hyperparasite

English
WOTD – 9 July 2019

Etymology
The chalcid wasp (family Pteromalidae; centre) is a hyperparasite as it parasitizes the cocoons of a braconid wasp (subfamily Microgastrinae), which itself is a parasite of insects of the order Lepidoptera such as butterflies and moths

hyper- (prefix meaning ‘over, above, or beyond’) +‎ parasite.[1]

Pronunciation

Noun

hyperparasite (plural hyperparasites)

  1. (biology) Any parasite whose host is a parasite.
  2. (entomology, specifically) An insect that parasitizes another parasitic insect.

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Translations

References
  1. “hyperparasite, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1899; “hyperparasite” (US) / “hyperparasite” (UK) in Oxford Dictionaries, Oxford University Press.

Further reading
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.