Set out on a hike at Florida’s Tiger Creek Protect, and it gained’t be lengthy earlier than you see a small brown lizard scuttle by means of the undergrowth. And whereas a few of them is likely to be the ever present brown anole, an launched species from Cuba, others benefit nearer inspection.
The darkish lateral stripe alongside the lizard’s physique is likely to be your first clue. Or the chunky head. Or perhaps the brilliant flash of turquoise on its flanks. It’s a Florida scrub lizard.
For those who maintain climbing by means of the pines and oak hummocks, you’ll see extra scrub lizards scurry alongside in your wake. And a few of them — along with brown stripes and turquoise splotches — might need small crimson patches behind their ears.
These splashes of coloration aren’t a part of the lizard’s regular coloration; they’re indicators of a mite infestation. And scientists working at The Nature Conservancy’s Tiger Creek Protect are utilizing lizard robots — sure, robots — making an attempt to determine if these mites helped lizards appeal to a mate.
Lizards of the Scrub
The Florida scrub lizard, Sceloporus woodi, is a small, brown lizard present in Central Florida. It’s certainly one of almost 100 lizards within the Sceloporus genus, however most of these species stay within the American southwest and Mexico. The Florida scrub lizard is certainly one of solely two Sceloporus species discovered within the Sunshine State, the place it lives in oak and sand-pine scrub ecosystems.
For those who see a Florida scrub lizard scurry previous you on a climbing path, you may discover their grey-brown scales and darkish lateral stripe working alongside the edges of their physique. Males even have brilliant turquoise patches on their bellies and throats. However should you look nearer, you’ll see that some lizards have crimson markings simply behind their ear openings.
“They’ve these little pockets on the facet of their neck, like a kangaroo pouch, they usually’re full of brilliant crimson, vibrant-colored mites,” explains Hope Abercrombie, a researcher at Arizona State College who’s finding out Sceloporus lizards and their relationships with numerous parasites, like ticks and mites. Abercrombie explains that the pouches advanced individually on completely different clades of lizards, however nobody actually is aware of why a lizard would evolve one thing that makes it simpler for a parasite to stay upon it.
One concept, which she’s at the moment testing as a part of her PhD analysis, is that the mites confer some kind of sexual benefit. “Possibly it’s utilizing these brilliant crimson mites like jewellery,” she says, as a means for females to promote that they’re wholesome and match, as a result of they will stand up to excessive parasite hundreds. “And she or he can be extra fascinating to mate with than a feminine with out the mites.”
To check that concept, Abercrombie constructed a lizard robotic.
Sceloporus lizards work together with members of the other intercourse by way of each chemical and show signaling. Males and feminine will do a sequence of lizard push-ups to draw each other’s consideration. So to imitate a sexually receptive feminine, Abercrombie made a silicone lizard connected to a robotic field that may be programmed to imitate the precise push-up sequence of a feminine S. woodi.
Abercrombie painted one robotic lizard with crimson behind the ears, to imitate a mite infestation, and a second robotic with gray paint. She then set out on the paths at Tiger Creek, finding wild S. woodi males after which seeing which robotic they have been extra drawn to.
Sadly, these first experiments didn’t go to plan. “Typically the male lizard was fearful of it, as a result of the robots are a bit bit greater than the females on the market, so it appears to be like like a monster lizard in his territory.”
Undeterred, Abercrombie ditched the robots and began catching stay lizard females. After a mealworm snack, she painted the edges of their necks with non-toxic paint and connected tiny harnesses to the lizards. Then she repeated the experiment, testing to see which feminine lizards the males have been extra drawn to, ones painted crimson (to imitate mites) or ones painted gray (as a management).
Her preliminary outcomes, which must be supported by further seasons of information, counsel that the males have been extra drawn to females with the mite-mimicking paint.
Defending the Lake Wales Ridge
Abercrombie’s connection to her examine web site started lengthy earlier than her PhD; she spent a part of her childhood in Florida, and would spend her free time climbing. “I spent numerous time at Tiger Creek, and I remembered seeing so many Sceloporus there,” she says. “So after I began my PhD the one actual connection I needed to this lizard was from seeing them at Tiger Creek, and it was the plain place to do my fieldwork.”
Go to Tiger Creek Protect
Be taught extra about Tiger Creek Protect, the place you may hike by means of pinelands on certainly one of Florida’s historic islands
Tiger Creek Protect protects almost 5,000 acres of land on Florida’s Lake Wales Ridge, an historic island as soon as separated from the mainland by a shallow sea. In the present day it lives on as a sandy-soiled ridge working up south-central Florida like a backbone, and is the very best landmass on Florida’s mainland.
The ridge’s interval of isolation from the mainland resulted in a plethora of endemic species. However this distinctive ecological group can be extremely threatened. The Lake Wales Ridge has one of many highest concentrations of threatened and endangered crops and animals in the whole nation.
Tiger Creek is known as after the blackwater stream that flows by means of the property. It protects hardwood swamps, hammocks, pine flatwoods, and each sandhill and longleaf pine / wiregrass habitats. Together with the Florida scrub lizard, guests can see species like gopher tortoise, swallow-tailed kites, and bobcats.
Abercrombie hopes to return to Tiger Creek subsequent 12 months to collect extra knowledge on how mite infestations may affect mate choice. Her work is a part of a rising physique of analysis how parasites can affect animal habits, and probably mutualistic relationships between parasites, hosts, and the broader ecosystem.
She additionally hopes to run experiments testing if the mites have an effect on which lizards are preyed upon by birds of prey, just like the red-shouldered hawk. “Birds are very visible creatures,” she says, “so I’m curious if lizards with mites are preyed upon otherwise.”
Till then, Abercrombie’s painted silicone lizards will sit on her shelf, ready for her subsequent discipline season at Tiger Creek.
Tiger Creek Protect is part of The Nature Conservancy’s Heart for Conservation Initiatives (CCI) that helps to activate Florida’s preserves to raise science, stewardship, training, and outreach. CCI and Tiger Creek Protect workers are delighted to have this analysis about such a particular a part of the habitat we’re conserving. To be taught extra about Tiger Creek Protect and TNC’s Heart for Conservation Initiatives, go to www.nature.org/CCI
