8.

1 Parasites/Parasitoids
 These parasitic insects are very small wasps in several families of the order
Hymenoptera.
 Parasitic insects (also known as parasites and parasitoids) are insects whose
immature stages (larvae) develop by feeding on or in the bodies of their host
arthropods, which are usually other insects.
 Parasites are about the same size as their hosts, or smaller.
Host: The organism attacked and used as a food source by the parasite. The
recipient of the protagonist's action. Equivalent to a prey used by a predator.
 Unlike true zoological parasites, parasitic insects kill their hosts.
 Parasitic insects are unique, because it is the immature stages that kill the host.
 Nearly all parasite/parasitoid immatures develop on or in a single host.
 Each parasite larva can attack only one host.
• Endoparasites
• Ectoparasites
• Solitary parasite
• Gregarious parasite
• Hyperparasites

 Parasites are holometabolous, having complete development (egg, larval, pupal

and adult stages).
 Adult parasites are free living; some species will feed on hosts (predators), in
addition to ovipositing in or on the hosts.
 In the world of parasites, only females are significant players, as they are the
ones that find and attack hosts. For some species, males are not known to exist.
 The number of species of parasites is unknown and speculative, ranging from an
estimate of 800,000 to as many as 25% of all insects.

Parasitoid types
Parasitoids are usually defined by:
1. The feeding habit of the immature stage
(egg, larval, pupal parasite, etc.).
2. Place of Oviposition: where the egg is laid
 o inside the host = endoparasite
o outside the host = ectoparasite
3. Whether one or more parasite progeny emerge from the host (solitary vs.
gregarious).
4. Host-parasitoid interactions.  

1. The feeding habit of the immature stage:

 Egg parasite: Parasite adult attacks the host egg, and the parasite progeny
emerge from the egg.
 Egg-larval parasite: Parasite adult attacks the host egg, but the parasite
progeny emerge from the larva.
 Larval parasite: Parasite adult attacks the host larva, and the parasite progeny
emerge from the larva.
 Larval-pupal parasite: Parasite adult attacks the host larva, but the parasite
progeny emerge from the pupa.
 Pupal parasite: Parasite adult attacks the host pupa, and the parasite progeny
emerge from the pupa.
2. Place of oviposition:
 Ectoparasite (External Parasite): Parasite develops externally on the host with
its mouthparts inserted into the host's body.
 Endoparasite (Internal Parasite): Parasite larva develops inside the host's body.
3. Number of parasites’ progenies that emerge from the host :
 Parasite species load: The number of parasite species that usually attack a
host species.
 Hosts range: The number of host species that are usually attacked and utilized
successfully by a parasite species.
Number of parasites’ progenies :
a. Gregarious parasite: Multiple parasite eggs are deposited, the larvae feed
together on a single host, and multiple parasite offspring emerge.
b. Solitary parasite: Only one parasite egg is deposited per oviposition event and
generally only one progeny emerges from the host.
c. Polyembryonic parasite: Many (up to several thousand) parasites emerge from
a host, having arisen from asexual division of one or two parasite eggs.
 Restricted to four families of parasitic Hymenoptera (Braconidae, Dryinidae,
Encyrtidae, Platygastridae).
d. Multiparasitism: A single host is attacked by more than one species of parasites, and
the second parasite species feeds on the original host, not the other parasite species.
e. Superparasitism: Several females of one species of parasite attack the same host, or
one female oviposits more than one egg, with only one egg laid at a time. Often, only
one progeny will survive. This is not the same as gregarious parasitism, where a single
female lays many eggs in one oviposition bout.

 4. Host-parasite interactions:

a) Primary parasite: The parasite attacks and develops in or on a host, and that
host is not another parasite.
b) Cleptoparasite: A parasite that requires a host to be parasitized already.
c) Facultative hyperparasite: Can develop either as a hyperparasite in a host
already parasitized by a primary parasite, or it can develop as a primary parasite
in an un-parasitized host.
d) Heteronomous parasite (Autoparasite and Adelphoparasite): Females develop
as primary parasites of homopterans (whiteflies, scales), but males develop as a
hyperparasite of female primary parasites of homopterans.
e) Heterotrophic parasite: The female is a primary parasite of homopterans, but
the male is an obligate parasite of a completely different host, such as eggs of
Lepidoptera.
f) Idiobiont parasite: Parasite prevents continued growth by the host. Hosts are
often paralysed. Often egg, pupal, and adult parasites.
g) Koinobiont parasite: Parasite allows continued growth and development of the
host. Host not paralysed. Egg-larval, larval-pupal parasites, and larval parasites.
The parasite larva either suspends development as a first instar, or the parasite
larva avoids feeding on vital organs until late in development.
h) Obligate hyperparasite: The hyperparasite can only develop as a parasite of a
primary parasite.
i) Secondary parasite (Hyperparasite): The parasite attacks a host that is another
parasite.