Calotes versicolor is an insectivore, and the male gets a bright red throat in the breeding season.

No fold in front of the shoulder, but the scales behind the lower jaw are much smaller than the others; gular sac not developed.

Black streaks radiate from the eye, and some of them are continued over the throat, running obliquely backwards, belly frequently with greyish longitudinal stripes, one along the median line being the most distinct; young and half-grown specimens have a dark, black-edged band across the inter-orbital region.

The ground-colour is generally a light brownish olive, but the lizard can change it to bright red, to black, and to a mixture of both.

Jerdon and Blyth agree that these bright, changeable colours are peculiar to the male during the breeding-season, which falls in the months of May to early October.

It has the usual cross streaks between the eyes and the radiating lines continent of India to China; it is very common in Ceylon, not extending into the temperate zone of the Himalayas.

It is found in hedges and trees; it is known in Ceylon under the name of "Bloodsucker", a designation the origin of which cannot be satisfactorily traced; in the opinion of Kelaart, the name was given to it from the occasional reddish hue of the throat and neck.

The female lays from five to sixteen soft oval eggs, about 5/8 of an inch long, in hollows of trees, or in holes in the soil which they have burrowed, afterward covering them up.

In a hot sunny day a solitary bloodsucker may be seen on a twig or on a wall, basking in the sun, with mouth wide open.

During the breeding season, the male's head and shoulders turns bright orange to crimson and his throat black.

Each tries to attract a female by inflating his throat and drawing attention to his handsomely colored head.