Lizards of Miami · Introduced from Cuba
Knight anole (Anolis equestris)
The giant of Miami's anoles: bright green, bony-headed, and willing to eat almost anything, including other lizards.
At a glance
- Scientific name
- Anolis equestris
- Native to
- Cuba
- In Miami since
- 1952, on the University of Miami campus in Coral Gables
- Size
- The largest anole in Florida: males reach about 19 cm (7.5 in) snout to vent, before counting the tail
- Dewlap
- Light pink, in both males and females
- Where to look
- High in the canopy on large branches; in summer, often lower on trunks around midday, sometimes head-down on royal palms
Knight anoles arrived from Cuba in 1952, first turning up on the University of Miami campus in Coral Gables, and are now well established across much of south Florida, especially in leafy suburbs. They are the largest anoles in Florida: males reach about 19 cm from snout to vent, before you count the tail.
They spend most of their time high in the canopy and are hard to spot. On hot summer days they come lower, and at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden you will often find them two or three meters up, facing head-down on the trunks of royal palms.
An anole that eats fruit, lizards and snakes
Insects make up most of a knight anole's diet, yet fruit, especially figs and palm fruit, can make up over 80% of the stomach contents of some individuals. In 2017 we found knight anoles with diets dominated by the fruit of native trees, including the endangered royal palm, and showed that seeds passed through their gut are still viable. It was the first evidence of any anole dispersing viable seeds, raising the possibility that an introduced lizard is now planting native trees.
They are also predators of other lizards. We have recorded knight anoles eating bark anoles, and in November 2024 at Fairchild we caught a sleeping adult male, 15 cm from snout to vent, that had just swallowed a red corn snake measuring 32 cm from snout to vent. As far as we know it is the first documented case of a knight anole eating a snake in Florida. Knight anoles are normally active only by day, but we have also seen them active next to lights at night.
How to tell it apart
- Size alone usually settles it: no other anole in Miami comes close.
- A large, bony head, unlike any other anole in Miami.
- Two pale yellow or white stripes, one along the upper lip and one on the shoulder.
- Usually brilliant green, though it can darken to deep brown.
- Both sexes have light pink dewlaps.
Our research on the knight anole
- Predation by a non-native Cuban Knight Anole (Anolis equestris) of a native Corn Snake (Pantherophis guttatus) in Miami, Florida, USA. IRCF Reptiles & Amphibians (2026)
- Frugivory and seed dispersal by the invasive knight anole (Anolis equestris) in Florida, USA. Food Webs (2017)
- Anolis equestris (Cuban knight anole): Nocturnal activity. Herpetological Review (2013)
- Anolis equestris (Cuban knight anole): Exotic intra-guild predation. Herpetological Review (2013)
- Anolis equestris (Cuban knight anole): Novel predator-prey interaction. Herpetological Review (2016)
Identification details follow our field identification guide to the anole lizards of Miami. Spotted one? Photograph it and add it to iNaturalist.