Invasive Burmese pythons (Python bivittatus) have introduced a nonnative pentastomid parasite (Raillietiella orientalis) to southern Florida that has spilled over to infect native snakes. However, the extent of spillover, regarding prevalence and intensity, is unknown. We examined native snakes (n = 523) and invasive pythons (n = 1003) collected from Florida to determine the degree to which parasite spillover is occurring. We found R. orientalis has infected 13 species of native snakes collected from areas of sympatry with pythons. Prevalence and infection intensity of R. orientalis were significantly higher among native snakes compared with pythons. Moreover, adult female pentastomes achieved larger sizes and represented a greater proportion of the overall parasite population in native snakes vs. pythons, indicating native snakes are more competent hosts of R. orientalis than pythons. We also examined native snakes from regions of allopatry with pythons to determine how far R. orientalis has spread. We found an infected native snake 348 km north of the northernmost infected python. Our data show that native snakes are highly competent hosts of R. orientalis and have facilitated the rapid spread of this nonnative pentastome beyond the range of its invasive host.

中文翻译：

---

高能力的本地蛇宿主将其引入的寄生虫的范围扩展到其侵入性缅甸蟒蛇宿主之外

侵入性缅甸蟒蛇（Python bivittatus）向佛罗里达州南部引入了一种非原生五氧化碳寄生虫（Raillietiella Orientalis），该寄生虫已溢出并感染了本地蛇。但是，关于发生率和强度的溢出程度尚不清楚。我们检查 了从佛罗里达收集的原生蛇（n  = 523）和侵入性蟒蛇（n = 1003），以确定发生寄生虫溢出的程度。我们发现东方侧柏已经用蟒蛇感染了从共生区域收集的13种本地蛇。东方R.的流行和感染强度与蟒蛇相比，在本地蛇中明显更高。此外，成年雌性五瓣组达到更大的尺寸，并在原生蛇与蟒蛇中代表了总体寄生虫种群的更大比例，这表明原生蛇比东方蟒蛇更能胜任东方侧柏。我们还用蟒蛇检查了来自异养区域的本地蛇，以确定东方罗非鱼的传播范围。我们在最北部受感染的蟒蛇以北348公里处发现了一条受感染的本地蛇。我们的数据表明，本地蛇是东方罗汉果的高能力宿主，并且已经促进了这种非本地化五角星形的快速传播，超出了其侵入宿主的范围。