Editing Parasitoid (section)

===In science fiction===
{{further|Parasites in fiction|Alien (creature in Alien franchise)}}

[[File:Paisley Abbey "Xenomorph" Gargoyle (10317339143) (cropped).jpg|thumb|left|A 1990s [[gargoyle]] at [[Paisley Abbey]], Scotland, resembling a [[Alien (creature in Alien franchise)|Xenomorph]]<ref>{{cite web |last1=Budanovic |first1=Nikola |title=An explanation emerges for how the 12th century Paisley Abbey in Scotland could feature a gargoyle out of the film "Alien" |url=https://www.thevintagenews.com/2018/03/10/alien-gargoyle/ |publisher=The Vintage News |access-date=17 June 2018 |date=10 March 2018}}</ref> parasitoid from the film ''[[Alien (film)|Alien]]''<ref>{{cite web |title='Alien' gargoyle on ancient Paisley Abbey |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-23810979 |publisher=[[British Broadcasting Corporation]] |access-date=17 June 2018 |date=23 August 2013}}</ref>]]

Parasitoids have inspired [[science fiction]] authors and screenwriters to create terrifying [[Parasites in fiction|parasitic alien species]] that kill their human hosts.<ref name=Moisseeff2014>{{cite book |last1=Moisseeff |first1=Marika |author-link=Marika Moisseeff |title=Aliens as an Invasive Reproductive Power in Science Fiction |url=https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00935705 |website=HAL Archives-Ouvertes |date=23 January 2014|pages=239–257 |publisher=Polis, Sofia }}</ref> One of the best-known is the [[Alien (creature in Alien franchise)|Xenomorph]] in [[Ridley Scott]]'s 1979 film ''[[Alien (film)|Alien]]'', which runs rapidly through its lifecycle from violently entering a human host's mouth to bursting fatally from the host's chest.<ref name="Pappas2012">{{cite web |last1=Pappas |first1=Stephanie |title=5 Alien Parasites and Their Real-World Counterparts |url=https://www.livescience.com/20624-5-alien-parasites-real-inspiration.html |publisher=Live Science |date=29 May 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Williams |first1=Robyn |last2=Field |first2=Scott |title=Behaviour, Evolutionary Games and .... Aliens |url=http://www.abc.net.au/science/kelvin/files/s223.htm |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |access-date=30 November 2017 |date=27 September 1997}}</ref><ref name=Guardian2009>{{cite web |title=The Making of Alien's Chestburster Scene |date=13 October 2009 |work=[[The Guardian]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2009/oct/13/making-of-alien-chestburster |access-date=29 May 2010| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100430221033/http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2009/oct/13/making-of-alien-chestburster| archive-date=30 April 2010 | url-status=live}}</ref> The molecular biologist Alex Sercel, writing in ''Signal to Noise Magazine'', compares "the biology of the [''Alien''] Xenomorphs to parasitoid wasps and [[Nematomorpha|nematomorph worms]] from Earth to illustrate how close to reality the biology of these aliens is and to discuss this exceptional instance of science inspiring artists".<ref name=Sercel2017>{{cite web |last1=Sercel |first1=Alex |title=Parasitism in the Alien Movies |url=http://www.signaltonoisemag.com/allarticles/2017/5/19/parasitism-in-the-alien-movies |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170705023131/http://www.signaltonoisemag.com/allarticles/2017/5/19/parasitism-in-the-alien-movies |url-status=usurped |archive-date=5 July 2017 |publisher=Signal to Noise Magazine |date=19 May 2017}}</ref> Sercel notes that the way the Xenomorph grasps a human's face to implant its embryo is comparable to the way a parasitoid wasp lays its eggs in a living host. He further compares the Xenomorph life cycle to that of the nematomorph ''[[Paragordius tricuspidatus]]'' which grows to fill its host's body cavity before bursting out and killing it.<ref name=Sercel2017/> [[Alistair Dove]], on the science website ''Deep Sea News'', writes that there are multiple parallels with parasitoids, although in his view, there are more disturbing life cycles in real biology. Dove stated that the parallels include the placing of an embryo in the host; its growth in the host; the resulting death of the host; and [[Heterogamy|alternating generations]], as in the [[Digenea]] (trematodes).<ref name="Dove2011">{{cite web |last1=Dove |first1=Alistair |title=This is clearly an important species we're dealing with |url=http://www.deepseanews.com/2011/05/this-is-clearly-an-important-species-were-dealing-with/ |publisher=Deep Sea News |date=9 May 2011}}</ref> The social anthropologist [[Marika Moisseeff]] argues that "The parasitical and swarming aspects of insect reproduction make these animals favoured [[Villain|villains]] in [[Cinema of the United States|Hollywood]] science fiction. The battle of culture against nature is depicted as an unending combat between humanity and insect-like extraterrestrial species that tend to parasitise human beings in order to reproduce."<ref name=Moisseeff2014/> ''[[The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction]]'' lists many instances of "parasitism", often causing the host's death.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|title=Parasitism and Symbiosis |url=http://www.sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/parasitism_and_symbiosis |encyclopedia=[[The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction]] |date=10 January 2016}}</ref>