Classification: Introduced Species

Description: Its body is dark brown to blackish above, medium brown on the flanks, and with three pale stripes extending from the snout to the upper part of the tail. The colour of its tail may vary from copper to greenish to bluish within populations, and it may appear to vary under strong sunlight. Its underside is pale. It is a moderately slender skink with a long, slender tail. Its forelimbs are relatively short, but its hindlimbs are much longer.

Habitat: The Copper-tailed Skink (or 'White-bellied Copper Striped Skink') Emoia cyanura inhabits sandy, back-beach habitats and open, secondary forest. In Hawaii (at least formerly): dry lowlands and moist wooded areas at higher elevations; secretive.

Range: In Hawaii, recently recorded only from Kauai; apparently arrived with early Polynesian colonists. The map in Ineich and Zug indicates that both E. cyanura and the recently detected sibling species, E. impar, both occur in the Hawaiian Islands; apparently E. impar is (or was) more widespread, but the distributions of the two species need to be clarified.

Found in these States: HI

Diet: Its diet comprises a wide range of invertebrates including insects and small spiders.

Reproduction: It is oviparous.

Status: This species is listed as Least Concern in view of its wide distribution, and a lack of known major threats. Monitoring of invasive species is recommended, however, as this is recognized as a potential threat in parts of its range.

Taxonomy: