Hemidactylus parvimaculatus
Silhouette: Alex Slavenko · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~50%
Hemidactylus parvimaculatus, also known as the spotted house gecko or the Sri Lankan house gecko, is a species of gecko from South Asia and Indian Ocean. Hemidactylus parvimaculatus can grow to 13 cm (5 in) in length. The body has many tubercles and the tail has rings of small spines. Coloration is light grey to tan; there are dark blotches that form three rows along the back. The belly is pinkish-cream.
This gecko is found in Sri Lanka, southern India, Reunion, Mauritius and Rodrigues, Moheli (Comoro Islands), Maldives, and Mascarene Islands. There are also introduced populations in Bangkok, Thailand, and in the southern United States.
In Sri Lanka, Hemidactylus parvimaculatus has been recorded to prey upon Ramanella variegata frogs and insects. It can also be cannibalistic. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Minneriya National Park | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | |
| 2 | Sinharaja Forest Reserve | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Spotted House Gecko sighting in Chennai on a given day, based on 14 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 9th most-seen of the 22 reptiles we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
June, October and December
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Spotted House Gecko in Chennai on a given day, against under 5% in February, April–May, August and November, the lowest months. Those are among Chennai's wettest months, with about 150 mm of rain a month against 5 mm in February.
Between 3 and 6 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Spotted House Gecko sightings with a recorded time, and about 6 in 10 of them come between 6 pm and 6 am: it is most active around dawn and dusk.
6th of 7
Of the 7 cities where we can rate Spotted House Gecko sightings, Chennai ranks 6th at about 10%. The best odds are in Thrissur (India, about 30%), Colombo [Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte] (Sri Lanka, about 30%) and Ahmedabad (India, about 10%).
Same genus: Hemidactylus
The closest relatives of the Spotted House Gecko that you can see in Chennai (genus Hemidactylus, House Geckos) are Bark Gecko (about 20%), Common House Gecko (about 10%) and Northern House Gecko (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Spotted House Gecko is recorded against all the reptiles logged in Chennai (14 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
