Distribution and Ecology of the Introduced African Rainbow Lizard, Agama Agama Africana (sauria: Agamidae), in Florida

We document populations of the introduced African rainbow lizard (Agama agama africana) in Homestead, Miami-Dade County; Hollywood, Broward County; Palm City, Martin County; Punta Gorda, Charlotte County; and Sanford, Seminole County. The Homestead and Punta Gorda populations have been established for over 10 yr and have expanded at least 0.5 km from the point of introduction. The Palm City population has been established since 1999 and the Sanford population since 2000. All agamas were observed in urban or suburban situations perched on walls, rooftops, bridges, rocks, sidewalks, curbstones, or trees. We collected 33 voucher specimens from five populations 28 March 2002–11 March 2004. Maximum clutch size and maximum snout-vent length (SVL) of male and female A. a. africana in Florida exceeded those in native Nigerian populations. All adult females (> 94 mm SVL) collected May–August contained 5–18 vitellogenic follicles or oviductal eggs, but a female collected on 19 September was not gravid. Monitoring should be conducted to determine whether the species might eventually invade natural habitats and its potential impacts on native wildlife species.