Meeting Abstract

111.3  Tuesday, Jan. 7 08:30  Blood parasites and the side-blotched lizards: do the parasites drive negative frequency dependent cycles of three throat color morphs? PARANJPE, D.A.*; MEDINA, D.; COOPER, R.; SINERVO, B.; Univ. of California, Santa Cruz; Univ. of California, Santa Cruz; Univ. of California, Santa Cruz; Univ. of California, Santa Cruz dhana4shree@gmail.com

We report, for the first time, the occurrence of malarial parasite ““Plasmodium mexicanum”” along with another apicomplexan parasite ““Schellackia “” sp. in the side blotched lizard ““Uta stansburiana”“. The effects of parasites on host behavior, physiology, fitness and population dynamics were investigated using multiple years data. In a laboratory thermal gradient, infected lizards showed lower temperature preference than uninfected individuals. Moreover, infected lizards were not able to thermo-regulate as precisely as uninfected lizards. The parasites did not affect reproductive output of females. However, the parasites may be partially responsible for driving the negative frequency dependent population cycles of male throat color morphs in this system. This previously unknown host-parasite system may shed some light on how parasites can influence host population by multiple ways.