Explanation of Names
From Greek, parasitos parasite, plus eidos form.
Identification
parasitoid noun, plural
parasitoids - an insect that, in the
larval stage, feeds off of the tissues of its host (as does a
parasite), but this feeding normally results in death of the host. Thus a parasitoid is in some ways a
predator as well. Additional characteristics:
parasitoids found only among the
Diptera (flies) and
Hymenoptera (wasps)
usually smaller than their hosts as adults, but typically close in size
hosts are usually other insects, or at least arthropods--not vertebrates, for instance
parasitic lifestyle occurs only during the larval stage of the parasitoid
parasitoids attack only one stage of the host
Examples of prominent parasitoids:
Sometimes a parasitoid is, in turn, attacked by another parasitoid species. This species would be called most properly a secondary parasitoid, or hyperparasitoid, but it is often called simply a hyperparasite.
