Top Results for Parasitic

The ghost orchid (Dendrophylax lindenii) is a unique white flower native to Florida’s coastal regions. It's notable for its leafless appearance and parasitic relationship with fungi, relying entirely on these hosts for survival. This rare epiphytic orchid exists in small numbers, making it of intere...

The neon cuckoo bee, Thyreus nitidulus, is an Australian bee in the family Apidae, formally described in 1787. Its black body bears conspicuous patches of bright blue hair, producing the spotted appearance reflected in its common name. It is a cleptoparasite: females enter nests made by blue-banded...

Armillaria ostoyae is a species of plant-pathogenic fungus in the family Physalacriaceae, known for causing root rot in coniferous forests. It is famous for producing large networks of subterranean rhizomorphs that can colonize vast areas. A single clone of this species, located in the Malheur Natio...

Indian paintbrush (Castilleja) is a genus of approximately 200 species of hemiparasitic plants native throughout the Americas, from Alaska to South America. These plants attach their roots to those of neighboring plants to obtain water and nutrients, though they also photosynthesize on their own. Th...

The Variable Cuckoo Bumblebee (Bombus variabilis) is a parasitic bee species native to North America. As a social parasite, it does not build its own nests or gather pollen; instead, its queens invade the established colonies of other bumblebee species. Once inside, the cuckoo bumblebee queen subdue...

Gooden's nomad bee (Nomada goodeniana) is a species of cuckoo bee found across Europe. It is easily recognized by its distinctive wasp-like appearance, featuring bright yellow and black markings, and it lacks the pollen-collecting structures seen in other bees. This species is a cleptoparasite, mean...

*Rafflesia arnoldii* is a parasitic flowering plant native to the rainforests of Sumatra and Borneo. It is distinguished by producing the largest individual flower in the world, which can measure up to one meter in diameter and weigh up to 11 kilograms. The plant lacks leaves, stems, and true roots,...

The Lobster Mushroom is a distinctive edible fungus resulting from a parasitic mold, Hypomyces lactifluorum, colonizing host mushrooms like Russula or Lactarius species. The parasite completely transforms the host's exterior into a rough, reddish-orange surface that resembles a cooked lobster. This...

Carapus bermudensis is a species of pearlfish (family Carapidae) found in tropical waters of Bermuda, the Caribbean, and parts of the western Atlantic. These slender, eel-like fish reach up to 20 cm in length and have a remarkable symbiotic relationship with sea cucumbers, living inside the host's b...

Nomada rufipes, commonly called the fringed nomad bee, is a Palearctic species of cuckoo bee in the family Apidae. It does not construct and provision its own nest; instead, the female enters nests of host mining bees and lays eggs there, after which its larvae consume the stored pollen provisions....

Nomada fucata, commonly called the painted nomad bee, is a Palearctic cuckoo bee in the family Apidae. Like other Nomada species, it does not construct and provision an independent nest; the female enters the nest of a host mining bee and lays an egg there. Its larva develops using the host's stored...

Bombus vestalis, commonly called the vestal cuckoo bumblebee, is a European parasitic bumblebee described by Étienne Louis Geoffroy in Fourcroy's 1785 work. Instead of founding and provisioning its own colony, a female enters the nest of another bumblebee, chiefly the buff-tailed bumblebee, Bombus t...

Exaerete frontalis is a large orchid bee in the family Apidae, native to the tropical Americas. It is a cleptoparasitic species: females do not provision their own brood cells but enter nests of certain other orchid bees and lay eggs there, leaving the developing offspring to use provisions gathered...

Bombus rupestris is a European cuckoo bumblebee in the family Apidae and a social parasite primarily associated with the red-tailed bumblebee, Bombus lapidarius. A female enters a host nest and uses its workers to rear her reproductive offspring rather than producing a worker caste of her own. Femal...

Sphecodes monilicornis, commonly called the box-headed blood bee, is a Palearctic sweat bee in the family Halictidae. It is cleptoparasitic: females do not gather pollen for their own brood, instead entering nests of other bees and laying eggs there, so host females provision the developing larvae....

