History) and Dr Mark Ritchie of the National Museums of Kenya, for valuable 
advice and encouragement. 
I am particularly indebted to Mrs H, Morton, of Limuru and Jan Van Duinen 
of Hopcraft Game Ranch, Athi River, who both helped me in many ways. 
The entire project would have been impossible without the tremendous help 
of Rose, Tony and Michael Dyer of Timau and they should have the final mention 
here. 
REFERENCES 
Hiscock, R 1970. Report on Salvinia investigations at Lake Naivasha, 1969 - 
1970. Fisheries Department. Unpublished Report. 
Moore, J.P. 1939. African Leeches. 
Njuguna, S.G. 1983. Daily Nation. February 4, 1983. 
Sciacchitano 1963. Key to African Leeches. Annals of the Transvaal Museum. 
Vol.24 No. 4:256-259. 
Charles A. Foster, St. John's College, Cambridge, CB2 ITP, England. 
LIZARDS IN KAJIADO 
Our comaonest lizards, Agama agama and the skink Mabuya varia, are too well 
known to need description. One of the funniest sights I have ever seen was 
a skink which had eaten so many winged termites that it could no longer get 
down its own burrow. 
One species of chamaeleon Chamaeleo dilepis is quite common in the bush. 
Its colour can be plain green with small black dots, or it can take on an 
intricate shadow pattern in two shades of green. In bright sunshine it turns 
pale yellow, and if the sun falls on one side of its body only, then it will 
have one side yellow and one side green. When asleep it fades to a dirty 
white. If it is severely alarmed or hurt it turns almost black and expands 
its bright orange throat pouch, opens its bright pink mouth wide and hisses 
fiercely. It will even bite, though very feebly. 
Geckos, Hemidactglus sp. are found in houses, on tree trunks, and also 
inside the air passages of large termite mounds. They probably occupy the 
mounds for protection during the day, rather than to prey on termites. 
Gideon Nyamasyo, a potgraduate student of the University of Nairobi, who 
was doing a thesis on termite predators in Kajiado, used the time honoured 
method of ^ploying small boys to catch lizards. His collection included 
four additional species: 
the short-necked skink Mahuga brevicollis; the sand lizard Ereaias 
spekii; the long-toed sand lizard Latastia longicaudata', and the 
snake-eyed skink Ablepharus malaegris. 
One further species was found at Oleserewa (20 km NW of Kajiado and 300 m 
higher) on 22 September 1981. 'This was the burrowing skink Riopia sundavallii 
a long-bodied lizard with tiny, degenerate legs, clad in the smooch glossy 
scales typical of skinks. 
I am grateful to the Herpetology Section of the National Museums of Kenya 
for identifications. The common names used follow N.G. Hedges (1983) 
Reptiles and Amphibians of East Africa. 
Jo Darlington, c/o Section of Entomology, National Museums of Kenya, 
P.O. Box 40658, Nairobi. 
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