Superparasitism is a form of

parasitism Parasitism is a Symbiosis, close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the Host (biology), host, causing it some harm, and is Adaptation, adapted structurally to this way of lif ...

in which the host (typically an

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs ...

larva A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. The ...

such as a

caterpillar Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder Sym ...

) is attacked more than once by a single species of

parasitoid In evolutionary ecology, a parasitoid is an organism that lives in close association with its host (biology), host at the host's expense, eventually resulting in the death of the host. Parasitoidism is one of six major evolutionarily stable str ...

. Multiparasitism or

coinfection Coinfection is the simultaneous infection of a host by multiple pathogen species. In virology, coinfection includes simultaneous infection of a single cell by two or more virus particles. An example is the coinfection of liver cells with hepatiti ...

, on the other hand, occurs when the host has been parasitized by more than one species. Host discrimination, whereby parasitoids can identify a host with parasites from an unparasitized host, is present in certain species of parasitoids and is used to avoid superparasitism and thus competition from other parasites. Superparasitism can result in transmission of

virus A virus is a submicroscopic infectious agent that replicates only inside the living cells of an organism. Viruses infect all life forms, from animals and plants to microorganisms, including bacteria and archaea. Since Dmitri Ivanovsky's 1 ...

es, and viruses may influence a parasitoid's behavior in favor of infecting already infected hosts, as is the case with ''

Leptopilina ''Leptopilina'' is a genus of parasitoid wasp in the family Figitidae. The genus is best known for the three Drosophila parasitoids ''Leptopilina boulardi'', ''Leptopilina heterotoma'' and ''Leptopilina clavipes,'' used to study host-parasite im ...

boulardi''.

Examples

One example of superparasitism is seen in ''

Rhagoletis juglandis ''Rhagoletis juglandis'', also known as the walnut husk fly, is a species of tephritid or fruit fly in the family Tephritidae. It is closely related to the walnut husk maggot '' Rhagoletis suavis'' (Loew, 1862). This species of fly belongs to the ...

'', also known as the walnut husk fly. During oviposition, female flies lacerate the tissue of the inner husk of the walnut and creative a cavity for her eggs. The female flies oviposit and reinfest the same walnuts and even the same oviposition sites created by conspecifics.Boyce, A.M. (December 1929). "The Walnut Husk Fly (Rhagoletis juglandis Cresson)". ''Journal of Economic Entomology''. 22: 861–866.

References

Parasitology {{parasite-stub