Cabeza Prieta Natural History Association
Sonoran Desert Reptiles
Uta stansburiana (Side-blotched lizard)

Identification: 1 ½ - 2 ½ in. (3.8-6.3 cm). A small, often brownish lizard with bluish black blotch on each side of chest, behind forelimb; side blotch occasionally faint or absent. Ground color above brown, gray, or yellowish to nearly black-blotched, speckled, or sometimes unpatterned. Populations with little or no dorsal pattern widespread in n. Arizona. Whitish to bluish gray below, sometimes with orange to reddish orange on throat and sides of belly. A gular fold. Scales on back small and smooth, without spines at end. Frontal divided. Male: slightly enlarged postanals; swollen tail base. In light phase, speckled above with )pale blue. No distinct blue belly patches. Female: Blotched with brown and whitish, occasionally striped. No blue speckling. Side blotch usually less well defined than in male. Eats insects (grasshoppers, beetles, ants, termites, leaf-hoppers, insect larvae), scorpions, spiders, mites, ticks, and sowbugs.

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