Hawaii is home to many types of lizards, most of which can be readily seen (and heard!) right here in Waimanalo. While these reptiles have all been introduced from other parts of the world, they have become an integral part of Hawaii's wildlife. Although lizards may give some people the "willies", these small creatures are interesting, useful, and many are quite beautiful.

Perhaps the thing for which we can most appreciate Hawaii's lizards is their huge appetite for insects. A small gecko can eat four to five mosquitoes or termites a minute. If you have 20 or 30 geckos in your house, think how many mosquito bites the geckos have saved you from.

But what are all those scaley creatures in your yard? There are several types of lizards commonly found on Oahu: anoles, Jackson chameleons, geckos, skinks, and occasionally green iguanas.

Anoles are little green lizards that climb on plants and fences during the day. They love to sunbathe, for this helps them maintain a high body temperature suited for activity and digestion. Anoles can often be perched in very visible locations, bobbing their heads up and down and doing small `pushups'. They may accent these movements by fanning a flap of skin beneath their throat called a "dewlap". While these displays look rather silly to us, they are serious business for the lizards. Males perform pushup displays to keep rival males out of their territories and to attract females. Kind of like weight lifting perhaps? Although anoles are often called "chameleons," they are actually a type of iguana. True chameleons have a much greater ability to change color and have a number of other unique characteristics.

Male Jackson chameleons look like miniature Triceratops, with three horns that are used in display and battles. Females lack horns, and bear live young instead of laying eggs like most reptiles do. Under the best conditions, chameleons are difficult to keep in captivity, o it is best to let them run free (although Waimanalo's own chameleon man is quite successful with them).

Geckos are a personal favorite of mine. They are unique among the reptiles in that they are the most nocturnal, and they chirp. Hawaii has five common species of nocturnal geckos, two of which are all female! Two species of day geckos have also been sighted on Oahu in recent years. These lizards are brilliant green, blue and red, and were introduced from the island of Madagascar off the East Coast of Africa. Due to habitat destruction, many day geckos are now endangered in their homeland, so please admire them from a distance, as they can be injured if not handled carefully.

Skinks are silvery brown and black lizards that skitter around in piles of leaves. Although they look slimy, the shine is due to the smoothness of their scales, which are polished almost like brass. Young skinks of many species have brilliant blue tails, which may distract predators away from striking at their heads. As with most lizards, skinks have tails that can easily break off and regrow.

Green iguanas are the largest lizards found in Hawaii, and can be over five feet long from nose to tail tip. They are bright green, often with faint blue or brown stripes. Green iguanas are vegetarians, browsing on fruits and leaves. Like their small cousins the anoles, they will head bob and pushup at each other. When I lived in the mainland, I had three running loose in my house. Their favorite activity was to perch on the bathroom sink and display at their reflections in the mirror!

Although Hawaii's lizards are interesting to watch and quite effective in keeping down populations of introduced nuisance insects (like mosquitoes), it is important that we prevent the entry of additional lizard species to the Islands. Some, like the large Cuban Knight anole, eat bird eggs. This could further threaten our already endangered native birds. Let's enjoy the few small lizards that we have here now, and refrain from importing any that might turn out to have negative effects on Hawaii's native plants and animals. n