Species
Lampropholis delicata
Threats Status
Unwanted Organism
Common Name(s)
Rainbow skink
Family
Scincidae
Habitat
Rainbow skinks occur on a wide range of habitats, including forest, scrubland, farmland and urban areas (they are generally robust to human activities). They are diurnal generalists feeding on small invertebrates.
Description
Currently New Zealand’s only introduced lizard species. Rainbow skinks are relatively small, of deep brown colour with bronze coloured stripes.
Threat To Plants
Prey on small invertebrates and competition with native skink species may also have secondary effects on the vegetation due to changes in ecosystem processes.
Distribution
Around Auckland and Waikato Area, Coromandel, Tauranga and Te Puke
Measurements
Snout to tail: 100mm
Year Introduced
1960s
Reason For Introduction
Accidentally
Colonisation History
First introduced to New Zealand in Auckland in the 1960s. Spread around the Auckland and Waikato region. Further possible spread through general human activities, as the example of a found species in a pack of salad in a Wellington supermarket in 2005 illustrates.