On one cool April morning I was alone searching for my favorite insects, beetles. I turned over a medium-sized boulder expecting to find some ground beetles; surprisingly a Racerunner straggled from under the rock. The cool temperature had slowed the lizard to a crawl.
This species was named a Racerunner for it usually wins the race with a would-be collector. I held the specimen in my hand, and returned to my car. I placed the Racerunner in a large clean mayonnaise jar; even then, the lizard was hardly able to move rapidly — my free hand was then able to click the camera shutter. All this took place on a sandy open area within the White Oak Mountain Wildlife Management Area in Pittsylvania County, Virginia.
Copyright © 2006 William T. Hathaway.