. Bulletin. Natural history; Natural history. 164 Illinois Naturai. History Survey Bulletin Vol. 28, Art. 1 die of the scales, often forming: longitudinal light stripes; 1 or 2 dark stripes or rows of dark spots below the lateral line on each side of body; and length of the unregenerated tail of the adult less than times the snout-vent length. Variation.—The male of the western slender glass lizard presumably possesses a thicker tail proximally than the female, but external characters are not reliable for distinguishing the sexes. The juvenile ap- parently differs from the adult only in si
. Bulletin. Natural history; Natural history. 164 Illinois Naturai. History Survey Bulletin Vol. 28, Art. 1 die of the scales, often forming: longitudinal light stripes; 1 or 2 dark stripes or rows of dark spots below the lateral line on each side of body; and length of the unregenerated tail of the adult less than times the snout-vent length. Variation.—The male of the western slender glass lizard presumably possesses a thicker tail proximally than the female, but external characters are not reliable for distinguishing the sexes. The juvenile ap- parently differs from the adult only in size. No geographic variation has been dis- cerned in the meager sample available. Nine specimens yield the following individual variation: snout-vent length 164 to 304 mm.; body length 30 to 33 per cent of total length; ventral scales 127 to 138 (average ); supralabials 9 + 9 to 11 + 12, usually 10 or 11 ; infralabials 8 + 8 to 11 + 10, usually 9 + 9. Eighty-eight per cent of the specimens have distinct, dark middorsal stripes; 22 per cent possess weak middorsal bands. The two largest specimens possess prominent light markings on the posterior edges of the dor- solateral scales, as well as confluent light lines through the middle of the scales; the remaining seven specimens exhibit only the light lines. One specimen, from Perry County, lacks the ventral rows of spots, two specimens have a single row on each side, four have a double row, and two have three rows. A specimen from Champaign County has a double tail. Habits.—The snakelike ophisaur is ter- restrial and somewhat fossorial. Little is known of its habits in Illinois, aside from the generally known fragility of its long tail. Captives are nervous; those I have kept refused all food offered. A captive specimen of the related Ophisaurus ventralis ate other lizards, small snakes, and crickets, and it is likely that food habits are similar in the two species. Captured individuals do not usually bite, but they must be
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