This is a subordinate male rainbow lizard from a Miami population.
The northeastern South American country of Colombia was once the predominant shipper of neotropical wildlife to the United States. Birds of all manner (cock-of-the-rocks to parrots), mammals (wooly monkeys to ocelots to anteaters), amphibians (remember the Colombia horned frog?), reptiles (boas to red-footed tortoises, to rainbow lizards).

Rainbow lizards?

So, How Does One Accurately Describe a Rainbow Lizard?

Well, if I chose to try, describing the little 8-striped (the vertebrals strip is divided!) brownish and greenish female would not be awfully difficult. But to describe the blue, yellow, green, brown (and several hues between) of a dominant male could prove to be a chore and would probably wind up being inaccurate anyways. So, to make things easy, allow me to suggest that you determine the origin of the example in question. As it now stands the lizards making up what is currently known as Cnemidophorus lemniscatus are probably a species complex. They will differ in color and pattern at different locales. Color intensity also varies according to the status of the male within a given population. Dominant males are much more colorful than subordinate males.

So have at it. At least you’ll be more satisfied with your description of the example at hand. That’s a certainty! Oh, by the way, the lizards depicted here are from a Miami-Dade County population that probably contains genes from several Colombian origins.

Rainbow lizards, a teiid, are adult at 10-12 inches in total length. Although the primary diet is insects and other invertebrates these lizards also eat seeds, berries, and blossoms.