wisconsin and Wyoming south to Florida, Texas and New Mexico; it is not recorded for Canada.
Biology

How to identify it

Long, slender, fast lizard 6-9.5 in with six light stripes (yellow, white, grey or pale blue) running from head onto the tail on a dark brown, black or dark grey ground colour. [1][2][3]

Tail is grey or brown, rougher in feel and often shows only one or two light stripes on its side; skinks, which look similar, have smooth shiny scales. [1][2][3]

Belly is white to salmon-pink in females and bluish in males; males become bluer in the breeding season and have a broader head, females a heavier body. [1][2][3]

Hatchlings resemble adults but have pale blue tails and distinct yellow stripes. [1][2][3]

Field knowledge

Where it lives

Open, dry, sunny habitats with loose sandy or gravelly soil and sparse vegetation: grassland, sandhills, stream floodplains, rocky slopes at mountain bases, woodland edges, dunes, glades, rock quarries and roadsides. [1][2][3]

Field knowledge

How it behaves

Active only in warm daylight and seeks shelter during the hottest midday period in summer; often active at body temperatures near 100 F. [1][2][3]

Emerges later from winter burrows than many lizards; activity runs May-September in the north and longer in the south. [1][2][3]

Eats insects, spiders and snails; shelters underground or under rocks and other objects, and sometimes escapes by submerging in water. [1][2][3]

Eggs are laid in nests dug in soft soil or sawdust or under logs, 1-3 clutches of 1-6 eggs May-August. [1][2][3]

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

NatureServe lists it across the central and southeastern US, from Maryland, Michigan, Wisconsin and Wyoming south to Florida, Texas and New Mexico; it is not recorded for 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

  3. Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency · reviewed 2026-09-30

    Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency