parasitoid

American  

[par-uh-si-toid, -sahy-] / ˈpær ə sɪˌtɔɪd, -saɪ- /

noun

1. an organism that practices parasitoidism.

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adjective

1. of or relating to a parasite, especially one practicing parasitoidism.

parasitoid British  

/ ˈpærəsɪˌtɔːd /

noun

1. zoology an animal, esp an insect, that is parasitic during the larval stage of its life cycle but becomes free-living when adult

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parasitoid Scientific  

/ păr′ə-sĭ-toid′,-sī′toid /

1. Any of various insects, such as the ichneumon fly, whose larvae are parasites that eventually kill their hosts. The adult parasitoid deposits an egg on or inside the body of its host, typically the larva of another arthropod. When the egg hatches, the parasitoid larva feeds on the host's tissues, gradually killing it.

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Etymology

Origin of parasitoid

1920–25; < New Latin Parasitoïdea (1913); see parasite, -oid

Compare meaning

How does parasitoid compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• parasite vs. parasitoid

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

parasitoid

While we are more familiar with hunting wasps like yellowjackets, with their dramatic black and yellow stripes and painful stings, parasitoid wasps make up the vast majority of wasp species.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 19, 2023

The authors describe parasitoid wasps that lay their eggs inside the cocoons of other parasitoid wasps, for example, and leeches that spend their entire lives inside the anuses of hippopotamuses.

From Scientific American ● Nov. 17, 2022

More recently, Yoo has been assisting as the New Jersey Department of Agriculture attempts a biological control, releasing parasitoid wasps known to feed on emerald ash borer larvae.

From New York Times ● Oct. 20, 2022

Egg- laying females of two species of parasitoid wasps were studied in special growth chambers in which a food source was either provided or omitted.

From Textbooks ● Jun. 9, 2022

Whereas uninfected larvae succumbed to the parasites, the infected larvae—and their plasma—killed almost every parasite, aside from the basket-cocoon parasitoid M. pulchricornis.

From Science Magazine ● Jul. 29, 2021