Gold Dust Day Gecko
Phelsuma laticauda
Report if seen anywhere on Maui
Known from and potential habitat
Species Info General
Have you seen a bright green lizard around Maui lately? If it looks like the Geico gecko, you’ve found a gold dust day gecko. Gold dust day geckos are native to Madagascar. A student intentionally (and illegally) released eight geckos near Mānoa on O‘ahu in 1974. They are now widespread throughout Hawai‘i. Gold dust day geckos eat insects like cockroaches, ants, flies, beetles, and spiders, but they also have a sweet tooth and may be found lapping up nectar from flowers or fruit.
Identification/Description
- Gold dust day geckos are about five inches in length. They are brilliant green with bright blue around their eyes, orange markings on their back and face, and a sprinkling of “gold dust” on their necks. Gold dust day geckos are active during the day. Their calls are quick, light chirps, but they can make snorting sounds when mating or fighting.
- PEST WATCH: Gold dust day geckos resemble the Giant Madagascar Day Gecko and the Orange Spotted Day Gecko. Both species were illegally imported and are known in a few places in O‘ahu. If seen on Maui, report to 643PEST.org.
Impacts
- The impact of gold dust day gecko isn’t well understood yet. They may be outcompeting common house geckos or mourning geckos and pressuring native ecosystems in ways not yet identified.
On Maui
The entire Hawaiian gold dust day gecko population descends from the original eight released by a student on O‘ahu in 1974. On Maui, residents began seeing gold dust day geckos in Kīhei in the mid-90s. Today, they are common throughout South Maui, Central Maui, and Upcountry.
Hawai‘i has no native lizards. Gold dust day geckos are the most recent of several introductions. The first lizards to reach the islands stowed away on Polynesian voyaging canoes. Polynesians inadvertently introduced eight lizard species—all still present in Hawai‘i. It’s impossible to measure the first lizards’ impacts on the Hawaiian ecosystem, although it was likely problematic for Hawai‘i’s native ins
Control info/Info on what MISC does about it
- Coming Soon!
Resources/References
- Gold Dust Day Geckos are only the latest mo‘o to make Maui home – MISC
- Public Domain
- Thierry Caro, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
- Brocken Inaglory, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
- Giant Madagascar Day Gecko: Amada44, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
- Orange Spotted Day Gecko: frog71, CC BY-NC 4.0 via iNaturalist
