Hyperparasite
![A hyperparasitoid chalcid wasp (fam. Pteromalidae) on the cocoons of its host, a braconid wasp (subfamily Microgastrinae) which is itself a koinobiont parasitoid of Lepidoptera.](/Images/godic/202501/19/Pteromalid_hyperparasitoid5552.jpg")
![A hyperparasitic microsporidian, Nosema podocotyloidis, a parasite of a digenean, Podocotyloides magnatestis, which is itself a parasite of the fish Parapristipoma octolineatum [1]](/Images/godic/202501/19/lossy-page1-220px-Parasite140019-fig4_Nosema_podocotyloidis_-_Hyperparasitic_Microsporidia.tif5552.jpg")
A hyperparasite is a parasite whose host is a parasite. This form of parasitism is especially common among entomophagous parasites. The term is used loosely to refer also to parasitoids whose hosts are parasites or parasitoids; the distinction is not always clear or of interest in practice.