Reptiles and Frogs
Monitors & Geckos
Sighting 4273733

Hemidactylus frenatus

Asian House Gecko at Vincentia, NSW

Hemidactylus frenatus at Vincentia, NSW - 10 Jul 2020 06:50 PM
Hemidactylus frenatus at Vincentia, NSW - 10 Jul 2020 06:50 PM
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Identification history

Hemidactylus frenatus 11 Jun 2022 PatrickCampbell
Hemidactylus frenatus 11 Jun 2022 PatrickCampbell
Hemidactylus frenatus 4 Sep 2020 PatrickCampbell
Hemidactylus frenatus 4 Sep 2020 PatrickCampbell
Unverified 21 Jul 2020 cmacgregor

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User's notes

Common House Gecko, Hemidactylus frenatus

3 comments

PatrickCampbell wrote:
   30 Aug 2020
Unfortunately it's an Asian House Gecko (Hemidactylus frenatus), an introduced and invasive species that displaces native species of gecko.
I've never seen an observation this far south or heard of it spreading this far south. Hopefully it was a single trans-located individual.
Have you seen more than one?
cmacgregor wrote:
   1 Sep 2020
I only saw the one, I heard it calling the week prior to this observation but could not find it until the night this photo was taken. I haven't seen or heard it since the day following this observation, it will be interesting to see if it survived the winter.
PatrickCampbell wrote:
   4 Sep 2020
Hemidactylus frenatus has a distinctive three to five note call that is commonly described as "chuck, chuck, chuck". Is this what the call sounded like? Their loud vocalizations tend to be louder and more frequent than other gecko species. This call is quite different to our native geckos, especially once you're familiar with it.

It's good to hear that it was the only one seen. If it manages to survive the winter (which I hope it didn't) if it breeds with another, it could potentially establish a feral population that displaces native gecko species. H. frenatus are quite territorial. When confronting other geckos, they have violent tendencies and are more aggressive than other gecko species. It is not uncommon for them to approach and bite other geckos.

A distinguishing characteristic are the spines on the base of the tail. I reckon the facial markings are distinctive as well, although this feature is not used in keys.

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