Geckos are milking honeydew-producing planthoppers in Madagascar

Abstract

In this paper we describe for the first time an extraordinary example of an interspecific trophobiotic relation between reptiles and planthoppers in Madagascar. Day gecko species of the genera Phelsuma and Lygodactylus as well as the nocturnal gecko Homopholis sakalava (Grandidier, 1867) show a particular behaviour that induces planthoppers of the family Flatidae to excrete a drop of honeydew in the course of an interspecific key stimulus reaction. Similar behaviour patterns are well known between ants and green flies or planthoppers, but have not been reported for vertebrates.