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Glite Dictionary
hyperparasitic

hyperparasitic

1 9.9
Living on and feeding from an animal, plant, or fungus that itself lives on a host
  • adjective
  • /ˌhaɪpərˈpærəˌsaɪtɪk/
  • Specialized
: hiperparásito
  • Researchers study hyperparasitic relationships to understand complex food webs in ecosystems.

Examples

  • Some wasps are hyperparasitic, laying their eggs inside the larvae of other parasitic insects.

  • The hyperparasitic wasp lays its eggs inside other parasitic insects.

  • The scientist discovered a hyperparasitic fungus that attacks other parasitic fungi.

  • Some species of fungi are known for their hyperparasitic behavior.

  • Hyperparasitic wasps lay their eggs inside the larvae of other parasitic insects.

  • Some fungi are hyperparasitic, feeding off other fungi that are themselves infesting living plants.

  • The research team studied how hyperparasitic organisms can affect the populations of their hosts in ecosystems.

How Parasitic

hyperparasitic
  • Specialized
1 9.9
parasitic
  • Offensive
11 6.6
commensal
  • Specialized
1 9.9
free-living
  • Specialized
1 6.4

Surface Forms

hyperparasitic positive

Morphology

hyperparasitic = parasitic (semi-transparent) = hyper + parasite + ic

The word is built transparently from 'hyper-' plus 'parasitic', with the biological meaning following the component parts.

Etymology

The word hyperparasitic combines hyper- meaning 'over' or 'too much', as in hyperactive, and parasite meaning 'a living thing that lives on another and takes food'. So hyperparasitic describes a parasite that lives on another parasite.