Hardwicke's bloodsucker (''Calotes minor'') is an agamid

lizard Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The group is paraphyletic since it excludes the snakes and Amphisbaenia alt ...

and found in South Asia.

Morphology

Physical structure: This is a small stocky and pot-belly lizard with a short tail. Its head large and elongated, flat above, sloping towards snout.
Its dorsal scales larger, strongly imbricate and keeled, pointing backward and upward, ventral scales smaller than dorsal; upper head scales larger, unequal, strongly keeled or tubercular. Females are larger than the males. Color pattern: Dorsal color is olive-brown with three rows of dark-brown light edged spots on the back and base of the tail; spots of middle row are most prominent and rhomboidal; a white streak on each side of the neck is bifurcating behind and an oblique one from the eye to the angle of mouth; limbs are with dark-brown cross bars; throat is profusely spotted with dark-brown and orange; belly is yellowish-white with numerous orange dots. Color inside the mouth is ink-blue. Females are more brilliantly colored during breeding season. Length: Maximum:18 cm, Common:10 cm. (Snout to vent 6 cm.)

Distribution

Found in Bangladesh (southeast part of the country), India (Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Odissa) and Pakistan (Sindh).

Vernacular names

Bengali: আগামা গিরিগিটি, পাতি রক্তচোষা, পাতিয়াল গিরিগিটি (Patial girigiti), হার্ডউইকের গিরিগিটি। English: Hardwicke's bloodsucker, Hardwicke's short-tail agama, dwarf rock agama, and lesser agama. Hindi & other Indian languages: ? Urdu & Sindhi: ?

Habitat

This lizard is terrestrial and sometimes arboreal; inhabits frequently fragmented dry forest, arid environments, barren desert and desolate areas across the Indo-Gangetic plains.

Habit

This lizard is diurnal and

crepuscular In zoology, a crepuscular animal is one that is active primarily during the twilight period, being matutinal, vespertine, or both. This is distinguished from diurnal and nocturnal behavior, where an animal is active during the hours of daylig ...

. It shelters in burrows close to the roots of thorny bushes. Generally it is found sitting on stones, but it can climb up shrubby vegetation. It is sluggish in movements, often not attempting to escape when approached. It is a docile species.

Diet

This lizard is mainly

insectivorous A robber fly eating a hoverfly An insectivore is a carnivorous animal or plant that eats insects. An alternative term is entomophage, which can also refer to the human practice of eating insects. The first vertebrate insectivores were ...

; feeding on grasshoppers and their nymphs, earwigs, beetles, bugs, arthropods and spiders. Sometimes it also eats flowers.

Reproduction

This lizard is

oviparous Oviparous animals are animals that lay their eggs, with little or no other embryonic development within the mother. This is the reproductive method of most fish, amphibians, most reptiles, and all pterosaurs, dinosaurs (including birds), and ...

; the breeding season extends from April to June; it lays four to six hard shelled white eggs in burrows under the roots of vegetation.

Importance and uses

There are no known practical uses of this species, but it plays a role in the eco-system by eating various types of insects and otherwise.

Threat to humans

This lizard is non- venomous and completely harmless to humans.

Etymology

The species-name minor, a Latin word, meaning 'less' or 'smaller', also referring to the smaller size of this agamid.

Extra notes

This lizard has a reputation for being particularly harmful, which is totally baseless and has contributed much to its depletion.

References

Sources

* Blyth, E., 1856, Proceedings of the Society. Report of the Curator. J. Asiat. Soc. Bengal 25:448-449 * Boulenger, G.A., 1885, Catalogue of the Lizards in the British Museum (Nat. Hist.) I. Geckonidae, Eublepharidae, Uroplatidae, Pygopodidae, Agamidae. London: 450 pp. * Boulenger, George A., 1890, The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma. Reptilia and Batrachia. Taylor & Francis, London, xviii, 541 pp. * Günther, A., 1864, The Reptiles of British India. London (Taylor & Francis), xxvii + 452 pp. * Hardwicke, F.R. & Gray, J.E., 1827, A synopsis of the species of saurian reptiles, collected in India by Major-General Hardwicke. Zool. J. London 3: 214-229 * Manthey, U. & Schuster, N., 1999, Agamen, 2. Aufl. Natur und Tier Verlag (Münster), 120 pp. * Smith, M.A., 1935, Reptiles and Amphibia, Vol. II. in: The fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma. Taylor and Francis, London, 440 pp.

External links

* * {{taxonbar, from=Q2538014 Calotes Reptiles of Pakistan Reptiles described in 1827 Taxa named by Thomas Hardwicke Taxa named by John Edward Gray