slope of the terrain increases, running speed and stamina of lizards decreases. Eastern fence lizards run faster uphill than downhill at a fixed degree of incline or decline. Lizards with higher running speeds also have higher stamina in regard to time and distance. Territoriality and conflict Male eastern fence lizards will establish a territory in the early spring, doing push-ups to flash their blue scales and deter other males. Males will headbob more at males with smaller ventral patches, but aggressiveness is not affected by male patches. The size of a male's territory (home range area) is directly correlated with his body size. The territory of smaller males in their first breeding season tends to be smaller. Territories may overlap; about half of any given male's territory is shared by another male. Within their territory, males cluster around the ranges of females, who are a limited resource. As such, the range and distribution of males is predominantly determined by the distribution of nearby females. Courting Courting begins after female fence lizards encounter a male within his territory. Males express sexually dimorphic ventral abdominal coloration during courting. This coloration is used to attract mates, as more and brighter colors have been recorded to increase the likelihood of courtship. In 60% of instances where a female and male encountered each other, males displayed courting behaviors. Older and larger males tend to win contests with other males, and therefore gain access to any nearby females. Any contest victories or defeats did not affect a lizard's future location. Larger bodied males are more likely to mate with multiple females. Contests with other males and courtship towards females elevates plasma levels of corticosterone, an indicator of stress, in adult males. Feeding behaviors Fence lizards are ambush, sit-and-wait, predators. They are insectivores that typically eat arthropods such as ants and grasshoppers. Studies have shown that eastern fence lizards display an ontogenetic shift in consumption of native and invasive prey. Although eastern fence lizards are an ant specialist, invasive imported red fire ants can pose a risk to young, smaller-bodied juveniles if they consume them. It was found there was an increased consumption of fire adults in the adult life stage compared to earlier life stages. Reproduction and life cycle The female finds a suitable location to lay her eggs, usually in a rotting log or similarly damp area, and deposits them without any further parental care.