host plant
Where parasites feed
A host plant is one that provides sustenance for another organism—typically an insect, parasite, or symbiotic partner.
Caterpillars feed on specific host plants; mistletoe attaches to host trees.
In agriculture and gardening, knowing an organism's host plant helps with pest control or supporting beneficial species: Milkweed is the host plant for monarch butterflies.
- insectSix-legged invertebrate
- larvaImmature feeding stage
- speciesFinest taxonomic rank
- symbiosisInterspecies biological interdependence
- parasitismOne benefits, one suffers
caterpillar · monarch butterfly · milkweed · butterfly garden · coevolutionary · Lepidoptera · oviposition · larval stage · life cycle · egg laying · herbivory · mutualism · feeding · pollinator · leaves · native · invasive · pest control
- nematodesnematode, nematodes, roundworm, roundworms, pinworm
- butterfliesmonarch, swallowtail, painted lady, red admiral, viceroy
- Hostshostess, emcee, MC, master of ceremonies, compere
- symbiosissymbiosis, mycorrhizae, symbiont, symbiotic, mutualism
- mycorrhizaemycorrhizae, mantle
- plant ecologysymbiosis, mutualism, parasitism, nitrogen fixation, dominant species
host plantparasite
One exploiting a host
plant parasite · pathogen · hemiparasite · dodder · mistletoe
plant, host, hospital, plants, planting, planted, implant, planter, transplant