Within the United Arab Emirates, this species is widespread throughout the sandy desert and gravel plains from sea level to 199 m asl. It is generally found in coastal areas and associated with man (Gardner 2013). Isolated records exist of the species at higher elevation from 900 to 1,000 m asl. It is also known from Dalma and Sir Bani Yas islands of the United Arab Emirates (Gardner 2013, Burriel-Carranza et al. in press). Within the UAE, this species also appears to be associated with development and urbanisation in parts of its range.The natural range of this species is not clear since it appears to have been introduced over much of its range (S. Baha El Din pers. comm. 2009). Populations on the African coast have almost certainly been introduced (Largen and Spawls 2010) and the only report from Eritrea is that of von Heyden (1827), so there is considerable doubt about whether the species still persists there. The current global range (Sindaco and Jeremäenko 2008) of this species is from Eritrea, through Sudan (where it was reported from Port Sudan; Loveridge 1947), Egypt (Flower 1933), Israel (introduced to Eilat; Hoofien 1995, Dolev and Perevelotsky 2002, Werner 1987), southwestern and northeastern Jordan (Sindaco et al. 1995, Disi et al. 2001, Disi 2002), eastern Syria (Disi and Böhme 1996, Martens 1997), Turkey (southeast Anatolia only; Baran and Atatür 1998, Sindaco et al. 2000), most of Iraq, western and southwestern Iran (Anderson 1999), northwestern, northern and eastern Saudi Arabia (with isolated central populations), southwestern Yemen, Kuwait, Qatar, northern United Arab Emirates, eastern and southern Oman (van der Kooij 2000, Carranza et al. 2018), eastwards to Afghanistan (Leviton and Anderson 1963), Pakistan (Baig 1998, Baig et al. 2008, Masroor 2009, Rais et al. 2015) and India (Pardeshi et al. 2010, Vyas 2011). It has also been introduced to the USA (Texas) where it is currently believed to be expanding its range. This species can be found from sea level to 1,800 m asl.