Dictionary

ectoparasite en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˌɛktə(ʊ)ˈpæɹəˌsaɪt/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /ˌɛktəˈpɛɹəˌsaɪt/ (General-American)

Etymology

From ecto- (from Ancient Greek ἐκτός (ektós, “outside”)) + parasite.

Meanings

1. A parasite that lives on the surface of a host organism; such as the Demodex mite, which lives in human hair and eyelashes.
   • Ordinarily, allergy to animals is due to either their fine dander which becomes aerosolized or to the exoskeleta, pupae, or feces of their ectoparasites. 1982, R. V. Lynch, Jr.; R. Burrell, “Primate Dander Allergy of Lesser Bushbaby (Galago): A Case Report”, in D[uane] E. Haines, editor, The Lesser Bushbaby (Galago) as an Animal Model: Selected Topics, Boca Raton, Fla.: CRC Press, Inc., →ISBN, page 304:
   • You don't need to burrow inside the host: Ectoparasites like you just need to live on the skin. 2023, translated in 2025, Berta Páramo and translated by Marc Correa Haro, Lice: How to Survive on Humans, page 47:
   • Many of the chewing lice are highly host specific, but a few may occur on a variety of not more than a half dozen related host species. They feed on skin (epidermal cells), hair, feathers, body oils and secretions, dried blood (wounds), and even other ectoparasites, such as mites. Chewing lice are unable to survive for more than a day or two off the host and their dispersal is through direct contact of host animals. 1996, Gary A. Dunn, Insects of the Great Lakes Region, page 105:
   • I was so thrilled to see a live bedbug, I showed it off to every graduate student I ran into that day: Cimex lectularius[,] a small, flat, wingless, brown ectoparasite that hides in cracks and crevices in human dwellings and emerges under cover of darkness to feast on human blood. […] Bedbugs win neither praise for their sophisticated technique, nor very much respect for the fact that they don’t carry diseases, as most bloodsucking human ectoparasites do. 2010 August 7, May Berenbaum, “This Bedbug’s Life”, in The New York Times:

Forms

Antonyms

endoparasite

Coordinates

zooparasite

Deriveds

ectoparasiticide · endectocide

Translations (14)

pt ectoparasita (parasite living on the surface of host organism) · lv ektoparazīts (parasite living on the surface of host organism) · fi ulkoloinen (parasite living on the surface of host organism) · de Ektoparasit (parasite living on the surface of host organism) · fi ektoparasiitti (parasite living on the surface of host organism) · fi pintaloinen (parasite living on the surface of host organism) · cmn 外寄生虫 (parasite living on the surface of host organism) · it dermatozoo (parasite living on the surface of host organism) · ta புற ஒட்டுண்ணி (parasite living on the surface of host organism) · ga eicteaparaisít (parasite living on the surface of host organism) · cs ektoparazit (parasite living on the surface of host organism) · nl ectoparasiet (parasite living on the surface of host organism) · es ectoparásito (parasite living on the surface of host organism) · lt ektoparazitas (parasite living on the surface of host organism)