Hemidactylus mabouia Tropical House Gecko
Also known as:
Wood Slave, Amerafrican House Gecko, Cosmopolitan House Gecko, Moreau’s Tropical House Gecko, Phantom Gecko
Coral Gables, Miami-Dade County, FloridaDecember 27, 1998
Tropical House Gecko (Hemidactylus mabouia)
These non-native geckos can easily be seen at night on the walls of houses near the lights. Florida has no native nocturnal geckos, leaving the bugs-by-houses-at-night-eating niche open for several non-native species to exploit.
Finch Hatton's tented camp, Tsavo West National Park, KenyaJuly 8, 2000
Tropical House Gecko (Hemidactylus mabouia)
The first thing I did when we arrived around dusk at this, our first tented camp in Kenya, was to start taking pictures of the geckos lurking around on the walls in the reception area. The camp staff seemed to find this behavior surprising in some way. I wonder why?

I'm not really sure whether this one is H. mabouia or H. platycephalus.

Samburu Intrepids tented camp, Samburu National Reserve, KenyaJuly 14, 2000
Tropical House Gecko (Hemidactylus mabouia)
These geckos were present at most of the places we stayed in Kenya. They are good colonizers, having established populations in most tropical and subtropical areas of the world, including Florida. I always felt safer sleeping at night knowing there were such fine geckos protecting our tents.
Key Largo, Monroe County, FloridaFebruary 7, 2004
Tropical House Gecko (Hemidactylus mabouia) Tropical House Gecko (Hemidactylus mabouia)
Of the various introduced gecko species in South Florida, Bartlett & Bartlett say that this is the only one often found away from human habitation. I found this tiny youngster (first picture) and this adult (second picture) under hunks of reef coral rock in tropical hardwood hammock habitat.
Snack Shop, Iguazú National Park, Misiones, ArgentinaNovember 7, 2006
Tropical House Gecko (Hemidactylus mabouia) Tropical House Gecko (Hemidactylus mabouia)
This small gecko was living on the inside of a small snack shop near the beginning of the boardwalk to the spectacular Devil's Throat at Iguazú Falls. Dozens of beetles, moths, and butterflies had managed to get into the snack shop but were having trouble getting out, so this was pretty much gecko paradise.
Mahogany Hammock Boardwalk, Everglades National Park, Miami-Dade County, FloridaMarch 14, 2021
Tropical House Gecko (Hemidactylus mabouia)
Small gecko on a big palm frond. Cute little thing!
Mahogany Hammock Boardwalk, Everglades National Park, Miami-Dade County, FloridaDecember 15, 2022
Tropical House Gecko (Hemidactylus mabouia) Tropical House Gecko (Hemidactylus mabouia)
The top gecko here patrolled a palm frond just off the boardwalk. The bottom one kept the back of the big trail sign free of excess arthropods.
Royal Palm Visitor Center, Everglades National Park, Miami-Dade County, FloridaDecember 19, 2022
Tropical House Gecko (Hemidactylus mabouia) Tropical House Gecko (Hemidactylus mabouia) Tropical House Gecko (Hemidactylus mabouia)
At night, after the visitors to Anhinga Trail have all left, the geckos take over the buildings. Most but not all of them on this evening were this cosmopolitan species.
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