Word of the Day. Post it Here

Feeding on an organism without killing it--at least not immediately--is called parasitism and the creatures who do it are called parasites.

The difference between predators and parasites is that the former weaken their prey so it will put up less of a struggle. Parasites need to keep their host alive to continue feeding, so they avoid weakening it. (Except in certain unusual scenarios.) Mosquitoes, for example (not "misquotes," which are generally harmless

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), take small sips of blood from a number of hosts whose blood will regenerate for another meal, rather than attempting to suck all the blood out of one individual who will then die.

 

Please stay on topic. The word must be one that you don't expect us to already know. You must define it and give its etymology, if it's not obvious. Or at least use Google to make a valiant attempt to determine its etymology and then beg for assistance.

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That's not an important survival trait for mosquitoes. Very few animals are as limber as humans and can swat a mosquito while it's feeding--and look how bad even we are at it. Parasites that settle down on one individual host for a lifetime of feeding--like ticks (which are arachnids, not insects)--do indeed provide an anesthetic to mask their presence.

Yes, spell checkers are not very effective. They can't possibly know that even though the word you typed is spelled correctly, it's the wrong word. And if you do type incorrectly, they're just as likely to "correct" it to the wrong word. These days I write for a living and I don't even bother turning on my spell checker because I don't want the false sense of security.

There's no survival disadvantage to killing weak or injured prey. You might as well get 'em, because if you don't the next guy will. But leaving healthy specimens alive to provide your next meal benefits the whole species and is therefore a survival behavior for the species.

 

Then there was the guy who staggered out of the bar at 1:55am, tried to open three other people's cars with his key, put the top down instead of turning on the lights, killed the engine four times trying to start it, put it in the wrong gear and almost hit the trash cans, drove all over the parking lot looking for the exit, and finally crept out onto the street at 5mph. All of this monopolized the attention of the cop on duty that night, so meanwhile all the other customers drove off, and note that all of this took place off the public roadways so no citation could yet be issued. As soon as he hit the roadway the red lights came on and he was given a field sobriety test. Which he passed, BAC=0, without having broken any laws. "I'm the Designated Decoy," he told the cop.

In many cases itching is actually an allergic reaction and the whole phenomenon of allergies is one of those little wrong turns that evolution occasionally takes and has to sort out later. That is certainly true of many insect toxins. One of the blessings of my life is that I very seldom have a reaction to insect bites, even big mean ones like wasps. I go ouch, but ten minutes after they fly off the pain is gone. No red, no swelling, no itching. (Not true for arachnid bites, however.) If we have that much variation in reaction to these toxins just within our own species, the different chemistry of other species probably makes their reactions unpredictable. Nonetheless, as another post points out, we see our pets scratching little welts so we assume they're having approximately the same sensation that we call itching.

Got to define it and give the etymology, dude.