Editing Commensalism (section)

== Types ==

[[Image:Fly June 2008-2.jpg|right|thumb|Phoretic [[mite]]s on a fly (''[[Pseudolynchia canariensis]]'')]]

Like all ecological interactions, commensalisms vary in strength and duration from intimate, long-lived [[symbiosis|symbioses]] to brief, weak interactions through intermediaries.{{cn|date=June 2024}}

=== Phoresy ===

[[Phoresis (biology)|Phoresy]] is one animal attached to another exclusively for transport, mainly [[arthropod]]s, examples of which are [[mite]]s on [[insect]]s (such as [[beetle]]s, [[fly|flies]] or [[bee]]s), [[pseudoscorpion]]s on [[mammal]]s<ref name=jstor2388309/> or beetles, and [[millipede]]s on [[bird]]s.<ref name="Karel et al 2001"/> Phoresy can be either obligate or facultative (induced by environmental conditions).

=== Inquilinism ===
[[Image:Tillandsia bourgaei.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Inquilinism: ''[[Tillandsia bourgaei]]'' growing on an oak tree in Mexico]]

[[Inquilinism]] is the use of a second organism for permanent housing. Examples are [[epiphyte|epiphytic]] [[plant]]s (such as many [[orchid]]s) that grow on trees,<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |first=C. Michael |last=Hogan |year=2011|url=https://editors.eol.org/eoearth/wiki/Commensalism |title=Commensalism |editor-first=M. |editor-last=Mcginley |editor-first2=C. J. |editor-last2=Cleveland |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Earth |publisher=[[National Council for Science and the Environment]] |location=Washington DC }}</ref> or birds that live in holes in trees.

=== Metabiosis ===

Metabiosis is a more indirect dependency, in which one organism creates or prepares a suitable environment for a second. Examples include [[maggots]], which develop on and infest corpses, and [[hermit crab]]s, which use [[gastropod]] shells to protect their bodies.{{cn|date=June 2024}}

=== Facilitation ===
'''Facilitation''' or '''probiosis''' describes [[Biological interaction|species interactions]] that benefit at least one of the participants and cause harm to neither.{{cn|date=June 2024}}

=== Necromeny ===
[[Necromeny]] is one animal associating with another until the latter dies, then the former feeds on the corpse of the latter. Examples include some [[nematode]]s<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Sudhaus |first=W. |date=30 December 2010 |title=Preadaptive plateau in Rhabditida (Nematoda) allowed the repeated evolution of zooparasites, with an outlook on evolution of life cycles within Spiroascarida |url=http://www.palaeodiversity.org/pdf/03Suppl/Supplement_Sudhaus.pdf |journal=Palaeodiversity |volume=3 |pages=117–130}}</ref> and some mites.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Bhadran |first1=Anjitha K. |last2=Ramani |first2=N. |date=2019-10-03 |title=Relationships between phoretic mites and their carrier, the banana pseudostem weevil Odoiporus longicollis Oliver (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01647954.2019.1656286 |journal=International Journal of Acarology |language=en |volume=45 |issue=6–7 |pages=361–365 |doi=10.1080/01647954.2019.1656286 |bibcode=2019IJAca..45..361B |s2cid=202867426 |issn=0164-7954}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Al-Deeb |first1=Mohammad Ali |last2=Muzaffar |first2=Sabir Bin |last3=Sharif |first3=Eyas Mohammad |date=2012 |title=Interactions between Phoretic Mites and the Arabian Rhinoceros Beetle, Oryctes agamemnon arabicus |journal=Journal of Insect Science |language=en |volume=12 |issue=128 |page=128 |doi=10.1673/031.012.12801 |issn=1536-2442 |pmc=3637038 |pmid=23448160}}</ref>