It is typically colored in shades of gray or brown, and has keeled scales, with a dark line running along the rear of the thigh. A female is usually gray and has a series of dark, wavy lines across her back. The belly is white with black flecks, with some pale blue on the throat and belly. The male is usually brown, and during the summer, has a more greenish-blue and black coloration on the sides of the belly and throat than the female. The young look like the females, but are darker and duller. The lizards mostly inhabit sparsely wooded areas with ample sunlight, such as pine barrens with sandy or loose soil. They can be found basking atop of both natural and artificial structures including coarse woody debris, tree stumps, rock piles, sandy hills, dead logs, and fence posts. They are most active in the early morning sun when the ground has not been fully warmed up yet. They seek refuge inside structures when it gets too hot and at night. Sexual dichromatism This species has sexual dichromatism, which is a difference in coloration between the sexes. Males are blue and black on their ventral side. In some lizards, this coloration appears green or turquoise. In males, these patches assist intraspecific sex recognition and signaling. The size of patches correlates with the size of a lizard, and therefore may be a signal towards females or other antagonistic lizards. Males are somewhat uniformly brown elsewhere with a reddish tinge. Females and juveniles are slightly colored blue and black on the ventral side or not at all. Their coloring is more complex, with "rows of dark brown or black chevrons set against a background of gray and brown." This sexual dichromatism is correlated to and somewhat regulated by plasma levels of testosterone in juveniles and adult females. Higher levels of testosterone support stronger blue and black ventral coloration. Male eastern fence lizards can also experience short-term color changes on their dorsal side and badge after exposure to temperature changes. The color of a lizard affects its social dominance or inferiority, camouflage, and self-regulation of temperature. Social dominance as a result of lizard color may exist because coloration would then possibly provide an honest indicator of lizard temperature and health. It is thought that sexual dimorphism and sexual differences in behavior may be due to differences in androgen concentration and receptor