In their March 2023 edition, the St Barth Weekly (in its column on SAINT BARTH AND ITS BIODIVERSITY) recently brought attention to the Island Least Gecko or Sphaerodactylus sputator. The S. sputator can be found in the Lesser Antilles, including Anguilla, Saba, St. Barthélemy (St. Barth), St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Martin, and Sint Eustatius (Statia), among others.
Each week, the Journal de Saint-Barth, in partnership with the Territorial Environment Agency (ATE), presents a species (fauna or flora, terrestrial or marine) that populates the vast biodiversity of the island. This week, the Island Least Gecko (sphaerodactylus sputator).
Where does it live? This little lizard generally lives hidden under vegetation, most of the time under dead leaves, but it does not object to concealing itself under living plants.
What does it eat? Like most other lizards, it feeds primarily on insects of all sorts, whenever it can catch them.
Did you know? A myth, “evidently false,” confirms the ATE, says that this cat-eyed reptile secretes and spits black saliva when confronted by a predator. A myth that comes from its name since part of its Latin appellation signifies “spitter.”
For original post, see http://www.stbarthweekly.com/pdf/Weekly476.pdf
[Image above: 1921 illustration, by Thomas Barbour, of an island least gecko in St. Kitts, Wikipedia.]
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