The Phelsuma pusilla pusilla Mertens

Robert Mertens

Robert Mertens was a German herpetologist. The Robert Mertens' day gecko is a species named after him, and he also postulated Mertensian mimicry....

, 1964 is a diurnal

Diurnal animal

Diurnality is a plant or animal behavior characterized by activity during the day and sleeping at night.-In animals:Animals that are not diurnal might be nocturnal or crepuscular . Many animal species are diurnal, including many mammals, insects, reptiles and birds...

 gecko

Gecko

Geckos are lizards belonging to the infraorder Gekkota, found in warm climates throughout the world. They range from 1.6 cm to 60 cm....

 and lives in eastern Madagascar

Madagascar

The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...

. It typically inhabits different trees and houses. This day gecko feeds on insects and nectar.

Scientific synonyms

• Phelsuma lineata pusilla Mertens
  Robert Mertens
  Robert Mertens was a German herpetologist. The Robert Mertens' day gecko is a species named after him, and he also postulated Mertensian mimicry....
  
  , 1964
• Phelsuma pusilla Meier
  Harald Meier
  Harald Meier was a German herpetologist who discovered the Phelsuma pusilla hallmanni, a subspecies of geckos....
  
  , 1989
• Phelsuma pusilla pusilla Glaw & Vences, 1994

Description

The lizard belongs to the smallest day geckos and can reach a total length of about 8 cm. The body colour is lime green, with red dots on the back and brown or black flanks. The tail has a blue hue and can be turquoise. The ventral side is white.

Distribution and habitat

Phelsuma pusilla pusilla lives in the moist and warm climate of the east coast of Madagascar, where it was first found in the region around Abila Lemaitso near Brickaville

Brickaville

Brickaville is a city in Atsinanana Region, Madagascar. It is located at around . Brickaville, also known as Ampasimanolotra, is located on the road linking Toamasina to Antananarivo. Its main industries revolve around sugar....

, but also occurs on the island Nosy Bohara. It inhabits different small trees and also occurs on banana trees, often close to human dwellings.

Diet

Various insects and other invertebrates. They also like to lick soft, sweet fruit, pollen

Pollen

Pollen is a fine to coarse powder containing the microgametophytes of seed plants, which produce the male gametes . Pollen grains have a hard coat that protects the sperm cells during the process of their movement from the stamens to the pistil of flowering plants or from the male cone to the...

 and nectar.

Behaviour

These geckos are quite quarrelsome and do not accept other males. In captivity, where the females cannot escape, the males can also sometimes seriously wound a females. In this case the male and female must be separated.

Care and maintenance in captivity

These animals should be housed in pairs and need a well planted terrarium. The temperature should be about 28°C (locally around 30°C) during the day and drop to around 20°C at night. The humidity should be maintained between 75 and 80% during the day. It is also important to include two colder months with a daytime temperature of 24°C and 16°C at night. In captivity, these animals can be fed with crickets, wax moth larvae, fruit flies, mealworms and houseflies.