The influence of trap placement on capture rate is poorly documented in herpetological studies and requires consideration, because optimizing trap sets can increase detectability of target species and improve capture rates generally. We conducted pitfall trapping for four species of terrestrial lizard in duneland, shrubland and farmland on Kaitorete Spit (South Island, New Zealand). Over 4,800 trap-days, 536 captures of 401 lizards were made. Five microhabitat factors were measured and tested for their ability to influence capture rates of Oligosoma maccanni and Oligosoma nigriplantare polychroma. Generalized linear mixed models revealed that the strongest overall influence on capture rate was the distance separating pitfall traps from the nearest cover (the greater the distance, the lower the capture rate). Weaker, positive influences on capture rate included the amount of vegetation cover surrounding traps and the presence of divaricating shrub and vine species, with some correlations between variables. Capture rates of O. maccanni and O. n. polychroma were highest in duneland and farmland, respectively. Our results show that simple measures such as placing pitfall traps close to cover, will improve capture rates for at least some species of New Zealand endemic skinks. Where such relationships are known in advance, trap placement may be deliberately manipulated to increase capture rates and standardized between sites to improve the validity of using capture rates as indices of relative density. Further research is needed to assess the effect of trap placement for other species and in relation to other factors that influence capture rates.