Wednesday, May 3, 2023

Parasites and Parasitoids

The Almighty must love parasites She made so many niches for them.


Parasite behavior is straightforward: the fork of force or fraud, the salient aspect of predation. Suckle on a host, perhaps to death. Or use host for eggs. That waspish behavior is delightfully more sophisticated. The evolution of the sting from an ovipositer opened a new continent. Parasitoids like to keep their prey alive so healthy babies. That sting includes not just egg, but antiseptic, painkiller, steroids, antifungal.

The host kept alive as long as possible the little babies eat no essential organs. Dan O'Bannon of Alien fame got this down solid. You do not kill right away, and in fact you can put them to work ala Involuntary Ratatouille.

I have seen parasitoid behavior in the business world for how long? To the first time eggs were laid in young throats? Couldn't tell you. Certainly established at the metazoan level maybe a billion years? More?
United Steak of America

A billion year old strategy borrowed by any modern person interested in laying their borrowing eggs in some software or bureaucratic procedure or social network or our monkey superorganism.

So who/what is parasitoiding on us?  Hmm. 

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