|
Metallic Skink
|
- Order: Squamata (scaled reptiles)
- Suborder: Lacertilia (=Sauria) (lizards)
- Family: Scincidae (skinks)
- Genus: Lampropholis
|
|
Scientific Name: Lampropholis
delicata (De Vis, 1888) |
| Habitat: In Hawai'i,
in backyards, gardens, vacant lots, and clearings. |
Lampros="shiny," delicata="delicate"
|
| Length: To about 5"
total. |
Range: Native
to Australia. In Hawai'i, found on all the major islands. |
| Food: Insects. |
 |
|
The most common skink in the Hawai'ian Islands
(five species are known), the metallic skink is believed to have
been introduced around 1900. I found this colony near a
footpath in the Honolulu
Zoo in February 2001. I sat and watched them for about
15 minutes. They eventually came within a couple of feet of
me and I took lots of videotape as they hunted for small
insects. There was a large snail (also an introduced
species) nearby that dwarfed the lizards. |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
