{"id":25024,"date":"2023-02-08T16:58:24","date_gmt":"2023-02-08T15:58:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/?p=74167"},"modified":"2023-02-08T17:35:47","modified_gmt":"2023-02-08T16:35:47","slug":"parasites-what-they-are-where-they-live-and-how-parasites-are-transmitted","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/rss_feed\/parasites-what-they-are-where-they-live-and-how-parasites-are-transmitted\/","title":{"rendered":"Parasites: what they are, where they live and how parasites are transmitted"},"content":{"rendered":"

The weird and wonderful world of parasites, and how they have evolved to survive \u2013 including those that can exhibit mind control on their hosts. <\/p>

By JV Chamary\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Wednesday, 08 February 2023 at 12:00 am<\/p>

\n\n

Parasite. The word alone can make your skin crawl. Parasites can be either viruses or organisms, and can be anything from inconvenient pests that don\u2019t normally kill to mind-controlling puppet masters with (often disgusting) life strategies that have evolved to benefit themselves at the cost of others.<\/p>\n

What is parasitism?<\/h2>\n

It\u2019s a relationship in which one partner exploits the resources of the other. Those resources are typically food \u2013 sometimes in the form of body parts \u2013 so a parasite will harm the host by reducing its ability to survive and reproduce.<\/p>\n

Parasites are generally smaller than their hosts and tend to consume the body, making them micropredators. As biologist EO Wilson once wrote, parasites are \u201cpredators that eat prey in units of less than one.\u201d<\/p>\n

More on parasites:\u00a0<\/h4>\n