Delicate skink, Dark-flecked garden sun skink, Garden skink, Delicate garden skink, Rainbow skink, Plague skink, Metallic skink
Lampropholis delicata, the delicate skink, dark-flecked garden sun skink, garden skink, delicate garden skink, rainbow skink or plague skink, or the metallic skink is native to Australia and invasive in New Zealand and Hawaii where it is commonly found in gardens. The species is known for their color dimorphism between males and females; striped morphs and non-striped morphs exist in this species, however the stripe is less pronounced in males. This species' diet consists of a wide range of prey, such as spiders, bees, larvae, and termites. Mating occurs in the late summer and generally one clutch of 2 to 4 eggs are laid per year by each female.
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TerrestrialTerrestrial animals are animals that live predominantly or entirely on land (e.g., cats, ants, snails), as compared with aquatic animals, which liv...
Oviparous animals are female animals that lay their eggs, with little or no other embryonic development within the mother. This is the reproductive...
Precocial species are those in which the young are relatively mature and mobile from the moment of birth or hatching. Precocial species are normall...
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starts withThe delicate skink is more common in suburban gardens than in adjacent native bushland. It has a moderate body with a medium length, slender tail. Its scales are smooth. The back and sides are greyish-brown to rich brown, often with darker and paler flecks. A narrow yellowish-brown stripe is usually present on the outer edge of the back. The species can also have two distinct forms: a prominent white stripe and a less prominent white stripe. This dimorphism is not strictly distinguished by gender.
Lampropholis delicata were accidentally introduced into Lord Howe Island, a remote oceanic island between Australia and New Zealand, in the 1980s and subsequently introduced into the Hawaiian islands. Upon introduction, these lizards have rapidly spread themselves across the islands. On Lord Howe Island specifically, they reside in low-elevation vegetation communities. They are a diurnal species whose activity varies seasonally, in which activity peaks during the months of November and December. Sexual dimorphism is present in L. delicata, in which males have broader, longer heads and females have larger abdomen and body sizes. Female reproduction takes place in the spring season and more commonly in the late summer, ranging between the months of September and February. A positive correlation exists between the clutch size and body size of the female, and although it is common for clutch sizes to vary between 1 to 7 eggs, the average clutch size is between 2 to 4. Communal egg nests are also common, with anywhere between 11 and over 200 eggs. Tail loss and subsequent regeneration occurs frequently with these lizards but is observed most commonly in females and adults.
Lampropholis delicata is a skink of the subfamily Lygosominae, originally from Eastern Australia. Accidentally introduced and invasive in New Zealand, Hawaii, and Lord Howe Island.
Lampropholis delicata can be classified as diurnal, terrestrial, arthropod feeders, and they consume a wide range of prey. An in depth analysis of L. delicata gut samples—taken from their foregut, hindgut, and stomach—reveals the wide variety of prey taxa and size classes incorporated into their diets. These gut samples are taken from L. delicata that reside in the Mumbulla State Forest, a region with a vast history of fires and logging. As a result of intense fires, several canopies and ground vegetation have ceased to sustain the lizard population, resulting in a primarily carnivorous diet. L. delicata primarily consumes spiders, insects, snails, and crustaceans. Gut analysis after a major fire in 1980 reveals that these lizards ate limited amounts of invertebrates, and they had a preference for bees, wasps, and springtails over beetles, termites, and ants relative to their related species L. guichenoti , which also reside in the Mumbulla State Forest.
L. delicata are characterized as general feeders, and their prey can be described as aerial and arboreal (ie. bugs, beetles), slow-moving (ie. larvae), concentrated (ie. termites, ants), concealed (ie. crickets, cockroaches), and active (ie. spiders). These lizards demonstrate foraging behavior and employ “active foraging” and “sit-and-wait” strategies to capture their prey. Because their environment is prone to fires and droughts, L. delicata have adapted flexibility into their foraging ecology. They practice opportunistic foraging in that they consume a wide variety of prey and adapt to whatever food becomes available, rather than following a foraging pattern and consuming similar prey. As a result of droughts, arthropods become less abundant; however, L. delicata are not dependent on resident invertebrates, like those that reside in litters, and instead forage after a broader range of insects spanning both aerial-arboreal invertebrates and ground-dwelling invertebrates.
Although the biological mechanisms of reproductive cycles between male and female L. delicata lizards differ, they align seasonally such that mating can occur in the late summer. Typically, these lizards produce a single clutch per year of about two to four eggs. In a study analyzing the reproductive cycles in male and female L. delicata over a two year period, it has been found that, in males, the testes contain very few mature sperm during the late autumn and winter months, and during this period, spermatogonia are predominantly present as germ cells while the seminiferous tubules are at their smallest in diameter. However, spermatogenesis begins during the early spring months, allowing for the development of primary and secondary spermatocytes. Nearing the end of September, mature sperm will pack the now expanded seminiferous tubules, and the sperm will deplete during the months of October and November. In the summer, a second wave of spermatogenesis persists to produce more mature sperm during February, which depletes from the seminiferous tubules in spring and then again during autumn presumably for mating reasons, although only mating during the late summer has been observed.
In females, the autumn and winter months between February and July are defined by quiescent ovaries, and only during the late winter and spring months between August and October, follicles begin growing into notable sizes. In October or November, one or two follicles per ovary become vitellogenic and ovulated. After ovulation, the corpora lutea forms and maintains until oviposition occurs about a month later. Following ovulation, many other growing follicles become vitellogenic, although they may not ovulate and may regress after the mating period during the late summer. In females, many of these ovarian events parallel ovarian weights.
Although growing oocytes are not commonly found in young adult females, young adult males of all ages undergo spermatogenesis. Observation of L. delicata suggests that they produce no more than one clutch per season; however, some evidence suggests that young female lizards may produce a clutch in the season following their birth, which aligns with male lizards’ ability to mate during both the spring and late summer. Though temperature and photoperiod are hypothesized to induce reproductive activity in lizards, more evidence suggests the influence of rain patterns on lizard reproduction cycles. With lower annual rainfall, annual vegetation productivity, and arthropod availability, food becomes relatively scarce for these lizards. As a result, it may influence the follicular development in female lizards, in particular the vitellogenesis cycle, although decreased rainfall may be insufficient to influence male testicular patterns.
Female Lampropholis delicata lizards tend to reproduce in the spring and summer seasons (September–February). It was found that there is a positive relationship between body size and clutch size. Clutch size typically ranges between 1 to 7 (mean 3.4). Communal egg nests (11–200+ eggs) are common.
