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#parasites

4 public questions tagged with this topic.

SPECIES INTERACTION

Parasitoids differ from parasites in that they:

Parasitoids develop in or on a single host and normally require that host's death to complete their life cycle. Many parasitoid wasps lay eggs in caterpillars or other arthropods; larvae consume host tissues progressively, often delaying lethal damage until development is nearly complete. Typical parasites exploit a host for resources but generally gain from keeping it alive long enough for repeated feeding or transmission, so host death is not an obligatory endpoint. Parasitoids may be internal or external, and they certainly harm rather than coexist harmlessly with hosts. Their combination o

Ref: Ecology: From Individuals to Ecosystems, Begon et al., 5th Ed., Ch. 8-13

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Ecosystem Pyramid

In which ecosystem can the pyramid of numbers be inverted?

A forest can display an inverted or spindle-shaped pyramid of numbers because a small number of large trees support many herbivorous insects, birds, epiphytes, and parasites. Counting individuals ignores body size, so one massive producer may sustain thousands of much smaller consumers. Higher predator levels may again contain fewer individuals, creating a spindle profile rather than a simple monotonic inversion. This does not violate energetic constraints: producer biomass and production can still exceed the energy transferred to consumers. Higher trophic levels are often vulnerable because l

Ref: Fundamentals of Ecology, Odum & Barrett, 5th Ed., Ch. 3

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