a gekko as roommate is perfect, they eat all the insects ! Saudi Arabia 1982 slide
========================= Geckos are small to average sized lizards belonging to the family Gekkonidae which are found in warm climates throughout the world. Geckos are unique among lizards in their vocalizations, making chirping sounds in social interactions with other geckos. There are an estimated 2,000 different species of geckos worldwide, with many in existence still yet to be found.The name stems from the Indonesian/Javanese word gekok, imitative of its cry. The Malay word for gecko is 'cicak'. All geckos, excluding the Eublepharinae family, have no eyelids and instead have a transparent membrane which they lick to clean. Many species will, in defense, expel a foul-smelling material and feces onto their aggressors. There are also many species that will drop their tails in defence, a process called Autotomy. Many species are well known for their specialized toe pads that enable them to climb smooth and vertical surfaces and even cross indoor ceilings with ease. These antics are well-known to people who live in warm regions of the world, where several species of geckos make their home inside human habitations. These species (for example the House Gecko) become part of the indoor menagerie and are seldom really discouraged because they feed on insects (pests).
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Geckos come in various colours and patterns. Some are subtly patterned, and somewhat rubbery looking, while others can be brightly coloured. Some species can change colour to blend in with their environment or with temperature differences. Some species are parthenogenic, the females capable of reproducing without copulating with a male. This improves the gecko's ability to spread to new islands. Gecko footpads Gecko footpads
[edit] Gecko toes: setae and van der Waals forces
The toes of the gecko have attracted a lot of attention, as they adhere to a wide variety of surfaces, without the use of liquids or surface tension. Recent studies of the spatula tipped setae on gecko footpads demonstrate that the attractive forces that hold geckos to surfaces are van der Waals interactions between the finely divided setae and the surfaces themselves.
Every square millimetre of a gecko's footpad contains about 14,000 hair-like setae. Each seta has a diameter of 5 micrometres. Human hair varies from 18 to 180 micrometre, so a human hair could hold between 3 to 30 setae. Each seta is in turn tipped with between 100 and 1,000 spatulae.[1] Each spatula is 0.2 micrometres long[1] (200 billionths of a metre), or just below the wavelength of visible light.[2]
These van der Waals interactions involve no fluids; in theory, a boot made of synthetic setae would adhere as easily to the surface of the International Space Station as it would to a living room wall, although adhesion varies with humidity and is dramatically reduced under water, suggesting a contribution from capillarity.[3] The setae on the feet of geckos are also self cleaning and will usually remove any clogging dirt within a few steps.[1][4] Teflon, which is specifically engineered to resist van der Waals forces, is the only known surface to which a gecko cannot stick.[5]
Geckos' toes seem to be "double jointed", but this is a misnomer. Their toes actually bend in the opposite direction from our fingers and toes. This allows them to overcome the van der Waals force by peeling their toes off surfaces from the tips inward. In essence, this peeling action alters the angle of incidence between millions of individual setae and the surface, reducing the van der Waals force. Geckos' toes operate well below their full attractive capabilities for most of the time. This is because there is a great margin for error depending upon the roughness of the surface, and therefore the number of setae in contact with that surface. If a typical mature 70 g (2.5 oz) gecko had every one of its setae in contact with a surface, it would be capable of holding aloft a weight of 133 kg (290 lb):[6] each spatula can exert an adhesive force of 10 nanonewtons (0.0010 mgf).[3] Each seta can resist 10 milligrams-force (98 ľN), which is equivalent to 10 atmospheres of pull.[1]. This means a gecko can support about eight times its weight hanging from just one toe on smooth glass.[1] The setae also have a self-cleaning action, such that each step progressively removes any clogging micro particles.[1]
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