Hemidactylus mabouia
The Common Tropical House Gecko, also known as Moreau’s Tropical House Gecko, is a nocturnal species of gecko that is found in savannas, woodlands and forests. Naturally they’re arboreal, hiding under bark and in tree hollows during the day, but they have adapted to human habitations with great enthusiasm and is often seen catching moths, beetles, cockroaches and other invertebrates attracted by lights at night, occasionally even consuming smaller reptiles as well. They can grow to a length of about 12cm.
Males are territorial and get involved in vicious fights. In spring and summer females usually lay two sticky eggs in tiny hiding places but occasionally up to 60 eggs from different females may be laid in a specific spot. The eggs take about 2 months to hatch.
Their natural distribution range in South Africa stretches along the coast from the Eastern Cape through Kwazulu-Natal to Mpumalanga, Limpopo, Gauteng and North West Province. They’re also found naturally over much of the rest of sub-Saharan Africa. This species also colonized large parts of North, Central and South America and the Caribbean after being inadvertently introduced by humans since the days of the slave trade, and is listed as an invading alien species in many countries. Even here in South Africa populations have been established in towns and cities well outside their natural range.
de Wets Wild 
Great photos! 🙂
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Thanks again, Annica!
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Sjoe, jy het baie foto’s van hulle. Ek wonder of dit dieselfde soort is wat hier in my huis in Mosambiek bly.
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Tien teen een is dit, Liza!
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Het al ‘n paar verskillendes as besoekers gehad hier. Een was amper spierwit. Hulle’s welkom! Ek’t eendag tyd gehad om ‘n gewone akkedis dop te hou hoe dit ‘n vlieg bekruip en dit toe wragtie gevang gekry!
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Wat n voorreg om so iets te kon waarneem, Petru!
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My other houseguests. Love them, never mind droppings.
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Agreed entirely!
Joubert is net bevrees dat een se “dropping” dalk in sy mond sal beland as hy oopmond slaap… 😀
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Daai is ‘n probleem…die oopmond slapery en saery! 😉
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En hy slaap nie eers oopmond nie – hy is bang vir “in case”! 😀
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I like the pic of the gecko eyeing the tiny mosquito.
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Thank you very much, Carol – it is one of my favourites as well!
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An interesting post about a very interesting creature – and a great photograph of the one eating a cockroach!
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Thank you very much, Anne!
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I wouldn’t mind a bit if one or more of those little guys wanted to share my home!
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I also think the benefits of having them around outweighs the negatives by far!
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Anything that helps keeps mosquitoes down gets my vote. I love watching these little guys zoom around, although we don’t have them around here. Love that first shot!!
janet
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Thanks, Janet! As someone who routinely gets sucked dry by mosquitoes, and despite knowing how devastating it would be to the ecosystem if they just disappeared, I doubt I’ll shed a tear at their demise…
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My sister has one of these geckos living behind a painting in her lounge. Occasionally he pokes his head out to say “hello” and she talks to him. Not sure whether he understands English though. 👏🏻
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As long as they’re not leaving droppings all over your bed or kitchen I’d say they’re very welcome in the home, especially if they can keep the mosquito population down!
Your sister should leave the TV on the learning channel for her gecko during the day while the humans are out, to hep him with his English. 😀
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Tee hee 😅 I’ll have to suggest it to her.
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