Phelsuma Pusilla Pusilla
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Phelsuma pusilla pusilla'' is a diurnal
gecko Geckos are small, mostly carnivorous lizards that have a wide distribution, found on every continent except Antarctica. Belonging to the infraorder Gekkota, geckos are found in warm climates throughout the world. They range from . Geckos ar ...
and lives in eastern
Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...
. It typically inhabits different trees and houses. This day gecko feeds on insects and nectar.


Scientific synonyms

*''Phelsuma lineata pusilla''
Mertens __NOTOC__ Mertens () is a surname of Flemish Origin, meaning "son of Merten" (Martin). It is the fifth most common name in Belgium with 18,518 people in 2008. Geographical distribution As of 2014, 43.4% of all known bearers of the surname ''Merte ...
, 1964
*''Phelsuma pusilla'' Meier, 1989 *''Phelsuma pusilla pusilla'' Glaw & Vences, 1994


Description

The lizard belongs to the smallest day geckos and can reach a total length of about 8 cm. The body colour is lime green, with red dots on the back and brown or black flanks. The tail has a blue hue and can be turquoise. The ventral side is white.


Distribution and habitat

''Phelsuma pusilla pusilla'' lives in the moist and warm climate of the east coast of Madagascar, where it was first found in the region around Abila Lemaitso near Brickaville, but also occurs on the island
Nosy Bohara Nosy Boraha , previously known as Sainte-Marie, main town Ambodifotatra, is an island off the east coast of Madagascar. The island forms an administrative district within Analanjirofo Region, and covers an area of 222 km2. It has a popula ...
. It inhabits different small trees and also occurs on banana trees, often close to human dwellings.


Diet

Various insects and other
invertebrates Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordate ...
. They also like to lick soft, sweet fruit,
pollen Pollen is a powdery substance produced by seed plants. It consists of pollen grains (highly reduced microgametophytes), which produce male gametes (sperm cells). Pollen grains have a hard coat made of sporopollenin that protects the gametophyt ...
and
nectar Nectar is a sugar-rich liquid produced by plants in glands called nectaries or nectarines, either within the flowers with which it attracts pollinating animals, or by extrafloral nectaries, which provide a nutrient source to animal mutualists ...
.


Behaviour

These geckos are quite quarrelsome and do not accept other males. In captivity, where the females cannot escape, the males can also sometimes seriously wound a females. In this case the male and female must be separated.


Care and maintenance in captivity

These animals should be housed in pairs and need a well planted terrarium. The temperature should be about 28 °C (locally around 30 °C) during the day and drop to around 20 °C at night. The humidity should be maintained between 75 and 80% during the day. It is also important to include two colder months with a daytime temperature of 24 °C and 16 °C at night. In captivity, these animals can be fed with crickets, wax moth larvae, fruit flies, mealworms and houseflies.


References

#Henkel, F.-W. and W. Schmidt (1995) ''Amphibien und Reptilien Madagaskars, der Maskarenen, Seychellen und Komoren''. Ulmer Stuttgart. # McKeown, Sean (1993) ''The general care and maintenance of day geckos''. Advanced Vivarium Systems, Lakeside CA. {{Taxonbar, from=Q7181294 Reptiles of Africa Endemic fauna of Madagascar Phelsuma