The blue-tailed skink proper is Cryptoblepharus egeriae from Christmas Island, but in North America the juveniles of any Eumeces or Plestiodon species may be called this.

The American five-lined skink is small to medium-sized, growing to about 12.5 to 21.5 centimetres (4.9 to 8.5 in) total length (including tail).

Young American five-lined skinks are dark brown to black with five distinctive white to yellowish stripes running along the body and a bright blue tail.

[7][8] Adult male broad-headed skinks, with their large size and swollen red head, are readily distinguished from P.

[11] The range of the American five-lined skink extends in the north to southern Ontario, Michigan and eastern New York.

The western border is in Minnesota, Missouri and eastern Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee and Texas.

It prefers moist, hardwood areas with a permanent water source such as rivers or streams, as well as sites to bask in the sun.

It is assumed by scientists that they are sheltered and dormant under rocks, logs, or leaves provided by the hardwood areas it inhabits.

[15] Fertilization in the American five-lined skink is internal, with eggs laid by the female between the middle of May and July, at least one month after mating.

[16] Fertilization occur shortly after copulation, unlike many other lizard species Plestiodon fasciatus females are unable to store sperm between successive clutches.

[18] Females lay fifteen to eighteen eggs in a small cavity cleared beneath a rotting log, stump, board, loose bark, a rock, or an abandoned rodent burrow.

[21] Vomeronasal analysis of chemical cues and recognition of sex-specific visual stimuli, including tail and body coloration, aid in the identification of sex.

Using the tail to align cloacal openings, males initiate copulation by inserting one of the two hemipenes into the female's cloaca.

Female American five-lined skinks demonstrate high levels of parental care which reduces egg mortality.

Maternal body contact increases at lower moisture levels potentially reducing the transpirational loss of the eggs.

In evasion of various predators including snakes, crows, hawks, shrews, moles, opossums, skunks, raccoons, and domestic cats, skinks may disconnect their entire tail or a small segment.

[20] The common five-lined skink's diet consists primarily of a variety of arthropods, particularly spiders, crickets, beetles and other insects.

[25] The Great Lakes - St. Lawrence population of P. fasciatus is listed as "special concern" in Ontario and Canada by COSSARO[26] and COSEWIC.