Bombus bohemicus, commonly known as the gypsy cuckoo bumblebee, is a parasitic insect native to Eurasia. First described by Seidl in 1837, this species does not build its own nests or collect pollen. Instead, a fertile female usurps the established colony of a host bumblebee species, typically killi...

The corpse lily, or Rafflesia arnoldii, is a parasitic plant species native to the rainforests of Sumatra and Borneo. It lacks visible leaves, stems, and true roots, existing as a thread-like network of tissue entirely within the tissues of its host, the Tetrastigma vine. The plant is renowned for p...

Cunina octonaria is a small narcomedusa in the hydrozoan class, with a life cycle that includes a parasitic polypoid stage. Its larvae and stolon-like growth can live on or inside other medusae, and documented hosts include Liriope tetraphylla; earlier observations also associate Cunina larvae with...

Suckley's cuckoo bumblebee, Bombus suckleyi, is a socially parasitic bumblebee native to North America. Females do not establish colonies or produce a worker caste; instead, they enter colonies of suitable host bumblebees, displace or kill the resident queen, and use the host workers to rear reprodu...

The vestal cuckoo bumblebee, Bombus vestalis, is a socially parasitic species found across much of Europe and neighboring parts of Asia and North Africa. A female enters a colony of the buff-tailed bumblebee, Bombus terrestris, displaces or kills its queen, and induces the remaining workers to rear...

Bombus bohemicus is a cuckoo bumblebee described by Seidl in 1837 and distributed across the Palearctic. It is a social parasite with no worker caste of its own. Instead, mated females infiltrate the colonies of host bumblebees—primarily Bombus terrestris and Bombus lucorum—where they dominate or el...

Armillaria mellea, commonly known as the honey fungus, is a widely distributed basidiomycete mushroom found in the Northern Hemisphere. It is a facultative parasitic species capable of acting as a devastating forest pathogen. The fungus spreads through root systems and black, bootlace-like rhizomorp...

Triepeolus concavus is a North American cuckoo bee in the family Apidae. It is a kleptoparasite of solitary bees: the female places an egg in a host nest, and the developing larva uses provisions gathered for the host's offspring. Because it does not excavate and provision a normal nest for its own...

The Indiscriminate Cuckoo Bumblebee, Bombus insularis, is a social-parasitic bumblebee native to northern and montane parts of North America. A female does not establish a normal worker-producing colony; instead, she enters a nest of another Bombus species and uses the host workers to rear her offsp...

The Arctic Cuckoo Bumblebee, Bombus hyperboreus, is a social-parasitic bumblebee with a circumpolar Arctic distribution. Its queen invades an established nest of another Arctic or alpine bumblebee, commonly Bombus polaris, and relies on the host workers to raise her reproductive offspring. Unlike mo...

Nomada lathburiana is a cleptoparasitic bee in the family Apidae, commonly called a nomad or cuckoo bee. It does not construct and provision a nest of its own; instead, the female enters nests of the ashy mining bee, Andrena cineraria, and places an egg there. The emerging larva uses the host’s poll...

Bombus campestris, described by Panzer in 1801, is a European cuckoo bumblebee and a social parasite of other bumblebees. The female does not establish a worker-producing colony of her own; instead, she enters a host nest, suppresses or replaces the resident queen, and lays eggs that are reared by h...

Bombus sylvestris, described by Lepeletier in 1832, is a cuckoo bumblebee found in Europe. Females enter nests of social bumblebees, especially Bombus pratorum, and use the host colony's workers to rear their offspring instead of producing a normal worker force of their own. The species belongs to t...

Stelis phaeoptera is a species of cuckoo bee in the family Megachilidae and is recorded in Europe. Cuckoo bees do not generally construct and provision their own nests; instead, they enter nests made by host bees and lay eggs there. Their larvae use provisions collected by the host and develop withi...