The Common house gecko, Hemidactylus frenatus, originates in South Asia and North Africa, but has "colonized" most of the world, traveling aboard ships! In Rome, it is very common, with 50 or more individuals per building. I believe there are more, but then, of course, I keep a fresh reserve of earthworms for them on my balcony. However, here geckos never grow as large nor as numerous as I've seen them in places such as Thailand. During a summer vacation, years ago, I used to enjoy watching their territorial fights punctuated by their calls, which sound so much like their names repeated twice: gecko, gecko!This little guy is a Mediterranean House Gecko, Hemidactylus turcicus, and like all geckos is excellent at camouflage. He had made himself look like the wall he was sitting upon so well it took me a while to actually see him.
