P is for ......
Today we get to talk about a unique creature. This creature is highly dependent on others to live. No prizes for guessing what it is.
Now, before I go round cursing certain creatures, I need to point out certain animals work together for some mutual benefits. There are also some exceptions when animals exploit their trust and turn on their benefactors.
Take the PomPom crab. Or hermit crab which uses a similar trick. These crabs sometimes upgrade their defences with Anemones. Anemones are fairly immobile sea creatures that have venom and sting their prey. By sticking the Anemones on their pincers (for crabs) or shell (for hermit crabs), the crustaceans get to make themselves less edible. The Anemones gets some free meals. Unfortunately, the crabs do not overfeed the Anemones because of the weight increase. By the way, if a PomPom crab lacks a sea Anemone defence, it steals one. It is not a total loss for the original owner as the crab with one Anemone just splits its sole Anemone and then it has two in a short time. The Anemones works like an underfed sheepdog.
Back to the point of the story. Parasites. Things that spend their lives making things difficult for their hosts. One can be a freeloader but as long as the host is not harmed, there is nothing to dispute. But we have the parasites which find different ways to offload their chores to their hosts.
You have brood parasites that pass the care of their offsprings to strangers. And if the hosts catch on to the ruse, the brood parasites may opt for the scorched earth tactic and destroy the entire nest. You have parasites that piggyback on their hosts like the barnacles and remora fish. They do not actively hurt the host but if enough of them are on the host, the host will have problem swimming.
You also have thieving relatives that steal from their own kind. Or dump their eggs in the nest of others. This is preferable to killing the young of your own species.
These actions are still preferable to mind control. There are parasites that control the mind of their hosts. Those are the most terrifying as the host will usually not survive the mental trap. The host will either commit suicide or expose itself to the parasite's next target.
Now, before I go round cursing certain creatures, I need to point out certain animals work together for some mutual benefits. There are also some exceptions when animals exploit their trust and turn on their benefactors.
Take the PomPom crab. Or hermit crab which uses a similar trick. These crabs sometimes upgrade their defences with Anemones. Anemones are fairly immobile sea creatures that have venom and sting their prey. By sticking the Anemones on their pincers (for crabs) or shell (for hermit crabs), the crustaceans get to make themselves less edible. The Anemones gets some free meals. Unfortunately, the crabs do not overfeed the Anemones because of the weight increase. By the way, if a PomPom crab lacks a sea Anemone defence, it steals one. It is not a total loss for the original owner as the crab with one Anemone just splits its sole Anemone and then it has two in a short time. The Anemones works like an underfed sheepdog.
Back to the point of the story. Parasites. Things that spend their lives making things difficult for their hosts. One can be a freeloader but as long as the host is not harmed, there is nothing to dispute. But we have the parasites which find different ways to offload their chores to their hosts.
You have brood parasites that pass the care of their offsprings to strangers. And if the hosts catch on to the ruse, the brood parasites may opt for the scorched earth tactic and destroy the entire nest. You have parasites that piggyback on their hosts like the barnacles and remora fish. They do not actively hurt the host but if enough of them are on the host, the host will have problem swimming.
You also have thieving relatives that steal from their own kind. Or dump their eggs in the nest of others. This is preferable to killing the young of your own species.
These actions are still preferable to mind control. There are parasites that control the mind of their hosts. Those are the most terrifying as the host will usually not survive the mental trap. The host will either commit suicide or expose itself to the parasite's next target.
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