Gekko Gecko (Linnaeus 1758), Is Native Tto Southeasternbook Asia

WWW.IRCF.ORG/REPTILESANDAMPHIBIANSJOURNALTABLE OF CONTENTS IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS IRCF REPTILES • VOL15, &NO AMPHIBIANS 4 • DEC 2008 189 • 23(1):44–45 • APR 2016

IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS CONSERVATION AND NATURAL HISTORY

TABLE OF CONTENTS

FEATURE ARTICLES Predation. Chasing Bullsnakes (Pituophis by catenifer the sayi) in Wisconsin: Nonnative Tokay Gecko, On the Road to Understanding the Ecology and Conservation of the Midwest’s Giant Serpent ...... Joshua M. Kapfer 190 . The Shared History of Treeboas (Corallus grenadensis) and Humans on Grenada: GekkoA Hypotheticalgecko Excursion ...... (Linnaeus 1758), onRobert W.the Henderson native198 CarolinaRESEARCH ARTICLES Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus) . The Texas Horned Lizard in Central and Western Texas ...... Emily Henry, Jason Brewer, Krista Mougey, and Gad Perry 204 . The Knight Anole (Anolis equestris) in Florida and nonnative ...... Brian J. Camposano,Cuban Kenneth L. Krysko, TreefrogKevin M. Enge, Ellen M. Donlan, and ( MichaelOsteopilus Granatosky 212

CONSERVATION ALERT . World’sseptentrionalis Mammals in Crisis ...... ) in Florida, USA 220 . More Than Mammals ...... 223 . The “Dow Jones Index” of BiodiversityKenneth ...... L. Krysko1 and William B. Love2 225 1DivisionHUSBANDRY of Herpetology, Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611, USA ([email protected]) 2Blue. Captive Chameleon Care of the Ventures, Central Netted 5062 Dragon North ...... Bear Court, Apache Junction, Arizona 85120, USA ([email protected]) Shannon Plummer 226

PROFILE Photographs by William B. Love . Kraig Adler: A Lifetime Promoting Herpetology ...... Michael L. Treglia 234

COMMENTARY . The Turtles Have Been Watching Me ...... Eric Gangloff 238 he Tokay Gecko, Gekko gecko (Linnaeus 1758), is native Tto southeasternBOOK Asia. REVIEW It has been introduced to many areas around the world. Threatened (Kraus Amphibians2009), including of the World edited Florida, by S.N. USA Stuart, M. Hoffmann, J.S. Chanson, N.A. Cox, R. Berridge, P. Ramani, and B.E. Young ...... Robert Powell 243 (Barbour 1931; Krysko et al. 2011a, 2011b). In Florida, it has been intentionally CONSERVATION introduced by RESEARCH animal dealersREPORTS: (Meshaka Summaries of Published Conservation Research Reports ...... 245 et al. 2004), by residents NATURAL to HISTORYcontrol RESEARCHcockroaches REPORTS in homes: Summaries of Published Reports on Natural History ...... 247  NEWBRIEFS ...... 248 (Wilson and Porras 1983),EDITORIAL and INFORMATION accidentally ...... via escaped pets. 251 In southern Florida, FOCUS Gekko ON CONSERVATION gecko has been: A Project documented You Can Support ...... 252 consuming mostly beetles, roaches, and moths (Meshaka et al. 1997a, 2004a), but it is also known to prey on the Woodslave, Hemidactylus mabouia (Moreau de Jonnès 1818; see Meshaka et al. 2004a) and Eastern Corn Snake,Front Cover.Pantherophis Shannon Plummer. guttatus Back Cover. Michael Kern Totat et velleseque audant mo Totat et velleseque audant mo (Linnaeus 1766; see Love 2000; Fig.estibus 1). inveliquoHerein, velique we rerchilaugment estibus inveliquo velique rerchil our knowledge regarding the diet erspienimus,of G. gecko quos accullabo.in Florida Ilibus to erspienimus, quos accullabo. Ilibus aut dolor apicto invere pe dolum aut dolor apicto invere pe dolum include the native Carolina Wren, fugiatisThryothorus maionsequat ludovicianus eumque fugiatis maionsequat eumque (Latham 1790), and nonnative Cubanmoditia Treefrog,erere nonsedis maOsteopilus sectiatur moditia erere nonsedis ma sectia- ma derrovitae voluptam, as quos tur ma derrovitae voluptam, as septentrionalis (Duméril and Bibronaccullabo. 1841). Photographs of these two new events, as well as for the Pantherophis guttatus (cited above), were deposited as vouchers (UF-Herpetology 150221, 177230–177233; Figs. 1–3) in the Division of Herpetology, Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida. All three observations occurred on the side of a house, approximately 0.61 km southwest of State Road 80 and the Hendry County line, Alva, Lee County (26.70404, -81.56775; WGS84).

Fig. 1. Color rendition of Love’s (2000) photograph of a Tokay Gecko (Gekko gecko) preying on a juvenile Eastern Cornsnake (Pantherophis guttatus), UF-Herpetology 177230–177231, in November 1998 in Alva, Lee County, Florida.

During summer 2010, an adult Gekko gecko was observed feeding on a Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus) just after dark (Fig. 2). The gecko retreated with the bird after the photograph was taken. Although actual ingestion was not observed, no trace of the bird was found on the ground hours later. During summer 2009, an adult Gekko gecko was observed feeding on a Cuban Treefrog (Osteopilus septentrionalis) at dusk (Fig. 3). The gecko ingested the frog within a few min- utes after the photograph was taken. Numerous other indi- viduals of both species were observed under the eaves of the home at the time. Gekko gecko can grow to 400 mm TL (Caillabet 2013). Because of its large size, it can consume larger items than most geckos. Despite having highly toxic Fig. 2. Tokay Gecko (Gekko gecko) preying on a native Carolina Wren Osteopilus septentrionalis (Thryothorus ludovicianus), UF-Herpetology 150221, during the summer skin secretions, at least 15 wildlife taxa are known to prey of 2010 in Alva, Lee County, Florida. on this frog (see Meshaka 2011). Our data provide the first documentation of Gekko gecko consuming either Thryothorus ludovicianus or Osteopilus septentrionalis.

Acknowledgments We thank David W. Steadman for verifying the Carolina Wren, and Paul E. Moler and Michael R. Rochford for verifying the Cuban Treefrog.

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