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Lampropholis delicata (DE VIS, 1888)

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Higher TaxaScincidae, Eugongylinae (Eugongylini), Scincoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Dark-flecked garden sunskink, Plague skink, Rainbow Skink, Grass Skink 
SynonymMocoa delicata DE VIS 1888
Lygosoma cupreus BOULENGER 1890 (fide WELLS 2010)
Lygosoma (Leiolopisma) delicatum WERNER — SMITH 1937: 225
Leiolopisma hawaiiensis LOVERIDGE 1939: 1
Lygosoma (Leiolopisma) hawaiiensis — FISHER 1948
Lampropholis delicata — GREER 1974: 21
Leiolopisma delicata — HENLE 1981
Lampropholis delicata — COGGER 1983: 167
Lampropholis delicata — COGGER 2000: 507
Lampropholis delacata — AUSTIN et al. 2004 (in error)
Lampropholis delicata — COUPER et al. 2006: 381
Allengreerus delicata — HOSER 2009
Allengreerus ronhoseri — HOSER 2009
Lampropholis ronhoseri — WELLS 2010
Allengreerus delicata jackyhoserae HOSER 2012 
DistributionAustralia (New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria),
New Zealand (introduced)
USA (introduced to Hawaii)
Introduced to Great Barrier Island (Australia)

Type locality: Warro Station, Port Curtis (as Warro, Central Queensland), Qld.  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesNeotype: QM J45765, designated by Mather (1990). Original holotype: QM (presumed lost).
Holotype: MCZ 44234 [hawaiiensis] 
DiagnosisDiagnosis: within Lampropholis, the only species with an irregular dark vertebral stripe; dark lateral band bordered below by a well-defined, narrower band, lighter in colour than the dorsal surface. Other species of Lampropholis have no dark vertebral stripe and their dark lateral band is not bordered below by a well-defined, narrow light-coloured band (Cogger 2014: 578). 
CommentDistribution: This is the only invasive species that has been established in New Zealand (Chapple 2016).

HOSER (2009) established a new genus, Allengreerus HOSER 2009 for L. delicata. He diagnoses the genus as follows: “Separated from Lampropholis (type species guichenoti), to which it/they would otherwise be identified as, by the general lack of a distinct midvertebral stripe as seen in adult specimens.”

The validity of Allengreerus remains unclear, given that “there is clinal variation within Lampropholis delicata, which Hoser has failed to take into account. While he claims ronhoseri lacks the pale midlateral stripe of delicata, there is a gradual decrease in the frequency of the pale midlateral stripe with increasing latitude in New South Wales.” [Glenn Shea, pers. comm]. Without cladistic analysis it is impossible to decide whether Hoser’s form is different from Lampropholis and whether A. ronhoseri is different from L. delicata. 
EtymologyPresumably named after the Latin delicatus (dainty) in relation to the size and shape of this small skink. (G. Shea, pers. comm., 9 Feb 2024) 
References
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  • Baker J K 1980. The rainbow skink Lampropholis delicata, in Hawaii. Pacific Science 33 (2) 1979: 207-212
  • BELL, TRENT 2017. Raking: an effective detection and capture technique for semi-fossorial lizards in New Zealand. BioGecko (4): 59-69
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  • Bretzel, Joachim 2023. Tasmanien im Herbst. Elaphe 2023 (3): 40-45
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  • Chapple, David G.; James T. Reardon, and Joanne E. Peace 2016. Origin, Spread and Biology of the Invasive Plague Skink (Lampropholis delicata) in New Zealand. in: Chapple, D.G. (ed). New Zealand Lizards. Springer, pp. 341-360 - get paper here
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