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I hypothesized that tick infestation reduces male S. occidentalis, but mechanisms linking physiological changes to ultimate fitness consequences have been largely underexplored. pacificus infestation has been shown to have negative physiological impacts on S. In Chapter 2, I explored how tick attachment affects male S. Unsurprisingly, the most reliable predictor of tick intensity and site selection was the season. There was a negative correlation between infestation intensity and the proportion of ticks attached in nuchal pockets. Although the general pattern, lab-reared ticks were more varied in the sites on which they fed. As expected, ticks acquired by lizards naturally concentrated inside nuchal pockets, and I also observed this site preference among ticks in lab-based experimental infestations.

Contrary to expectation, no host traits correlated with tick intensity among ticks naturally infesting lizards, and lab-reared larval intensity was negatively correlated with lizard body size. pacificus larvae, and again quantified tick intensity and attachment location. After determining the site of infestation and intensity of ticks on these lizards, I re-infested lizards with laboratory-reared I. occidentalis territorial behavior and subadult I. occidentalis in the spring and summer, which is the seasonal peak for both S. I therefore also looked for factors correlating with tick attachment in these pockets.

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Skin folds on the necks of these lizards (nuchal pockets) may function to divert ectoparasites away from eyes, ears, and other potentially vulnerable structures. In this chapter, I also focused on site selection by ticks infesting S. Specifically, I predicted that larger and more colorful males would have higher infestation intensities than less impressive animals. I therefore hypothesized that lizard traits that correlate with dominance would also correlate with infestation intensity. occidentalis system suggests that differences in behavior, such as the frequency of territorial patrols, may contribute to variation in tick intensity among lizards. Infection intensity (parasites per host) is often highly variable within a host population, though certain individuals, such as males, tend to be more heavily infected. In Chapter 1, I investigated factors correlating with the intensity of I. My study focused on two aspects of the I. occidentalis for blood meals in its subadult stages, and this lizard possesses an innate immune response that removes the Lyme disease pathogen from attached ticks.

pacificus, a vector of the Lyme disease spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi, is dependent on S. The western blacklegged tick-western fence lizard (Ixodes pacificus-Sceloporus occidentalis) system is important, primarily because I. Yet basic questions, such as the degree of virulence of a given parasite on its host, and factors influencing which hosts in a population are at the greatest risk of infection, are vexingly difficult to resolve. Parasites often have profound effects on the survival and evolution of their hosts, and hence on the structure and health of entire ecosystems. Species identity is therefore critical in understanding and determining the local disease ecology. Lizards, which are refractory to Borrelia infection, are important in feeding subadult ticks but reduce disease risk (nymphal infection prevalence). The western gray squirrel (Sciurus griseus) was the only source of infected nymphs. pacificus nymphs was 1.8-5.3%, and our host-community model estimated an infection prevalence of 1.6-2.2%. Here, we model the host (lizards, Peromyscus mice, Californian meadow voles, dusky-footed wood rats, and western gray squirrels), vector, and pathogen community of oak woodlands in northwestern California to determine the relative importance of different tick hosts. Several mammalian species serve as reservoir hosts of the spirochete, but levels of tick infestation, reservoir competence, and Borrelia-infection prevalence vary widely among such hosts. In the state of California, U.S.A., the spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi, which causes Lyme disease, is transmitted between vertebrate hosts by the western black-legged tick, Ixodes pacificus. Vector-borne zoonotic diseases are often maintained in complex transmission cycles involving multiple vertebrate hosts and their arthropod vectors.