Download Parasitism - Cobb Learning

In India, the chital, a small deer, has trouble finding
enough grass to eat during the dry season. This
deer relies on a certain type of messy-eating
monkey. The deer have good eyesight, hearing,
and sense of smell.
1.
How do you think the monkeys benefit the deer?
2.
How do you think the deer benefit the monkeys?
3.
What type of relationship is this?
commensalism/mutualism/parasitism
Parasitism, Commensalism, and Mutualism
 Relationship between 2 species with
a long- term close association.
 One ALWAYS benefits


Mutually good
Both organisms benefit! Everybody wins!
EXAMPLES:
 Bacteria in your intestines...They get food
from you so they benefit. They make Vitamin
D for you so YOU benefit too!
 Algae living in coral. Algae get shelter from
the coral so they benefit. The coral gets extra
food that the algae makes, so the coral
benefits too!
About 100 trillion bacteria exist in your bodies
right now.
 There are over 400 types of bacteria in your
body.
 It helps to break down plant starches and other
foods that the human body has difficulty
digesting.
 The human body does not make vitamin K by
itself. Bacteria create this, and other essential
vitamins, as by-products of the food and other
digestive materials they ingest.


One organism benefits, the other is not
affected either way. It isn’t harmed or helped.
Examples:
 The small remora fish swims next to a shark.
It feeds off scraps of food left by sharks. The
shark isn’t helped or harmed by this. He
doesn’t care!

One organism benefits (the parasite), but one
organism is HARMED (the host).
Examples:
 The dog tick feeds on the blood of a dog. The
tick benefits, but this weakens the dog. The dog
is HARMED.
 The tomato hornworm (a caterpillar) is Harmed
when wasps lay eggs on the caterpillar. When
the eggs hatch, the young wasp will eat the
caterpillar. The caterpillar will die.
This strangler fig growing
on another tree is an
example of parasitism.
The fig is getting support
so it can grow quickly and
get more sunlight.
Although the fig doesn't
really strangle the tree, it
does make it harder for
the tree to get water and
nutrients from the soil and
also blocks some of the
sunlight from reaching the
tree's leaves.
Orchids are epiphytes (plants that
grow on other plants). They grow
high in the canopy of rainforests on
the branches of trees. The orchids
benefit in several ways. They get
more sunlight and are more easily
visited by the moths which pollinate
them. Also, because they are up
high, the wind can more easily
catch and spread their tiny seeds.
Orchids do not harm the trees they
grow in. Their roots stay on the bark
of the tree; they do not take water
or nutrients from the tree.
The ants have a home inside
the hollow stem of the acacia.
(Can you see the hole they are
going in and out of?) They also
get sugar from the plant. The
acacia produces small spots of
sugar at the base of each leaf.
(The brown spot opposite the
hole is a sugar gland.)
The ants attack
anything foolish enough to try
to damage the acacia's leaves,
as I found out when I touched
it!
What kind of symbiosis is taking place here???
Athlete’s foot is a skin disease of the feet
which can spread to other parts of the body.
It is caused by a fungus that commonly
attacks the feet, because the wearing of
shoes and hosiery fosters fungus growth. The
signs of athlete’s foot are dry scaly skin,
itching, inflammation, and blisters.
What kind of symbiosis is taking place here???
Termites are nature's recyclers, breaking
down and returning to the soil the cellulose
containing materials of fallen trees and
decaying wood. Termites derive nutrition from
wood and other cellulose materials. They
cannot digest the cellulose themselves.
Instead they are dependent on one-celled
protozoa in their stomachs that break down
the cellulose into simpler compounds that
the termites can use as food.
What kind of symbiosis is taking place here???
The heartworm (Dirofilaria immitis) is now recognized
as a major, global pest affecting dogs, wolves,
coyotes, and foxes. A mosquito serves as the
intermediate host for the larval stage of the worm.
Adult heartworms can reach 12 inches in length and
can remain in the dog’s heart for several years.
Female heartworms bear live young – thousands of
them in a day. The worms grow and multiply,
infesting the chambers on the right side of the heart
and the arteries in the lungs. They can also lodge in
the veins of the liver and the veins entering the
heart.
What kind of symbiosis is taking place here???
In many bee-pollinated flowers, there is a
region of low ultraviolet reflectance near the
center of each petal. This pattern is invisible
to humans because our visual spectrum does
not extend into the ultraviolet. Bees, however,
can detect ultraviolet light. The contrasting
ultraviolet pattern (called a nectar guide) helps
a bee quickly locate the flower's center. This
adaptation benefits both the flower (more
efficient pollination) and the bee (rapid
collection of nectar).
What kind of symbiosis is taking place here???
Epiphytes, or air plants, grow everywhere but can
be found mainly on the branches, trunks, and even
the leaves of trees. The name 'epiphyte' comes
from the Greek word 'epi' meaning 'upon' and
'phyton' meaning 'plant'. Epiphytes grow on sides
of tall trees in an attempt to be closer to the
sunlight. They have no roots, and collect water
and nutrients from the air. They begin their life in
the canopy from seeds or spores transported there
by birds or winds.
What kind of symbiosis is taking place here???
A few species of pseudoscorpions disperse
by concealing themselves under the wing
covers (elyatra) of large beetles such as the
cerambycid beetle. The pseudoscorpions
gain the advantage of being dispersed over
wide areas while simultaneously being
protected from predators. The beetle is,
presumably, unaffected by the presence of
the hitchhikers.
1. Clownfish live among
the venomous tentacles
of a sea anemone. They
are protected from
predators, and they keep
the anemone clean.
2. Barnacles attach
themselves to the shells
of crabs. The barnacles
receive a home. The crab
is unaffected.
3.Bees use flower nectar
for food, and they carry
flower pollen to other
flowers, allowing the
flower to reproduce.
4. Dutch elm disease is
caused by a fungus that
grows and feeds on elm
trees. The fungus destroys
the trees.
5. Orchids grow in tree
branches. They receive
light, and their roots get
water from the air. The
tree is not affected.
6. Small mites live on your
skin, eating dead skin cells.
You don’t even notice.
7. Tapeworms live in the
intestines of cats and
absorb nutrients from the
food cats eat. The cats do
not get enough nutrients.
8. Oxpeckers feed on ticks
found on a rhinoceros.
Oxpeckers get food and
the rhinoceros gets
cleaned.
9. A flea feeds on a
mouse’s blood to the
mouse’s detriment.
• You must have 1 of each type included:
• Mutualism
• Commensalism
• Parasitism
• Describe how both organisms are affected
**STUDY: You will have a mini quiz
over symbiosis tomorrow !

Please get out one sheet of paper and
number it 1-10.

Write your name, date and period at the top
right

Add “Symbiosis Assessment” for your title