Small slender skink. Coloration is very varied, particularly in the west. The body is light grey to dark brown above, usually with a pair of pale stripes on the side. There is sometimes an extra pale stripe along the backbone with or without a series of paired black spots. Plain pale grey-brown species also occur. The belly is plain white. Breeding males develop al reddish-brown blush below the hind legs and on the tail base.

Throughout most of the subcontinent, extending into southern Angola. Absent from Southern Cape, Kwazulu Natal and Mpumalanga.