Abstract
In this study we assessed interactions among Komodo dragon Varanus komodoensis populations, individual Komodo dragons and two tick parasites Amblyomma robinsoni and Aponomma komodoense to assess variation in host-parasite aggregations. Prevalence of ticks was uniformly high (> 98%) but median tick abundance varied 3.52 fold among 9 host lizard populations. There was no evidence to suggest that average tick abundances were correlated with genetic similarities (Rm = 0.133, P = 0.446) or geographic proximities (Rm = 0.175 P=0.303) among host populations. Temporal concordance in tick abundance was measured for host populations between two different years but not for the individual hosts within these populations. General linearized modelling indicated that ≈ 23% of host variation in tick abundance was positively correlated to a multivariate function incorporating lizard body size, body condition, their interactions, and habitat differences. The covariates of host population density and inbreeding coefficients,...
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