• Question: What is their influence on the wider ecology?

    Asked by nicki-barker to Twisted-wing fly on 13 Nov 2017.
    • Photo: Twisted-wing Fly

      Twisted-wing Fly answered on 13 Nov 2017:

      TWFs are parasitoids – a specific kind of parasite that kills the insect it lives on (parasites don’t usually kill their hosts). This means that like other insect parasitoids (mostly wasps, but flies and other groups as well) they regulate the populations of their hosts. Parasitoids have been called “keystone species” because of this important ecosystem function. Many, or most, parasitoids are beneficial species because they limit the populations of pests or disease-carrying insects.

Comments

  • Photo: Abyssal Grenadier

    Abyssal Grenadier commented on :

    The Abyssal Grenadier is a scavenger as an adult, eating basically any dead animal that lands on the bottom of the ocean floor. Scavengers, both on land and in the water, play important roles in the breakdown of nutrients, energy transfer within a food web, and carbon cycling. Scavengers can also help reduce the spread of diseases. Scavengers are definitely underappreciated, much the bin man!

  • Photo: Naval Shipworm

    Naval Shipworm commented on :

    If there was nothing to break down wood, the sea shore would be covered in driftwood! Fortunately, the naval shipworm is onto it 🙂