The Gold Dust Day Gecko can be found in a variety of habitats, but is absent from denser forest regions. Palms and banana trees are the preferred vegetation, but they can also be found on traveller's palm (Ravenala madagascariensis), smaller deciduous trees, and often in gardens and on houses. It is an egg-laying species.

This species is native to northern Madagascar. The nominate subspecies is also found in Anjouan and the French Department of Mayotte, both within the Comoros archipelago, where it is presumed to represent a recent introduction (Rocha et al. 2007). It has been recorded from the coral islands of Farquhar and Providence in the southern Seychelles; as these are the closest of the Seychelles islands to Madagascar it is unclear whether this represents a natural colonization or a human introduction (Gerlach 2008). It has also been introduced to Réunion (N. Cole pers. comm. July 2011), Hawaii (Rocha et al. 2007) and French Polynesia (Ota and Ineich 2006), and recently also to Mauritius (N. Cole pers. comm. July 2011). On Madagascar the nominate subspecies has been recorded from a range of sites including Ambanja (Rocha et al. 2009), Ambilobe (Glaw and Vences 2007), Antalaha (Rocha et al. 2009), Antsohiy (Glaw and Vences 2007), Cap Est (Glaw and Vences 2007), Lokobe (Andreone et al. 2003), Manongarivo (Raxworthy 1988), Marojejy (Raselimanana et al. 2000), Nosy Faly (Glaw and Vences 2007), Nosy Komba (Glaw and Vences 2007), Nosy Mitsio (Andreone et al. 2003) and Sambava (Glaw and Vences 2007).  The subspecies P. l. angularis occurs along the northwestern coastal plain of Madagascar.

The gold dust day gecko presumably occurs in some protected areas in Madagascar. It is included on Appendix II of CITES. The origin of the Seychelles population requires clarification.

McKeown, Sean. A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians in the Hawaiian Islands. Diamond Head Publishing Company, 1996