SEC-S16 / W1 | An Artistic Parasite🪱

Greetings! I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying their life with family and friends by the Grace of Allah Almighty. Today I am here to participate in SEC-S16W1 contest held in HEALTHY STEEM. The topic of the contest is "An Artistic Parasite🪱". So lets start drawing!

I choose third class of parasites that is ectoparasites. I draw it on a plain paper with pencil. It is in black and white form because I don't have colors or paints in home so was unable to make it colorful. Let's see the steps I follow.

I choose a transparent cover through which I can layout the design of a ectoparasites. I searched ectoparasites on google and found a good one here on Dreamstime.

Then I put transparent cover on the monitor screen and draw the layout as image showed. Please ignore flash light.

After I draw the outline of the ectoparasites, I took a plain white paper from a notebook that I keep near my PC. On it I put that transparent cover and started drawing each part one by one. I just highlight it by pen so that plain paper will have border lines of it.

After that border lines were made on paper. I started drawing the layout from head to bottom tail. It was my mistake that I forget to take pictures of each section one by one. When I was about to finish drawing, I remember that the task was of step by step. But still I have tried my best to draw it in perfect way. Please have a look what part I made first.

After that head and hands part, I move towards body, leg, and tail part. You can see that in the next photos below. I don't have color pencils or paints at home so I made it in black and white with pencil.

I choose ectoparasites because they are amazing creatures that live outside on a person's body. Unlike internal parasites, like worms and bacteria, ectoparasites don't live inside of our body. They attach themselves to the skin, feathers, fur of animals, and hairs of human. This unique lifestyle caught my attention so I choose ectoparasites as my topic to discuss and to draw it.

One outstanding feature of ectoparasites is their ability to adapt to various environments and creature/host. They have specialized structure like hooks, suckers, or claws that help them to cling onto the host. There are some ectoparasites like ticks that transmits diseases such as Lyme disease or Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (RMSF). However, they play essential for in ecosystem by controlling population of their hosts and serve as food source for other organisms.

Comparing ectoparasites to other types of parasites, it has both advantages and disadvantages. Let me share them in points for better understanding.

Advantages/Benefits

1. Visible Detection: As they are outside the body so can easily be seen and to identify and take necessary actions.
2. Direct Treatment: Their external location helps direct treatment of them by such methods as topical applications, bathing, or removal.
3. Ecological Role: Ectoparasites play essential role in ecological balancing by regulating host population and source of food.

Disadvantages/Harms

1. Physical Discomfort: Ectoparasites can cause physical discomfort to the host like itching, pain, inflammation, or skin damage.
2. Disease Transmission: Some Ectoparasites like ticks and fleas can transmit diseases like Lyme disease, typhus, and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever.
3. Secondary Infections: Continous bites or infestations from ectoparasites can lead to secondary infections like fungal or bacterial infections.

This is all from me for the "SEC-S16 / W1 | An Artistic Parasite🪱" I invite @malikusman1, @danish578 , and @selina1 to participate in this contest.