P. muralis has a wide range in continental Europe, occurring almost throughout France, Italy and northern Spain. In Eastern Europe, it is found from Hungary southwards to the Balkans, with the northernmost limit of its distribution being Maastricht in the Netherlands (Noble & Quayle, 2000). Neither the Green Lizard Lacerta viridis nor Wall Lizard is native in Great Britain, however a number of colonies have been introduced.

Adult individuals of P. muralis reach on average 58.5mm snout to vent length, but can grow up to 75mm long snout to vent length, and live for around 38 months (Bauwens & Diaz-Uriarte, 1997 cited in Smith 1997). P. muralis are oviparous, with most females laying two clutches of eggs per year with on average five eggs. Adult males are the first to emerge from hibernation, generally in February, although unseasonably warm spells of weather can tempt them out in any of the winter months. The females tend to emerge rather later, usually in early March, and by April mating is in full swing (Noble & Quayle, 2000).

P. muralis bimodal activity pattern depends on thermoregulation requirements, for instance if the shade available to lizards at midday is increased, then the length of the morning activity period also increases, the same idea applying to diel changes in home range size (Avery, 1993). It is well-known that activity patterns of diurnal heliothermic lizards are determined by climate and weather (Avery, 1978).

Wall lizards spend much of the day foraging, and the total length of the diel period in Podarcis species can range from 2-3 hours up to 14 hours in the Mediterranean (Foà et al, 1992). In Jersey wall lizards have shown to feed mainly on Hemiptera (true bugs), Isopoda (woodlice), Hymenoptera (bees, ants etc), Arachneae (spiders), Dermaptera (earwigs), Orthoptera (grasshoppers) and Lepidoptera larvae (caterpillars) (Perkins, 1988).

During the day, wall lizards constantly 'shuttle' between light and shade areas, and the amount of time spent basking per day decreases as the strength and duration of sunlight increases (Foà et al, 1992 cited in Smith 1997). As a result, in the early morning one can expect to see the most lizards as they emerge to bask, and conversely the least at around midday, when most are foraging or inactive in the shade. Activity will then peak again in the afternoon, but interestingly the time of day at which lizards return into shelter does not appear to be a reversal of the emergence process (Avery, 1972).

Currently research is being carried out being carried out under the direction and supervision of the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology at the University of Kent, and is being funded by the Jersey Ecology Fund and States of Jersey. This study builds upon previous research on the Jersey herpetofauna that has received considerable international exposure and provides an excellent model for demonstrating how applied molecular ecology and conservation genetic research can feed directly into conservation management.

http://www.kent.ac.uk/anthropology/dice/postgrad/msc_cornish.html