Canterbury gecko are omnivores and mainly eat small invertebrates such as moths and flies, fruit, in particular from the Coprosma spp.
and some nectar from flowers.

Most New Zealand native lizard species are omnivorous, eating a range of arthropods and sometimes other lizards and berries, or even nectar and pollen from flowers.
Woodworthia cf.
brunnea geckos are primarily insectivores (e.g. eating moths and flies) but will also feed on fruit (berries).
New Zealand gecko species are known to drink nectar from many native plants such as cabbage trees, flax, southern rātā and pōhutukawa, and likely play a minor role in the pollination of these species too.
Divaricating plant species such as mingimingi (Coprosma propinqua) produce small black/blue berries that are a favourite of lizards.
In the paper ‘The role of lizards as seed dispersers in New Zealand’ it was suggested that New Zealand lizards are “effective dispersers, and white-blue fruits and divaricating shrubs are adapted to lizard dispersal”.
They found that lizards eat the fruits of around 23 native species, of which five are divaricating, and favour white-blue fruits to red, even though these are less present in the flora.
White-blue fruits are often found in open habitats, which can be near the rocky habitat of the Woodworthia cf.
brunnea.
It was also discovered that “Seeds in lizard scats have germination percentages≤control seeds in four species tested.
Lizards generally disperse seeds < 20 m, but allow seeds to escape parent plants and reach safe establishment sites.”
They concluded that lizards may be important seed dispersers even at their low numbers on the mainland, and potentially assist in the dispersal of more seeds than previously imagined: “In shrublands lacking frugivorous birds, lizards may be the only remaining dispersers”.

Lizard species vary their behaviour according to weather or habitat opportunities: when it is cold, they may remain inactive or employ the “sit and wait” method for food, and in warmer weather, they may roam their habitats in search of food.
Hare, Pledger, Thompson, Miller, & Daugherty studied the metabolic rate of nocturnal Diplodactylidae species in New Zealand emerging for either foraging or thermoregulating through most of the day and found that “their Vo2 [rate of oxygen consumption] is usually elevated only during the active (foraging) phase.
̇Thus, many nocturnal lizards are active at suboptimal temperatures and emergent and thermoregulating when their metabolic rate is low.”
Although it was noted that as their metabolic rate would increase with the “corresponding increase in temperature from diurnal thermoregulation,” that the lower metabolic rate during the day may not be significant to their physiology.
Canterbury gecko are omnivores and mainly eat small invertebrates such as moths and flies, fruit, in particular from the Coprosma spp. and some nectar from flowers.
Most New Zealand native lizard species are omnivorous, eating a range of arthropods and sometimes other lizards and berries, or even nectar and pollen from flowers. Woodworthia cf. brunnea geckos are primarily insectivores (e.g. eating moths and flies) but will also feed on fruit (berries). New Zealand gecko species are known to drink nectar from many native plants such as cabbage trees, flax, southern rātā and pōhutukawa, and likely play a minor role in the pollination of these species too. Divaricating plant species such as mingimingi (Coprosma propinqua) produce small black/blue berries that are a favourite of lizards. In the paper ‘The role of lizards as seed dispersers in New Zealand’ it was suggested that New Zealand lizards are “effective dispersers, and white-blue fruits and divaricating shrubs are adapted to lizard dispersal”. They found that lizards eat the fruits of around 23 native species, of which five are divaricating, and favour white-blue fruits to red, even though these are less present in the flora. White-blue fruits are often found in open habitats, which can be near the rocky habitat of the Woodworthia cf. brunnea. It was also discovered that “Seeds in lizard scats have germination percentages≤control seeds in four species tested. Lizards generally disperse seeds < 20 m, but allow seeds to escape parent plants and reach safe establishment sites.” They concluded that lizards may be important seed dispersers even at their low numbers on the mainland, and potentially assist in the dispersal of more seeds than previously imagined: “In shrublands lacking frugivorous birds, lizards may be the only remaining dispersers”.
Lizard species vary their behaviour according to weather or habitat opportunities: when it is cold, they may remain inactive or employ the “sit and wait” method for food, and in warmer weather, they may roam their habitats in search of food. Hare, Pledger, Thompson, Miller, & Daugherty studied the metabolic rate of nocturnal Diplodactylidae species in New Zealand emerging for either foraging or thermoregulating through most of the day and found that “their Vo2 [rate of oxygen consumption] is usually elevated only during the active (foraging) phase. ̇Thus, many nocturnal lizards are active at suboptimal temperatures and emergent and thermoregulating when their metabolic rate is low.” Although it was noted that as their metabolic rate would increase with the “corresponding increase in temperature from diurnal thermoregulation,” that the lower metabolic rate during the day may not be significant to their physiology.
Canterbury gecko