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Madagascar gecko gets dinner from bug without eating it

Posted Feb 16, 2008 at 01:41PM by Glen D. Listed in: Animals and Wildlife, Biology Tags: BBC
Ó

Gecko begs insect - Image 1 


Lizards usually aren't too friendly with bugs. Encounters between the two oftentimes end up in dinner for the lizard and, well, a quick death for the insect. That's just the way it is, right?

Not if you ask Madagascar's day gecko and the plant hopper. Things don't work out like they usually do in the exotic island. Especially in the case of the two species.

BBC recently caught strange behavior between the two animals on camera. What was seen was the day gecko "begging" the plant hopper to a good serving of honeydew which the insect secretes. See, the plant hoppers produce honeydew as a by-product of their diet which consists mainly of plant sap.

As for the lizard, it was spotted nodding its head rhythmically at the insect, waiting for it to give a nice dinner treat. Biologists are uncertain as to why the bug would grant the gecko such a favor. The popular theory is that the lizard's presence scares off the plant hopper's predators.

And if you're wondering why the gecko can't figure out that eating the bug will give him the honeydew anyway, you'll have to get help elsewhere. We're stumped on that one.

[Via BBC] Permalink  |   Email this  |   Linking Blogs   |   Digg It!

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