Sri Lankan Termite Hill Gecko

The Sri Lankan termite hill gecko, also called the Sri Lanka leaf-toed gecko, is endemic to Sri Lanka. It is a dark-and-light banded ground gecko of the dry zone below 300 m, known from Kandalama, Dambulla, Giritale, Puttalam and Wilpattu National Park. The back is yellowish olive with three large brown saddle-like patches edged in black, the head has yellow stripes behind the eye and across the nape, and the tail is dark banded (Wikipedia, general species account).

It is nocturnal and terrestrial, sheltering by day in rock cracks, under bark and in rodent burrows. It eats termites, crickets, grasshoppers, spiders and beetles, and is known to gather on termite mounds when winged termites swarm. Clutches are two eggs, possibly up to six, laid between May and July. Nationally Least Concern (Sri Lanka National Red List 2012).