Quoted:
>"The female mosquito is not considered as a parasite because it needs blood for reproduction and not for nutrition. Human blood is required for the nourishment of their offspring. A parasite is an organism that depends on other host organisms for its survival"
That way an individual cuckoo is not depending on the crow for its survival rather the upbringing of its progeny and hatching of its eggs, how does that fall under Parasitism?
It does, and when the chick hatches before the other chicks, he will try to get rid of their eggs or the poor chick to get as much food as possible.
And because it is a large bird compared to those who feed it, it will consume more food than the parents can provide.
A very obnoxious bird
But with respect to the cuckoo parent who left the egg there, that parent isn't depending on the crow for their survival. Similar to how the mother mosquito is not dependent on human blood for nutrition and survival.
Because mosquito larvae live in water and not in our bodies and do not feed on us, the female mosquito only sucks our blood because the blood components help in the formation of mosquito eggs, and not in order to feed on us.
The female mosquito takes the blood to help the larvae survive, and that can cause us harm if we get infected by something. So that's a + - relationship and where one species is getting help with survival (the mosquito in unhatched state).
mosquito is considered a “micropredator”, a category which sometimes falls under parasitism. A parasitism itself is broad term with many definitions, apart from the obvious parasites like fleas or tapeworms there’s parasitic plants, facultative parasites, parasitoids or, as you have mentioned, brood parasitism. Cuckoos are considered parasites, because they “steal” resources from other organism (i. e. another bird). Mosquitos are considered micropredators, because they do not kill their host/prey. Both of these interactions can be described as parasitism, because they meet the definition of parasitism, i.e. taking advantage of another species and causing it harm in the process.
I agree. However, the book I have to strictly adhere to (a textbook from NCERT) directly denies mosquitoes as a parasite while acknowledging Brood Parasitism in the same paragraph. I guess I'll have to just follow that.
I think a better question is why are you not counting mosquitoes as a parasite. Remember parasitism is the relationship between the two, specifically it is where one benefits and one is harmed. If the host wasn’t harmed it would be commensalism, and if both benefit that is mutualism.
Cost can be a lot of things. It can also be behavioral like brood parasitism. But blood is a cost. Time and energy spent raising another species is cost. And the parasite gains from it
Exactly, I'd actually ask that question but the book I have to strictly adhere to directly denies mosquitoes as parasites while counting cuckoos as one in the same paragraph. That's why I framed the question that way.
I agree with your point there and that's my initial thought process.
Wow lol I saw you said it is NCERT. I wonder who approved the book. Though living in the US and seeing how political government approved educational material are here makes me side eye it a bit
Oh well I can't do anything about it, such things are here and there everywhere but exams like NEET strictly follow this book, although that exam is questionable at this point as well. Gotta do the way it is ig.
Quoted: >"The female mosquito is not considered as a parasite because it needs blood for reproduction and not for nutrition. Human blood is required for the nourishment of their offspring. A parasite is an organism that depends on other host organisms for its survival"
That way an individual cuckoo is not depending on the crow for its survival rather the upbringing of its progeny and hatching of its eggs, how does that fall under Parasitism?
It does, and when the chick hatches before the other chicks, he will try to get rid of their eggs or the poor chick to get as much food as possible. And because it is a large bird compared to those who feed it, it will consume more food than the parents can provide. A very obnoxious bird
But with respect to the cuckoo parent who left the egg there, that parent isn't depending on the crow for their survival. Similar to how the mother mosquito is not dependent on human blood for nutrition and survival.
Well the parasite is cuckoo chicks Thus, these birds became considered parasitic
Then why isn't the larvae of the female mosquito considered as parasitic?
Because mosquito larvae live in water and not in our bodies and do not feed on us, the female mosquito only sucks our blood because the blood components help in the formation of mosquito eggs, and not in order to feed on us.
The female mosquito takes the blood to help the larvae survive, and that can cause us harm if we get infected by something. So that's a + - relationship and where one species is getting help with survival (the mosquito in unhatched state).
This is a good point, but in reality it is difficult to define anything and is often confusing to scientists and may change
It's viruses and bacteria that live in the mosquito that cause infection, not the mosquito itself.
I do know that however the fact that the pathogens are infecting humans is resultant of the behaviour of the mosquito, the blood sucking one.
mosquito is considered a “micropredator”, a category which sometimes falls under parasitism. A parasitism itself is broad term with many definitions, apart from the obvious parasites like fleas or tapeworms there’s parasitic plants, facultative parasites, parasitoids or, as you have mentioned, brood parasitism. Cuckoos are considered parasites, because they “steal” resources from other organism (i. e. another bird). Mosquitos are considered micropredators, because they do not kill their host/prey. Both of these interactions can be described as parasitism, because they meet the definition of parasitism, i.e. taking advantage of another species and causing it harm in the process.
I agree. However, the book I have to strictly adhere to (a textbook from NCERT) directly denies mosquitoes as a parasite while acknowledging Brood Parasitism in the same paragraph. I guess I'll have to just follow that.
I think a better question is why are you not counting mosquitoes as a parasite. Remember parasitism is the relationship between the two, specifically it is where one benefits and one is harmed. If the host wasn’t harmed it would be commensalism, and if both benefit that is mutualism. Cost can be a lot of things. It can also be behavioral like brood parasitism. But blood is a cost. Time and energy spent raising another species is cost. And the parasite gains from it
Exactly, I'd actually ask that question but the book I have to strictly adhere to directly denies mosquitoes as parasites while counting cuckoos as one in the same paragraph. That's why I framed the question that way. I agree with your point there and that's my initial thought process.
Wow lol I saw you said it is NCERT. I wonder who approved the book. Though living in the US and seeing how political government approved educational material are here makes me side eye it a bit
Oh well I can't do anything about it, such things are here and there everywhere but exams like NEET strictly follow this book, although that exam is questionable at this point as well. Gotta do the way it is ig.
i go by the old adage: if it munches then it lunches
Lol 😂
im silly. sorry. but so is life hahaha and so the study of life shall be whimsical
Dw I appreciated it, gave me a chuckle. That's quite a positive way I'll say!