The World of Parasites:

1
The World of Parasites

• A brief overview of the gruesome lives of
  parasites
• Maya Merritt and Mindy Johnson

http//www.tlchm.bris.ac.uk/webprojects2003/tomlin
son/mosquito.htm
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Parasites fit into the world because most are
living things. All living things belong to one of
the five kingdoms.
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The Five Kingdoms

• Monera Prokaryotes
• examples include bacteria
• Protists Small eukaryotes
• examples include euglena and amoeba
• Fungus Eukaryotic external heterotrophs examples
  include mushrooms
• Plants Eukaryotic autotrophs
• examples include trees, ferns, cacti
• Animals Eukaryotic internal heterotrophs
• examples include humans, insects, worms

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The Animal Kingdom can be further divided into
major phyla

• Chordates Backbone, fish and humans
• Arthropods Insects, spiders, crustaceans
• Annelids Segmented worms and leeches
• Nematodes Two openings, roundworms
• Platyhelminthes One opening, flatworms
• Cnidaria Tentacles with stingers, jellyfish
• Porifera Sac-like bodies, sponges

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How can you classify a parasite?

• Kingdom
• Phylum
• Class
• Order
• Family
• Genus
• Species

• Animalia
• Arthropoda
• Insecta
• Diptera
• Muscidae
• Glossina
• morsitans

Tsetse fly
http//www.fiocruz.br/ccs/novidades/set03/dndi_ppf
.jpg
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Parasite Terminology

• Parasite an organism that lives off or on
  another organism, generally without killing it.
  It comes from the Greek one who eats off the
  table of another. Ichneumon wasps are parasites
  on caterpillars.

http//www.geocities.com/brisbane_wasps/ICHNEUMONI
DAE.htm
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Parasite Terminology

• Host the organism which is the home and/or food
  source for the parasite

Microsoft Clip Art
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Parasite Terminology

• Intermediate Host a secondary host in which the
  parasite matures.
• The intermediate host for cat tapeworm is the
  flea.

Tapeworm
Intermediate host/vector
cal.nbc.upenn.edu
http//www.cat.cc.md.us/courses/bio141
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Parasite Terminology

• Vector how the parasite gets from host to host
  (usually an arthropod). The parasite may develop
  into the infective state while in the vector.

Microsoft Clip Art
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Heartworm

• Mosquitoes are the vector for dog heartworm
• Heartworm belongs to
• the roundworm phylum

http//www.secondchanceboxer.com/heartworm.jpg
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Sample Life Cycle
Malaria is caused by a Protist and is spread by
a mosquito vector.
http//sickle.bwh.harvard.edu/malariacycle.jpg
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What can a parasite do to you?
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Ichneumon wasp larva, having lived on
caterpillar tissue, are now pupating on the
outside. They eat in such a way as to avoid
major organs, keeping their host alive.
http//homeharvest.com/homeharvest2000pics/parsiti
zedcaterpillersm.jpg
http//homeharvest.com/homeharvest2000pics/parsiti
zedcaterpillersm.jpg
http//homeharvest.com/homeharvest2000pics/parsiti
zedcaterpillersm.jpg
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Onchocerciasis
River blindness is caused by a roundworm
and transmitted by black flies
http//oak.cats.ohiou.edu/ll119288/Onchocerciasis
.htm
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A dogs heart can fill with worms, affecting
their circulatory system.
http//www.plymouthmosquito.com/dogheart.jpg
http//www.sunsetcliffsanimalhospital.com/images/h
eartworm.gif
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Tsetse fly rangemakes large regions of Africa
uninhabitable
http//altschools.org/schools/wagner/tpower/studen
ts/lisa2/spring2003/tsetse_map500x448.jpg