The Parasites

They are everywhere...

They will always be...

Parasites, by definition, are animals or plants that live inside another animal/plant that survives by taking nourishment from it's host (the creature that was infected). This process usually doesn't benefit the host and side-effects from the infection can range from basically nothing to a life-threatening problem. While most think of parasites as worms or bugs that infest parts of an animal's body, there are many more types of parasites than just these.

One of the things that differentiates these parasites is their ability to live without their hosts. Some, like mosquitoes and flies, only rely upon the host as a source of nutrition. Others, such as blood flukes and lice, can't even leave their host without dying or without some ill-effects. Of course, there are those in between the two categories, who live part of their lives inside the host, and leave to become free-living, or able to move around outside of their host.

Another way to categorize parasites is by taxonomy. Taxonomy is a system used to differentiate every single living being into a heiarchy. Parasites are scattered throughout this heiarchy, but this enables different parasites to be categorized into different groups. The first group are protozoans, ciliophora and the like, very small beings, only able to be seen with a microscope. Another group contains flukes and tapeworms. In taxonomy, it's called Platyhelminthes. The third group contains nematodes and nematomorpha otherwise known as roundworms and horsehair worms. The final group includes the Acanthocephala (thorny headed worms), Phylum Annelida (true segmented worms), and Anthropoda.

This is a student made website for a school project. All pictures are properties of their respective owners. Click on the pictures to link to the website where each picture was found.


				*The Parasites*



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		They are everywhere... They always were... They will always be...



		Parasites, by definition, are animals or plants that live inside another animal/plant that survives by taking nourishment from it's host (the creature that was infected). This process usually doesn't benefit the host and side-effects from the infection can range from basically nothing to a life-threatening problem. While most think of parasites as worms or bugs that infest parts of an animal's body, there are many more types of parasites than just these. One of the things that differentiates these parasites is their ability to live without their hosts. Some, like mosquitoes and flies, only rely upon the host as a source of nutrition. Others, such as blood flukes and lice, can't even leave their host without dying or without some ill-effects. Of course, there are those in between the two categories, who live part of their lives inside the host, and leave to become free-living, or able to move around outside of their host.						Another way to categorize parasites is by taxonomy. Taxonomy is a system used to differentiate every single living being into a heiarchy. Parasites are scattered throughout this heiarchy, but this enables different parasites to be categorized into different groups. The first group are protozoans, ciliophora and the like, very small beings, only able to be seen with a microscope. Another group contains flukes and tapeworms. In taxonomy, it's called Platyhelminthes. The third group contains nematodes and nematomorpha otherwise known as roundworms and horsehair worms. The final group includes the Acanthocephala (thorny headed worms), Phylum Annelida (true segmented worms), and Anthropoda.



		Enter supporting content here This is a student made website for a school project. All pictures are properties of their respective owners. Click on the pictures to link to the website where each picture was found.