SLOW WORM

Slow Worm Anguis fragilis is a limbless, smooth-scaled lizard with eyelids, no lateral grooves, a stiffly cylindrical body with difficult-to-distinguish head, trunk, and tail, and the capacity to cast its tail. With a blackish mid-dorsal stripe and underbelly, the young are silver-grey or light bronze in colour. Adults are a deeper, duller olive-grey or bronze, up to 20 inches (50 cm). Males are usually less strongly marked and often have bluish markings dorsally, whereas females retain the ‘juvenile’ stripe.

Slow worms can be found west of the Caucasus in temperate Eurasia. The majority of their habitat is rocky or woodland. Pairing occurs shortly after emergence from hibernation in the United Kingdom. Late in the summer, three to 23 or more young are born ovoviviparously. Slugs, earthworms, and insect larvae are all eaten by slow worms. FAMILY: Anguidine, ORDER: Squamata, CLASS: Reptilia.