Leiolepis belliana
(Hardwicke and Gray, 1827)
LAY-oh-LEP-iss — bel-ee-AH-nuh
SSAR 9th Edition Comments:
Native to southeastern Asia. It was introduced via the pet trade ca. 1992 and is established in Miami, Miami-Dade County, Florida (Krysko and Enge, 2005, Florida Scientist 68: 247–249; Cobb et al., 2016, Bulletin of the Florida Museum of Natural History 54: 131–137; Enge and Krysko, 2019, Leiolepis belliana belliana. Pages 354–355 in Krysko et al. (Editors) Amphibians and Reptiles of Florida. University Press of Florida, Gainesville, Florida). Cobb et al., 2016, op. cit. showed that Florida samples are closely related to lizards from Thailand in their native range. The authority has been updated from (Gray, 1827) in the prior list (Kraus and Krysko, 2017, Alien species. Pages 92–102 in Brian I. Crother (Editor). Herpetological Circulars (43): 102) to (Hardwicke and Gray, 1827).
(Krysko, Kenneth and Travis W. Taggart. 2025. Established Exotic Species. Pages 64-87 in Kirsten E. Nicholson (Editor), Scientific and Standard English Names of Amphibians and Reptiles of North America North of Mexico, with Comments Regarding Confidence in Our Understanding, 9th Edition. Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, Lawrence, Kansas. 87 pp.)
Range maps are based on curated specimens and provided gratis by CNAH.
(Created by Travis W. Taggart; Version: 2025.03.31.08.02.50)
Download GeoJSON polygon range file: - 0.1 MB
Province/State Distribution:
Taxonomic Etymology:
Named for a French naturalist.
Leiolepis — From Greek leios (λεῖος), “smooth,” and lepis (λεπίς), “scale.” Refers to the smooth-scaled appearance of these lizards.
belliana — A patronym honoring Charles-nicolas-sigisbert Sonnini de Manoncourt (1751–1812), also known as Bell, or possibly Thomas Bell. However, the epithet’s precise honoree is unclear due to 19th-century naming ambiguity. Most sources attribute it to Charles Bell, a contemporary of Duméril.
First instance(s) of published English names:
No historic English names have been assigned to this taxon yet.
Catalog of American Amphibians and Reptiles
The Reptile Database
GenBank
USGS - Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database
Selected References:
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1827
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Hardwicke, Thomas and Gray, John E. A synopsis of the species of saurian reptiles, collected in India by Major-General Hardwicke. Zoological Journal, London 3(22):213-229
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2005
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Krysko, Kenneth L. and Kevin M. Enge. A new non-native lizard in Florida, the Butterfly Lizard, Leiolepis belliana (Sauria: Agamidae). Florida Scientist 68(4):247-249
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2016
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Cobb, Nicole R., Kenneth L. Krysko, and Jan-Michael Archer. Genetic confirmation of two nonnative species of butterfly lizards (Leiolepidae; Leiolepis) with established populations in Florida, USA. Bulletin of the Florida Museum of Natural History 54(8):131–137
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2017
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Crother, Brian I. (editor) Scientific and Standard English Names of Amphibians and Reptiles of North America North of Mexico, with Comments Regarding Confidence in Our Understanding. Eighth edition. Herpetological Circulars (43):1-102
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