Highly competent native snake hosts extend the range of an introduced parasite beyond its invasive Burmese python host

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....