Intraspecific variability of the quantity of postnasal and loreal scales оf the sand lizard (Lacerta agilis) from the western Poland

Background. The sand lizard Lacerta agilis (Linnaeus, 1758) is widespread throughout Eurasia. So far, several of its subspecies have been described, but only ten of them have been officially recognized. There are two subspecies in Poland: L. agilis agilis and L. agilis argus, but their exact range has not been determined yet. One of the main features that is officially considered an acceptable taxonomic index is the triangular arrangement (1/2) of two postnasal scales (scuta postnasalia) and one loreal scale (scuta frenale). However, in many L. agilis populations, significant deviations from the typical pattern of these scales were found. Methods. 607 sand lizards were caught. 170 in Żary, 150 in Zielona Góra, and 287 in Nowa Sól. The lizards were caught by hand. Their age, sex (adult female, adult male, or juvenile specimens) and the number of sc. postnasalia and sc. frenale were determined. Detailed photographic documentation of each individual was also made. Results. A typical arrangement of postnasal scales and a loreal scale was obser­ved in 83 % of the lizards from Żary, 78.6 % lizards from Zielona Góra and 77 % lizards from Nowa Sól. The most common deviations from the pattern 1/2 occurred in the lizards from Nowa Sól. Their biggest variations related to as many as 9 deviations (1/0, 1/1, 1/3, 2/0, 2/1, 2/2, 2/3, 2/7 and 3/2). 25 % of changes in the arrangement of the scales were detected in males, 27 % of changes were observed in females, and 16 % in juveniles. The 2/2 arrangement was the most common. The lizards from Zielona Góra had the smallest variation of deviations as they occurred only in two patterns, namely 1/1, 1/2 with equal frequency. The scale arrangements that have been described occurred in 25 % of males, 27 % of females and 14 % of juveniles. In lizards from Żary, the changes related to four patterns of deviations. Specifically, the 1/1, 2/1, 2/2 and 3/2, and 2/2 pattern was the most common. Various scale arrangements were observed within the same population in 20 % of males, 15 % of females and 17 % of juveniles. No differences in the occurrence of deviations among the populations (χ2 = 10.83, df = 10, P = 0.37) and between females and males (χ2 = 9.97, df = 1, P = 0.99) were observed, however, considerable differences between adults and juveniles (χ2 = 4.60, df = 1, P = 0.032) were noticed. Conclusion. The results confirmed the observations of other scientists who poin­ted to a considerable variation in the morphology of sc. postnasalia and sc. frenale in the sand lizards. It was stated that the number and the arrangement of the aforementioned scales is not a reliable and consistent feature that can always be applied in order to consistently identify L. agilis in western Poland

Location of invasive Red-eared slider (Trachemys scripta elegans) (Wied, 1838) in Zachodniopomorskie Province (NW Poland)

Wody Polski zasiedla jeden rodzimy gatunek żółwi - żółw błotny (Emys orbicularis Linnaeus, 1758), którego najczęściej izolowane populacje na terenie niemal całej Europy sukcesywnie zmniejszają swoje zasięgi. Oprócz powszechnej i postępującej degradacji ich wodnych oraz lądowych siedlisk, w obrębie niektórych stanowisk na ich kondycję wpływa także pojawienie się obcych gatunków zwierząt, w tym żółwia czerwonolicego (Trachemys scripta elegans Wied, 1838). W artykule przedstawiono wyniki obserwacji miejsc bytowania żółwi czerwonolicych na terenie województwa zachodniopomorskiego poczynione w latach 2008-2015. Dotychczas gatunek ten znany był ze stanowisk zlokalizowanych na terenie niemal całej Polski, ale brak było konkretnych doniesień o jego bytowaniu w północno-zachodniej części kraju. W ostatnich latach w tej części kraju notuje się wzrost liczby doniesień stwierdzających występowanie tego gatunku. Dokonane obserwacje uzupełniają informacje na temat rozmieszczenia tego gatunku w Polsce.Polish waters populated by a native species of turtles - pond turtle (Emys orbicularis Linnaeus, 1758), who is the most isolated population in nearly all European countries gradually reduce their ranges. In addition to the universal and progressive degradation of water and land habitats within certain positions on their condition also affects the appearance of alien species, including red - eared slider (Trachemys scripta elegans Wied, 1838). The article presents the results of observations of living red - eared slider in West Pomerania province made in 2008-2015. So far, this species was known for his positions located throughout almost the entire Poland, but there were no specific reports of its be-ing in the northwestern part of the country. In recent years in this part of Poland there has been an increase in the number of reports of the occurrence of this species. The observations are supplemented by information on the distribution of this species in Poland

Ectoparasitism of castor bean ticks Ixodes ricinus (Linnaeus, 1758) on sand lizards Lacerta agilis (Linnaeus, 1758) in western Poland

Background. Over 700 species of ticks are characterised by moderate to high host specificity, and a handful by very high host specificity, parasitizing upon a single host species. The rest are not host specific. One of them is the castor bean tick, which parasitizes all available terrestrial vertebrates including humans. Poland lacks tick species that are reptile-specific, since, as reported by K. Siuda (1993), these ectoparasites generally prefer endotherms, namely birds and mammals. However, the literature reports that the prevalence of castor bean tick infestation of local sand lizard populations is as high as 13.2 % – 40.4 %. Observations of different authors also indicate that outside the period of regular tick appearance on lizards, individual lizards can have very high tick loads, varying between several to over 100. Materials and Methods. The research was conducted in three separate study areas in western Poland: Żary, Zielona Góra and Nowa Sól. 606 specimens of sand lizards were captured, analysed and photographed. 222 (36.6 %) of them were infested with ticks. With each capture ticks were checked and removed. The lizards were caught by hand. Inter-group two-way and three-way ANOVA and Pearson correlation coefficients were calculated with the use of IBM SPSS Statistics 23 software. Threshold of statistical significance was set to α = 0.05. Results. In total 1339 ticks were obtained from lizards, all of which were castor bean ticks (Ixodes ricinus). 914 (68.2 %) were larvae, 424 (31.7 %) were nymphs and 1 (0.1 %) was an adult female. The highest number of ticks (778) was collected from lizards at Żary site. The most infested male from Żary was parasitized upon by 55 ticks, from Zielona Góra – by 46 and from Nowa Sól – by 15. In regard to females these numbers were 36, 34 and 15, respectively. The average infestation (defined as number of ticks) was higher for lizards from Żary than for those from Zielona Góra (p &lt; 0.001) and Nowa Sól (p &lt; 0.001), which also differed from each other in a statistically significant way (p = 0.001). Main effect of sex/age group turned out to be statistically significant, F(2.796) = 67.75; p &lt; 0.001; η2 = 0.15. Hence post-hoc analysis was carried out and showed that males carried higher number of ticks than females and juveniles (p &lt; 0.001). Females, on the other hand, carried more ticks than juveniles (p &lt; 0.001). Conclusion. The research confirmed a significant role of sand lizards in propagation of Ixodes ricinus. It was shown that lizards were affected mainly by early develop­mental stages of ticks. The prevalence of tick infestation was 36.6 % – 58.1 % for Żary, 28.1 % for Zielona Góra and 13.8 % for Nowa Sól. The average tick load on sand lizards was 2.5 individuals. The highest number of them was collected from 58.5 % of males, 36.4 % of females and 5.1 % of juveniles. High tick infestation of males can be explained by their higher mobility, especially during mating season.</jats:p