Family: Teiidae, Whiptails view all from this family

Description 6 1/2-9 3/8" (16.5-23.8 cm). Slender; 6 or 7 light stripes separated by dark reddish-brown or black bands without spots. Back scales small, granular. Throat white or blue-white; chin blue. Belly uniform white; 8 lengthwise rows of large, smooth rectangular belly scales. Tail olive green; blue in juveniles.

Breeding Unisexual; no mating. Clutch of 1-4 eggs, laid in summer, hatches in 50-55 days.

Habitat Arid and semiarid grassland, desert scrub.

Range C. Arizona to extreme w. Texas, and south into adjacent Mexico.

Discussion Diurnal. The range of this species seems to be expanding as more and more grassland is degraded to desert scrub. But this expansion means that the grassland range of the Little Striped Whiptail is shrinking.