History and origin
The Western green lizard lizard was first described by Daudin in 1802, the scientific name of this species is Lacerta bilineata, formally part of Lacerta virids until recently. Lacerta from Latin meaning lizard. bilineata comes from latin and is composed of two words, the first meaning 'double', 'two' and the second meaning 'line', this name has been given due to the juveniles and sub-adults two lines on the top of the flanks.

Characteristics
They are characterised by their lime green scales, males are characterised by their often blue throat.

Description
=Size=
They hatch at around 3 to 4 cm long, averaging about 13 cm long growing up to sometimes 15 cm long (measures not including tail, max. adult size tail included is up to 40 cm long).
=Morphology=
They are a very elegant lizard with a short head which is more high for males then females, they have strong limbs. Their tail can be up to twice the body length.
=Patterns & colours=
As juveniles they are brown with 4 thin very pale lines that run parallel 2 on the top of the flanks and 2 in the middle of the flanks, their bellies are yellowish and their throats and side of the head is lime green. Sub adults retain the 4 lines, the ones in the middle of the flanks is often fractured and broken up. Their backs and flanks are green with many irregular small spot-like brown markings which fade gradually into green. Their head is sometimes brown of green, their bellies are now more green-yellow. Adults can be very florescent green, just green or sometimes even brown-green for certain females, the most distinguishing feature to recognise females from males is that males have a blue throat where as although females may have it, most do not.

Geographical range
Found throughout France, in Spain found only in the Pyrenees they are also found in southern Switzerland, Italy and Sicily, also in western Germany.

Subspecies
- bilineata - Found in Spain, France, Switzerland, Germany.
chloronota - Found in the most southern parts of Italy and Sicily. They are smaller in size compared to other geographical areas.
- chlorosecunda - Found south-eastern Italy in the department of Apulien. Males don't have blue throats.
- fejervaryi - Exact distribution unclear, zone around Naples, reaching north until Tuscany, these specimens have a heavily spotted head.

Sexual differences
Males have a bigger head as well as a blue throat, sometimes females may also have a slightly blue throat but this is less common.

Seasonal variations
Females are larger in spring due to their eggs.

Diet
They feed mainly on large insects, but have been known to feed on birds and their eggs.

Defensive habits
Although they will dash into a hiding place in the dense vegetation at the slightest suspect of danger, if cornered they will still try to flee, but if handled they sometimes bite but more commonly settle at opening their mouths and showing off their teeth and tongue.

Reproduction
Breeding occurs when they wake up from hibernation in spring, a week after, they are all looking for each other and mating begins. After only a few weeks about 15 eggs are laid (extremes are from 6 to 25 eggs) in a moist, warm spot, usually under hey piles, in rotting wood piles and other places of this kind. The eggs incubate for around 10 weeks before hatching.

Sexual maturity, life span
The average life span for Lacerta bilineata is about 15 years, they reach their sexual maturity when they are about 8 cm long (body not tail).

Habits
Active by day. When they are disturbed they will run and hide, but they are quite inpatient and if you wait 5 to 10 minutes, the same lizard will reappear from where it disappeared. They seem to live in family groups, on my herp trip to the Massif centrale there were at least four individuals in the same bush (bush around 2 x 3 m big). They can swim better then Timon but are also as clumsy, as for their climbing skills, they are very agile in trees and buses and can easily run up a tree to safety if found far from dense bush. When captured they seem to calm down once they are confident not to be eaten, in May a specimen was caught who tried at every point to escape, but after 10 min. he calmed down and we could move his tail, limbs and so on into a better position for photos, at release he was also calm and when he realised that it was over he dashed off as if he just saw me. Maybe he was bluffing and was waiting for the moment to dash? Or maybe he understood that I wasn't going to hurt him.

Habitat
Their typical habitat consists green areas rich in water, in dry areas they can be found near the river where tall green leafed trees grow and there is green grass. They otherwise need a large area of open grassland with a lot of heavy dense vegetation scattered around. They are very common at the edges of woods where they can come out into open areas and live in the dense bushes at the woods edge.

Predators
Over much of it's range they are hunted by birds of prey and snakes, mainly Hierophis viridiflavus as they share the same typical habitat.