HEMIDACTYLUS 55 



and only when closely approached do they endeavor to escape. 

 They live at peace with Peropus mutilatus and Cosymbotus pla- 

 tyurus, which are usually found in the same habitats. I have 

 observed the three species on the walls of a small living room, 

 each group occupying a more or less definite area. When geckos 

 of two different species attempted the capture of the same 

 moth, the attempt usually ended by the moth escaping and the 

 two geckos engaging in a struggle, which amounts to a bite 

 or two, a few quarrelsome chirps, and one of the parties run- 

 ning away. Not infrequently the tail of one of the combatants 

 is broken off. 



They are known to the Filipinos as butike or tike and are not 

 feared. Occasionally, when the tail is regenerated, two tails 

 appear instead of one. When a double or bifid tail is found, 

 it is regarded as an object that brings luck and is frequently 

 carried by the men to the cockpit with the same assurance 

 of luck that a negro feels when carrying the proverbial foot of 

 a graveyard rabbit into a crap game. Many Tagalogs have the 

 superstitious belief that the geckos leave the houses at 6.30 in 

 the evening to kiss the ground. 



The species probably occurs in all the Philippine Islands, as 

 well as throughout southern Asia, the Malay Archipelago, South 

 Africa, Madagascar, the islands of the western Pacific and In- 

 dian Oceans, and even Mexico. 



HEMIDACTYLUS LUZONENSIS Taylor 



Hemidactylus luzonensis Taylor, Philip. Journ. Sci. § D 10 (1915) 

 93; 14 (1919) 112, pi. 1, fig. 2, a, b. 



Description of species. — ^ (Adult male. No. 1620, E. H. Taylor 

 collection; collected at Manila, 1916, by Edward S. Ruth.) 

 Head flattened; snout rather oviform, more than twice as vnde 

 as deep, elongate, little less than twice diameter of eye, one 

 and one-half times the distance of eye from auricular opening; 

 latter distinctly oblique on one side, rather vertical on other; 

 rostral squarish, upright, with a median notch and a cleft nearly 

 half the depth of the scale; nostrils pierced between nasals, 

 separated by two scales; ten upper labials, the last two very 

 small; nine lower labials; mental triangular followed by two 

 pairs of chin shields, the first pair touching one labial and form- 

 ing a long median suture ; second pair in contact with first pair 

 and two labials, but separated from each other by three scales ; 

 scales bordering upper and lower labials somewhat enlarged; 

 scales on chin and throat small, those on abdomen imbricate and 



