Question

Give an example of two plants and two animal parasites.

Answer 1

Hint: Parasites are the organism which lives on other organisms and obtains their nutrition from them. The organism on which they live is known as the host. They obtain the nutrients at the expense of the host. Some cellular parasites are viruses, protozoa.

Complete answer:
In an ecosystem, there occurs continuous interaction between organisms. These interactions are for food, shelter, mate, predation etc. Some organisms form associations with the others which are beneficial to both of them, to one of them, or harmful for one of them. Such kind of interaction is parasitism in which one organism lives on the other called the host and obtains food and other nutrients from the host. The parasitic organisms can be plants, animals or certain prokaryotic cells.

Few examples of the plant parasites are Cuscuta and mistletoe. These plants have root-like structures called the haustoria. They go deep inside the host and suck the nutrients from the vascular tissues. The parasites can be stem parasites or root parasites.

Some animals also are parasitic over others. For example, Leech. It sticks to the skin of the animals and sucks the blood from the host. The other common example is lice which live in the hairs of humans and other animals. They suck the blood from the head or the body and obtain their nutrition.

Plant parasites- Mistletoe, Cuscuta.
Animal parasites- leech and lice.

Note: The parasites have to overcome several obstacles so as to attach themselves to the host. For attachment, the proximity of the host and the parasite is essential. In the case of parasitic plants, the host secretes germination inhibitors that can inhibit the growth of the parasite.