#parasite

• Arachnosis — A parasitic disease or infectious condition specific to honeybees or other beneficial insects, caused by the massive infestation of various mites or other small parasitic arachnids (such as the genus Acarapis). The disease affects the respiratory system or cutaneous integrity of the host insect, leading to a severe weakening of the colony and major economic losses in apiculture if not treated in time with specific acaricides.
• Armillaria — A taxonomic genus of basidiomycete fungi in the Physalacriaceae family, popularly known as 'honey fungi' (e.g., Armillaria mellea), characterized by growing in dense clusters on live or decaying tree trunks. These organisms hold major ecological and forestry significance, acting structurally as destructive parasites of roots and wood (causing white rot), but are also renowned for certain highly valued edible species and the unique bioluminescent property of their mycelium.
• Roundworm — A parasitic nematode worm from the Ascarididae family, featuring a cylindrical, unsegmented body with tapered ends, which lives as an adult in the small intestine of humans or various animals; a roundworm. In an adjectival sense, it refers to elements, symptoms, or biological structures belonging to these parasites, caused by them, or displaying similar morphological characteristics.
• Female roundworm — A feminine noun form occasionally used in older medical literature or as a synonymous variant to designate a female roundworm or the parasite itself; a nematode worm from the Secernentea class responsible for causing ascariasis in humans and animals through the ingestion of embryonated eggs from contaminated soil, water, or food.
• Ascaridiosis — A parasitic infectious disease, widespread in humans and animals, caused by infestation with roundworms of the genus Ascaridia or Ascaris. This parasitic condition develops primarily within the small intestine, where the presence of parasites causes severe digestive disorders, acute abdominal pain, malnutrition states, and allergic reactions due to released toxins.
• Ascaris — A genus of large parasitic cylindrical nematode worms in the Ascarididae family, which inhabit the small intestine of humans and other mammals during their adult stage. The typical and most well-known species is Ascaris lumbricoides, the etiological agent of ascariasis, a parasitic organism structurally adapted to the enteric environment, capable of causing severe digestive, respiratory, and nutritional disorders in the absence of proper treatment.
• Autoecious — Describing parasitic organisms (especially fungi from the Uredinales order) that carry out and complete their entire vital and evolutionary cycle on a single host plant, without requiring an intermediate host for reproduction; it also refers to plants presenting both male and female reproductive structures or fructifications on the same individual. This type of ecological and biological adaptation ensures a high reproductive stability within the same micro-ecosystem, decreasing the species' reliance on external migratory factors.
• Autoinfestation — A clinical and epidemiological process whereby a host organism re-infests itself with the eggs, larvae, or adult forms of a parasite it already harbors, usually via direct mechanical transfer (dirty hands, fecal-oral route) or through the internal migration of parasites without leaving the body. The phenomenon causes a chronic perpetuation of parasitosis, hindering spontaneous recovery without strict treatment and rigorous hygiene measures.
• Babesia — Babesia; a genus of parasitic protozoans transmitted by ticks that infect and destroy red blood cells in mammals, including humans, causing a severe condition known as babesiosis characterized by hemolytic anemia and high fever.