Zebra-Tailed Lizard

Zebra-Tailed Lizards (Callisaurus draconoides) are fast, harmless, camouflage reptiles with an accurate name, since the underside of their tails displays a striking black and white-striped design. The males have beautiful belly patterns with blue, orange, black, white and even red colorations.

They are most commonly found on sandy arroyo bottoms and on beaches at the edge where the plants stop, but they will live in many habitats. Around La Ventana, I have witnessed about 10 Zebra-Tailed Lizards in one bush.

They are so incredibly fast that they seem to fly to the nearest safe place and, if there is no cover nearby, they will quickly burrow themselves into the sand and disappear. The only reason I was able to catch the one in the photo was because, when it burrowed itself into the sand, its tail was sticking out.

As for their diet, they eat a lot of butterfly and moth larvae as well as ants, termites and beetles.