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Ancestor: Bee-raiding Lizard

Size: Max 12 cm

Dietary Needs: Requires a high sugar intake, preferably in the form of nectar but honey and fruit are also acceptable if the opportunity allows it. They also require some animal protein in the form of small insects such as gnats and moths.

Life Cycle: All females in this family produce soft, sac-like eggs which hatch immediately after birthing. The sacs are covered in a sticky substance which sticks to the leaves they are laid on. The hatching babies are thus given a secure place to emerge in the trees or shrubs and don't end up falling to the ground immediately. The babies are tiny replicas of the adults and born in the most productive season which can depend on how North or South they are - outside of the dry season or outside of the cooler season. They are abandoned at birth and fully independent.

Babies can reach maturity quickly owning to the very small size of every species, within a few months and just under a year for the largest species. They have a very similar diet to the adults, though consume more gnats in their first few weeks of life. Many gnats and other tiny flies (such as hessian flies and their now many descendants) live in close association with plants and flowers, so they are not too difficult for the young lizards to find.

 Even though they may only take a few months to mature, reproduction might not commence until the next most productive season, depending on the species. Females may at first seem like unwilling participants in the reproductive process, but they are just picky. She will allow a male to mate with her if he has successfully fought off other males, often by wrestling them off the leaves or stalks they are grasping onto. It's a game of last male standing. Males have larger jaws to bite and grab hold of each other to wrestle. Aside from this visual differences between males and females are only slight, usually indicated by some seemingly insignificant difference in markings.

Other: Their longer limbs relative to their body size and long toes help them to hang on to thin delicate stalks so that they can reach their nectar food source, which is within the delicate flowers at the end of such stalks. Their broad toes have a slight adhesive quality which works best on the smooth surfaces of leaves, which is another means by which they can access flowers, by gripping on to leaves in proximity to the flowers. Some species also rest on leaves to warm up and align their darker coloured spine with the main vein of a leaf, using their green camouflage to blend in and avoid being snatched up by a predator. Other species are not as green, instead specked with the various floral colours of their environment.

This is a very diverse family of lizards with variations in size, limb length and colour depending on their habitat and the availability of the types of flowers in that environment. Species in slightly drier habitats tend to consume more invertebrate prey, as a dry season limits the availability of flowers and fruits for a time of the year.