Wahlberg's velvet gecko

Wahlberg's velvet gecko
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Family:	Gekkonidae
Subfamily:	Gekkoninae
Genus:	Homopholis
Species:	H. wahlbergii
Binomial name
Homopholis wahlbergii A. Smith, 1849
Distribution in southeast Africa

Wahlberg's velvet gecko (Homopholis walbergii) is a large gecko up to 21 cm (av. 14–18 cm) that occurs exclusively in southern Africa. It is endemic to Miombo and Mopane bushveld of Botswana, South Africa, Swaziland, Zimbabwe and Mozambique. It is so called because the skin looks and feels like velvet. Its back varies from dark grey to soft grey-brown and may be crossed with paler chevrons or crossbars or have mottled paler areas nestled along the centre of its back and spine. The largest part of their range covers Zimbabwe.

Behaviour

These geckos are both nocturnal and diurnal. They venture far from their usual roost only at night, when courtship generally occurs. They are frequently found in Boabab trees and in the roofs and walls of traditional mud-huts and other human dwellings. They eat soft-bodied insects like cockroaches, grasshoppers and termites but will also take crickets, katydids or millipedes.

Breeding

The female lays pairs of large, hard-shelled eggs that start soft and adhesive. She conceals them under bark overhangs, rock crevices, etc.

References

• Branch, Bill (2002). A Photographic Guide to Snakes and Other Reptiles of Southern Africa (2nd ed.). Cape Town: Struik. ISBN 1868726193.
• Greenbaum, E., Whiting, M.J. 2010. "Homopholis walbergii", "The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species", http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/178204/0