The invasive brown anole (Anolis sagrei) in Florida might have been defending people from mosquito borne illnesses as as soon as the insect bites a brown anole, it now not must chunk people. However that could be altering as one other invasive reptile, the Peter’s rock agama (Agama picticauda) reduces the inhabitants of the brown anole.
This shift within the brown anole inhabitants to a bigger and extra prevalent Peter’s rock agama inhabitants might trigger mosquito-borne illnesses to develop into extra prevalent in people, in line with researchers with the College of Florida/IFAS Florida Medical Entomology Laboratory (FMEL). Mosquitos don’t chunk Peter’s rock agamas as they sleep in areas the place the mosquitos gained’t go.
“This battle over Florida territory by two lizard species could appear minor, given the myriad of issues that Florida faces from different invaders akin to Burmese pythons,” Nathan Burkett-Cadena, affiliate professor on the UF/IFAS Florida Medical Entomology Laboratory (FMEL) mentioned in a blogpost on the College of Florida/FMEL web site. “Nonetheless, this reptile rumpus may have implications for public well being.”
The mosquito Culex.erraticus biting a brown anole in Florida. Photograph by Nathan Burkett-Cadena, affiliate professor on the UF/IFAS Florida Medical Entomology Laboratory
Scientists will conduct a one 12 months research on how the lizards are influencing mosquito borne illnesses akin to West Nile virus, St. Louis encephalitis and Easter Equine encephalitis are unfold. The research is known as “Invasive lizard-mediated threat of mosquito-borne pathogen transmission,” and is one in every of seven funded with a $350,000 grant from the college’s Invasion Science Analysis Institute.
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“It’s attainable that brown anole lizards have been unwittingly and unintentionally defending us from West Nile virus and another mosquito-transmitted illnesses,” mentioned Burkett-Cadena. Burkett-Cadena is the principal investigator of the research. “Any time a mosquito bites a lizard, it doesn’t chunk a fowl or a human. This might lead to fewer circumstances of mosquito-borne illness, as a result of birds are pure hosts of some harmful mosquito-transmitted viruses.”
