REPTILIA: SQUAMATA: AGAMIDAE: Calotes

Calotes versicolor Author and date

Bloodsucker / garden tree agama

Text by Dr. Robert Sprackland.

 
A male bloodsucker, photo by Dr. Robert Sprackland.

Range: Southern Asia from India to Singapore and Sumatra.

Diagnosis:

Description:

Natural History: Bloodsuckers get their common name from the tendency of males in breeding color to develop blood red throats. These are actually shy, harmless insect eaters common in tropical Asian gardens. Like the distantly related chameleons, bloodsuckers are capable of independent rotation of the eyes, in effect seeing in two places at once.  

The specimen seen below was 
photographed in southern Thailand 
by Aaron Eden.

Reproduction: Small, white, awl-shaped eggs are laid.

Taxonomy & Relationships: The genus Calotes is under intense study, largely by Japanese herpetologist Hidetoshi Ota. The genus was broken into several smaller genera by Scott Moody and others, so systematic relationships are presently unclear.

Variation: Color changes in this species provide considerable variation.

Additional Comments:

Type Specimen:

Literature: Click on a book to order a copy

Chan-ard, Tanya, Wolfgang Grossman, Andreas Gumprecht and Klaus-Dieter Schulz. 1999. Amphibians and reptiles of peninsular Malaysia and Thailand, an illustrated checklist. In English & German. Bushmaster Publications. ISBN: 3-9806813-0-0.

Henkel, F-W. and Wolfgang Schmidt. 1997. Agamen im Terrarium. Landbuch Verlag, Hannover. ISBN: 3-7842-0461-9.

Manthey, Ulrich and Wolfgang Grossman. 1997. Amphibien & Reptilien Südostasiens. In German. Natur und Tier Verlag. ISBN: 3-931587-12-6.

Manthey, Ulrich and Norbert Schuster. 1996. Agamid lizards. TFH Publications. ISBN: 0-7938-0128-1.