host species
Organism harboring parasites
A host species is an organism that harbors a parasite, pathogen, or symbiont.
The term appears most often in discussions of infectious disease, where identifying host species helps track how viruses or parasites spread: Bats are the host species for many coronaviruses.
In ecology, host species also describes plants or animals that provide habitat for other organisms—a tree hosting epiphytes, or a bird hosting brood parasites like cuckoos.
- parasitismOne benefits, one suffers
- reservoirLarge water storage basin
- spillover eventPathogen enters new host species
- virusMicroscopic infectious agent
- symbiosisInterspecies biological interdependence
zoonotic disease · coevolution · ecosystem · zoonosis · bird flu · cuckoo · habitat · immune response · infection · tick · colonize · native · transmission · mammal · mosquito · ecology · wildlife · organism
- Hostshostess, emcee, MC, master of ceremonies, compere
- invasive specieslionfish, emerald ash borer, noxious weeds, kudzu, spotted lanternfly
- brood parasitescuckoo, cowbird, honeyguide, whydah
host speciesparasite
One exploiting a host
pathogen · parasitoid · obligate parasite · symbiont · endoparasite
host, specific, species, specialist, specify, specialty, hospitable, hosting, hospitality