Editing Parasitism (section)

==== Insects ====

[[File:Leaf Spot on Oak in Gunnersbury Triangle.jpg|thumb|[[Leaf spot]] on [[oak]]. The spread of the parasitic fungus is limited by defensive chemicals produced by the tree, resulting in circular patches of damaged tissue.]]

Insects often adapt their nests to reduce parasitism. For example, one of the key reasons why the wasp ''[[Polistes canadensis]]'' nests across multiple [[honeycomb|combs]], rather than building a single comb like much of the rest of its genus, is to avoid infestation by [[tineid moth]]s. The tineid moth lays its eggs within the wasps' nests and then these eggs hatch into larvae that can burrow from cell to cell and prey on wasp pupae. Adult wasps attempt to remove and kill moth eggs and larvae by chewing down the edges of cells, coating the cells with an oral secretion that gives the nest a dark brownish appearance.<ref name=Jeanne1979>{{cite journal |last=Jeanne |first=Robert L. |year=1979 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/226226828 |title=Construction and Utilization of Multiple Combs in Polistes canadensis in Relation to the Biology of a Predaceous Moth |journal=Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology |volume=4 |issue=3|pages=293–310 |doi=10.1007/bf00297649|bibcode=1979BEcoS...4..293J |s2cid=36132488 }}</ref>