Geckos in the genus Hoplodactylus regularly visit flowers to feed on nectar. They collect considerable amounts of pollen, mostly on their throats, from species such as Metrosideros excelsa and Phormium tenax. This pollen can be carried for many metres and for up to at least 12 hours, and there is thus the opportunity for lizards to transfer it to a conspecific plant to effect crosspollination.Geckos in the genus Hoplodactylus and skinks in the genera Leiolopisma and Cyclodina all include considerable quantities of fleshy fruit in their diet during summer. Fruits most commonly consumed are in the genera Coprosma, Gaultheria, Hymenanthera, Macropiper, and Muehlenbeckia. Seeds pass through the gut undamaged and germination trials showed that at least some are viable. Because of the size, colour, and positioning of the fruit it appears that some divaricating shrubs (e.g., Coprosma, Hymenanthera) or vines (e.g., Muehlenbeckia) may be specifically adapted to seed dispersal by lizards.

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Analysis of 189 records of reptiles and amphibians accidentally imported to New Zealand between 1929 and 2000 showed that 52 species were represented, comprising lizards (65%, mainly geckos), snakes (19%, mainly colubrids) and anurans (16%, mainly hylid frogs). Three species of nocturnal, egg-laying, tropical and subtropical "house geckos" from Asia and the Pacific (especially Hemidactylus frenatus) made up 35% of all interceptions. The predominance of H. frenatus is a new development since the mid 1980s. Ectoparasitic mites were noted at 17% of gecko interceptions. Interceptions were nearly always of single animals, and were evenly spread throughout the year. The main sources of the accidental importations were Australia (26%), south-east Asia (24%) and the south-west Pacific (22%). About three-quarters of the intercepted animals were from the tropics or subtropics. Three-quarters of the animals arrived in cargo shipped to wharves, and Auckland was the entry point for about half the interceptions. The main † Author for correspondence. Z01007 Received 12 February 2001; accepted 22 May 2001 types of cargo involved were personal effects (21 %), bananas (16%), timber (10%), and motor vehicles (9%). Nearly half the intercepted animals (47%) had passed through border controls and were detected after distribution of the cargo. Animals were alive when detected in about 86% of cases.

We employed a molecular phylogenetic approach using the mitochondrial ND2 gene and five associated tRNAs(tryptophan, alanine, asparagine, cysteine, tyrosine) and the nuclear RAG1 gene to investigate relationships within thediplodactylid geckos of New Caledonia and particularly among the giant geckos, Rhacodactylus, a charismatic group oflizards that are extremely popular among herpetoculturalists. The current generic allocation of species within NewCaledonian diplodactylids does not adequately reflect their phylogenetic relationships. Bavayia madjo, a high-elevationendemic is not closely related to other Bavayia or to members of any other genus and is placed in a new genus, Paniegekkogen. nov. Rhacodactylus is not monophyletic. The small-bodied and highly autapomorphic genus Eurydactylodes isembedded within Rhacodactylus as sister to R. chahoua. Rhacodactylus ciliatus and R. sarasinorum are sister taxa but arenot part of the same clade as other giant geckos and the generic name Correlophus Guichenot is resurrected for them.Remaining New Caledonian giant geckos (R. leachianus, R. trachrhynchus, R. auriculatus) receive weak support as amonophyletic group. Although the monophyly of Rhacodactylus (including Eurydactylodes) exclusive of Correlophuscannot be rejected, our results support the recognition of a R. chahoua + Eurydactylodes clade separate fromRhacodactylus sensu stricto. Because of the distinctiveness of Eurydactylodes from R. chahoua (and other NewCaledonian ‘giant geckos’), we retain this name for the four species to which it has been consistently applied and erect anew genus, Mniarogekko gen. nov. to accommodate R. chahoua. There is little genetic differentiation within the narrowlydistributed Corrrelophis sarasinorum, but C. ciliatus from southern New Caledonia are both genetically andmorphologically differentiated from a recently discovered Correlophus from the Îles Belep, north of the Grande Terre,which is here described as C. belepensis sp. nov. Although only subtley different morphologically, the populations ofMniarogekko from the far northwest of the Grande Terre and from the Îles Belep are strongly differentiated geneticallyfrom M. chahoua populations in the central part of the Grande Terre and are described as M. jalu sp. nov. Rhacodactylusauriculatus exhibits some genetic substructure across its nearly island-wide range in New Caledonia, but overalldivergence is minimal. Rhacodactylus leachianus exhibits low levels of divergence across its range and southern insularforms previously assigned to R. l. henkeli are not divergent from southern Grande Terre populations. The few populationsof R. trachyrhynchus sampled are strongly divergent from one another and a specimen from Îlot Môrô near the Île des Pinsis especially distinctive. This specimen and others examined from Îlot Môrô are morphologically assignable to the speciesdescribed by Boulenger in 1878 as Chameleonurus trachycephalus and is recognized here as a full species. New diagnosesare provided for each of the eight genera of endemic New Caledonian diplodactylid geckos now recognized. The resultsof our study necessitate determinations of the conservation status of the new species described or recognized.Mniarogekko jalu sp. nov. is considered Endangered, but is locally abundant. Correlophus belepensis sp. nov. isconsidered Critically Endangered and is restricted to the ultramafic plateaux of Île Art. Although described from the Îledes Pins, we have only been able to confirm the existence of Rhacodactylus trachycephalus on the tiny satellite island ÎlotMôrô and consider it to be Critically Endangered. If indeed restricted to this islet, R. trachycephalus may well have the smallest range and perhaps the smallest population of any gecko in the world.