Six-lined Racerunner Aspidoscelis sexlineatus (Linnaeus, 1766)    Synonyms: Aspidoscelis sexlineatus sexlineatus, Eastern Six-lined Racerunner.
Kingdom Animalia   >   Phylum Chordata   >   Class Reptilia   >   Order Squamata   >   Family Teiidae   >   Genus Aspidoscelis   

Status:

Six-lined Racerunner (Aspidoscelis sexlineatus) is the only representative of the family Teiidae in eastern North America. As its name suggests, this colorful, fleet-footed lizard is a very fast runner, and quite difficult to get close to. They prefer open habitats with loose soils, particularly sand, and usually with grass or other vegetative cover. In Maryland, this lizard appears restricted to the western shore coastal plain, plus the Potomac River Valley as far as Allegany County (Conant & Collins, 1998; Maryland DNR site). Harris (1975) includes the eastern shore in the range, but this could be an extrapolation, as there appear to be no traceable records from that area. Bill Hubick comments that recent Maryland records appear concentrated in Anne Arundel, Prince George's, and Charles Counties.

There are 81 records in the project database.

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A Six-lined Racerunner in Anne Arundel Co., Maryland (5/21/2018). Photo by Charles Baker. (MBP list)

A Six-lined Racerunner in Anne Arundel Co., Maryland (8/5/2018). Photo by Frode Jacobsen. (MBP list)

A Six-lined Racerunner in Anne Arundel Co., Maryland (5/26/2014). Photo by Frode Jacobsen. (MBP list)

A Six-lined Racerunner in Calvert Co., Maryland (9/10/2017). Photo by Ben Springer. (MBP list)

Six-lined Racerunner in Anne Arundel Co., Maryland (Date obscured). (c) Bill Hubick, all rights reserved. Photo by Bill Hubick. (MBP list)

A Six-lined Racerunner in Anne Arundel Co., Maryland (7/30/2011). Photo by Robert Aguilar, SERC. (MBP list)

Six-lined Racerunner in Anne Arundel Co., Maryland (Date obscured). (c) Stephen John Davies, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC). Photo by Stephen John Davies via iNaturalist. (MBP list)

Six-lined Racerunner in Allegany Co., Maryland (Date obscured). (c) Kyle Klotz, all rights reserved. Photo by Kyle Klotz. (MBP list)

Six-lined Racerunner in Anne Arundel Co., Maryland (Date obscured). (c) Stephen John Davies, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC). Photo by Stephen John Davies via iNaturalist. (MBP list)

A Six-lined Racerunner in Anne Arundel Co., Maryland (5/29/2013). Photo by Jim Wilkinson. (MBP list)

A Six-lined Racerunner in Calvert Co., Maryland (6/7/2015). Photo by Ben Springer. (MBP list)

Six-lined Racerunner in Calvert Co., Maryland (Date obscured). (c) Justin Lee, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC). Photo by Justin Lee via iNaturalist. (MBP list)

Six-lined Racerunner in St. Mary's Co., Maryland (6/25/2021). (c) Benji Beluga, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC). Photo by Ben Springer. (MBP list)

Six-lined Racerunner in Maryland (Date obscured). (c) shinnickj, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC). Photo by shinnickj via iNaturalist. (MBP list)

Six-lined Racerunner in St. Mary's Co., Maryland (Date obscured). (c) Benji Beluga, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC). Photo by Ben Springer. (MBP list)

Six-lined Racerunner in Maryland (Date obscured). (c) shinnickj, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC). Photo by shinnickj via iNaturalist. (MBP list)

Six-lined Racerunner in Anne Arundel Co., Maryland (8/14/2020). (c) mcnod, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC). Photo by mcnod via iNaturalist. (MBP list)


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