Range in California: Red
Green: San Diego Banded Gecko
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Adult, eastern Riverside County |
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Adult, Inyo County |
Adult, San Diego County |
Juvenile, Imperial County |
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| Adult, Inyo County |
Adult female, Imperial County |
Adult, San Diego County |
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Adult male, Imperial County |
Sub-adult, eastern Kern County |
Adult, Imperial County |
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Adult, Imperial County |
Spotted adult without bands, Imperial County. © Stuart Young
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Males have spurs at the base of the tail. Females do not. Compare |
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Habitat |
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Habitat, San Diego County
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Habitat, San Diego County
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Habitat, San Bernardino County |
Habitat, San Diego County |
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Habitat, Riverside County |
Habitat, Inyo County |
Habitat, San Diego County |
Habitat, Imperial County |
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| Habitat, Imperial County |
Habitat, Riverside County
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Habitat, Imperial County |
Habitat, Imperial County desert |
Short Videos |
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Three Desert Banded Geckos out at night in the desert. |
A night shot of a gecko crawling slowly and waving its tail. |
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| Description |
Size |
| 2 - 3 inches long from snout to vent (5.1 - 7.6 cm). |
| Appearance |
A small, slender lizard with movable eyelids and vertical pupils. The head is triangular in shape and wider than the neck, and is usually spotted. The skin is soft with fine granular scales (without tubercles). Toes are long and slender. Tail is constricted at the base.
Color pattern is variable, with a pale yellow, pink, or light gray background, and tan or brown bands on the body and tail. These bands may be broken into blotches, especially on older adults. The width of the dark bands is equal to or less than the width of the light areas. Juveniles tend to have more prominent unbroken bands.
Males have spurs on each side of the base of the tail. |
| Behavior |
Active at night, hiding in burrows or under surface objects during daylight. Hibernates through the winter (generally November to February).
Curls the tail up and waves it back and forth off the ground when stalking prey.
When grasped, this gecko may emit a short squeak. Listen.
When threatened, it may drop its tail to distract a predator. The tail will grow back, typically without the banding pattern matching the rest of the lizard's body. |
| Diet |
| A variety of small invertebrates. |
| Reproduction |
| Breeding occurs during April and May. Females lay 1 or two eggs from May to September, which hatch in 45 days. |
| Range |
In California the subspecies Coleonyx variegatus variegatus is found in the deserts - on the eastern edge of the Peninsular ranges from the Baja California border east to the Colorado River, north on the northern side of the Transverse ranges and along the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada Mountains to the Bishop area. Ranges inland through the Kern River Canyon to Granite Station in the western Sierra foothills and eastern edge of the San Joaquin Valley. From below sea level to around 5,000 ft. (1,520 m). Beyond California it ranges into the southern tip of Nevada, across the western half of Arizona, into northeastern Baja California and mainland Mexico.
The species C. variegatus ranges through most of Southern California north into the extreme southern part of Nevada and the southwestern tip of Utah, across northwest, southwest, and southeast Arizona into the bootheel of New Mexico, and south down the western edge of the state of Sonora, Mexico and down the entire length of Baja California. |
| Habitat |
| Arid areas including creosote flats, sagebrush desert, pinon-juniper woods, chaparral. Prefers rocky areas, but may occur in rockless ares such as sand dunes. |
| Taxonomic Notes |
| The species Coleonyx variegatus consists of four supspecies in the US, (two in California) with two more in Mexico. |
| Conservation Issues (Conservation Status) |
| None. |
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Taxonomy |
| Family |
Gekkonidae (Eublepharidae) |
Geckos |
| Genus |
Coleonyx |
Banded Geckos |
| Species |
variegatus |
Western Banded Gecko |
Subspecies
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variegatus |
Desert Banded Gecko |
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Original Description |
Coleonyx variegatus - (Baird, 1858) - Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, Vol. 10, p. 254
from Original Description Citations for the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America © Ellin Beltz
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Meaning of the Scientific Name |
Coleonyx - Greek: koleos - sheath and onyx - nail, talon or claw - refers to sheathed claws
variegatus - Latin - of different colors - refers to contrasting elements of color pattern
from Scientific and Common Names of the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America - Explained © Ellin Beltz
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Alternate Names |
None
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Related or Similar California Lizards |
Peninsular Banded Gecko - C. switaki
San Diego Banded Gecko - C. v. abbottii
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More Information and References |
Natureserve Explorer
California Dept. of Fish and Game
Stebbins, Robert C., and McGinnis, Samuel M. Field Guide to Amphibians and Reptiles of California: Revised Edition (California Natural History Guides) University of California Press, 2012.
Stebbins, Robert C. California Amphibians and Reptiles. The University of California Press, 1972.
Stebbins, Robert C. A Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians. 3rd Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2003.
Behler, John L., and F. Wayne King. The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Reptiles and Amphibians. Alfred A. Knopf, 1992.
Powell, Robert., Joseph T. Collins, and Errol D. Hooper Jr. A Key to Amphibians and Reptiles of the Continental United States and Canada. The University Press of Kansas, 1998.
Lemm, Jeffrey. Field Guide to Amphibians and Reptiles of the San Diego Region (California Natural History Guides). University of California Press, 2006.
Bartlett, R. D. & Patricia P. Bartlett. Guide and Reference to the Turtles and Lizards of Western North America (North of Mexico) and Hawaii. University Press of Florida, 2009.
Jones, Lawrence, Rob Lovich, editors. Lizards of the American Southwest: A Photographic Field Guide. Rio Nuevo Publishers, 2009.
Smith, Hobart M. Handbook of Lizards, Lizards of the United States and of Canada. Cornell University Press, 1946.
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The following status listings come from the Special Animals List which is published by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
This animal is not included on the Special Animals List, which indicates that there are no significant conservation concerns for it in California.
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Organization
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Status Listing
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| U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA) |
None |
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| California Endangered Species Act (CESA) |
None |
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| California Department of Fish and Wildlife |
None |
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| Bureau of Land Management |
None |
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| USDA Forest Service |
None |
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| Natureserve Global Conservation Status Ranks |
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World Conservation Union - IUCN Red List
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