> [!warning] Note: linked article contains snake photographs > [!cite] > ‘Predators, Parasites and Parasitoids’. *Australian Museum*, updated 6 April 2022. https://australian.museum/learn/animals/insects/predators-parasites-and-parasitoids/. > [!abstract] Abstract > Many animals are predators, parasites or parasitoids, using other animals as food. They use a great diversity of hunting strategies and behaviours to capture or feed on their prey. Invertebrate predators, parasites and parasitoids play an important role in keeping many animal populations under control. --- Predators and parasitoids help keep plant-eating insect populations in check. In fact, some plants ‘actively attract predators and parasitoids by releasing chemicals’. [[Australian Museum, ‘Predators, Parasites and Parasitoids’, 2022|(Australian Museum 2022, n.p.)]] ^a0b9ac ‘A parasitoid is an organism that has young that develop on or within another organism (the host), eventually killing it.’ [[Australian Museum, ‘Predators, Parasites and Parasitoids’, 2022|(Australian Museum 2022, n.p.)]] ^1758b0 The larvae of parasitoids grow by ‘feeding on the bodily fluids or the internal organs’ of their host. As a rule, they feed on non-vital parts first. [[Australian Museum, ‘Predators, Parasites and Parasitoids’, 2022|(Australian Museum 2022, n.p.)]] ^61af39 ‘The host dies when the fluid has been sucked dry or its internal organs cease to function.’ [[Australian Museum, ‘Predators, Parasites and Parasitoids’, 2022|(Australian Museum 2022, n.p.)]] ^9b1566 There are three main ways parasitoids will infect their hosts: (1) laying eggs in (or on, or near) host eggs or young; (2) laying eggs on plants within the host’s environment, and (3) laying eggs in (or on, or near) adult hosts—which have been stung/paralysed. [[Australian Museum, ‘Predators, Parasites and Parasitoids’, 2022|(Australian Museum 2022, n.p.)]] ^2cb53d