Wildlifeof India
Hardwicke's Bloodsucker
Agamids & Forest Lizards
Photo: Viral joshi · CC BY 4.0 (May be cropped or resized)
Calotes minor
Basic stats
Diet
Insects; sometimes flowers
Habitat
Fragmented dry forest, arid and barren country across the Indo-Gangetic plains
Range
Pakistan, north-western and central India, Bangladesh
Clutch size
4–6 eggs
Size
Up to 18cm; 10cm common
Hardwicke's bloodsucker is a small, stocky, pot-bellied agamid lizard of South Asia with a short tail. The head is large and elongated, flat above and sloping toward the snout, and the back scales are larger than the belly scales and keeled. Females are more brightly coloured in the breeding season. Length is up to 18 cm, with 10 cm common (Wikipedia, general species account).
It is mainly terrestrial and sometimes arboreal, living in fragmented dry forest, arid environments and barren country across the Indo-Gangetic plains, active by day and at dusk. It shelters in burrows close to the roots of thorny bushes and sometimes eats flowers. The breeding season runs from April to June, with four to six hard-shelled white eggs laid in burrows. In India it is recorded from Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Odisha.
Quick answers
- What does the Hardwicke's Bloodsucker eat?
- Insects; sometimes flowers
- What habitat does the Hardwicke's Bloodsucker live in?
- Fragmented dry forest, arid and barren country across the Indo-Gangetic plains
- Where is the Hardwicke's Bloodsucker found?
- Pakistan, north-western and central India, Bangladesh
- How many eggs does the Hardwicke's Bloodsucker lay?
- 4–6 eggs
- How big is the Hardwicke's Bloodsucker?
- Up to 18cm; 10cm common