What is a Predator: A predator is an animal that preys on another. Predators kill and eat the flesh of other animals.
What is a Parasite: A parasite is an organism that depends on another organism to obtain food.
Differences Between Predator and Parasite
Predation is a kind of interaction where one animal kills and eats another animal.
Parasitism is a kind of interaction where one creature obtains food from another creature.
Predator feeds on another living creature called prey. The parasite feeds on another living being called the host.
In predation, a predator kills prey and eats its parts. In parasitism, the parasite does not kill the host, but later the host may die.
In predation, the predator is stronger and larger than the prey. In parasitism, the parasite is weaker and smaller than the host.
In predation, a predator hunts, catches, kills and eats the prey. The relationship is short term. In parasitism, the relationship may be short term or long term.
The predator kills the prey in predation, but the parasite does not kill the host in parasitism.
In predation, the stronger creature benefits, but the weaker one benefits in parasitism.