Krillion Recorded answers
81 recorded answers
How to approach it
Start by listing the obvious everyday biters, then deliberately move away from them, because the scoring rewards obscurity rather than familiarity. Once you have a handful of common species, push sideways: ask which parasites live on a particular host, in a particular nest, or inside a particular organ, and which of those are obligate blood feeders rather than occasional ones. Naming conventions help, since many of these creatures are labelled after their host or the tissue they attack. Check each candidate against the wording of the question: it must take blood as food, not merely live on or in an animal. Finally, prefer precise species or genus names over loose household words, and keep several candidates ready.
Get a hint
The habit turns up in a surprisingly wide range of groups, from soft-bodied parasites to hard-shelled aquatic forms, winged insects, eight-legged arachnids and a few backboned species.
A little more
Many of the strongest answers are not the famous biters but obscure parasites named after the host they live on or the part of the body they occupy.
One step further
Look for creatures whose entire life cycle depends on a blood meal, especially ones tied to a single host species, a nest, a burrow or a body cavity rather than a free-living hunter.
Reveal answers 81
- Cooper's nutmeg snailOne in a Krillion100points
- Vampire mothOne in a Krillion100points
- Aega psoraDeep Cut85points
- Anchor wormDeep Cut85points
- Avian vampire flyDeep Cut85points
- Barber's pole wormDeep Cut85points
- Bat bugDeep Cut85points
- Bat flyDeep Cut85points
- Bat wing miteDeep Cut85points
- Bird blowflyDeep Cut85points
- Bird nasal miteDeep Cut85points
- Biting snipe flyDeep Cut85points
- Blood flukeDeep Cut85points
- CandiruDeep Cut85points
- Carnus flyDeep Cut85points
- Chicken body louseDeep Cut85points
- Chigoe fleaDeep Cut85points
- Cod wormDeep Cut85points
- Congo floor maggotDeep Cut85points
- Cymothoid isopodDeep Cut85points
- DiplozoonDeep Cut85points
- Dog whipwormDeep Cut85points
- Dracula antDeep Cut85points
- Elephant louseDeep Cut85points
- Face flyDeep Cut85points
- Fish louseDeep Cut85points
- Frog-biting midgeDeep Cut85points
- GapewormDeep Cut85points
- Gnathiid isopodDeep Cut85points
- Head flyDeep Cut85points
- Hood mockingbirdDeep Cut85points
- Horn flyDeep Cut85points
- House mouse miteDeep Cut85points
- Kissing bugDeep Cut85points
- Large strongyleDeep Cut85points
- Liver flukeDeep Cut85points
- Louse flyDeep Cut85points
- Mexican chicken bugDeep Cut85points
- Nest skipper flyDeep Cut85points
- Northern fowl miteDeep Cut85points
- PasseromyiaDeep Cut85points
- Pelican pouch louseDeep Cut85points
- PennellaDeep Cut85points
- Pigeon bugDeep Cut85points
- PolystomaDeep Cut85points
- Red miteDeep Cut85points
- Sea louseDeep Cut85points
- Snake miteDeep Cut85points
- Spiny rat miteDeep Cut85points
- Stable flyDeep Cut85points
Why these answers count
Scoring here tracks how hard an answer is to think of, not how impressive it sounds. The two 100-point entries, Cooper's nutmeg snail and Vampire moth, are genuinely obscure, and most players would never reach them; the fifty-seven answers on 85 points form the same profile in slightly milder form, a long tail of specialised parasites such as Aega psora, Anchor worm or Tongue-eating louse, each tied to one host or one habitat and therefore rarely volunteered. The single 60-point answer, Biting midge, is the giveaway: it is a real blood feeder, but it sits close enough to everyday knowledge that plenty of people can produce it, so the site pays less. Familiar groups generally land at the bottom of the range, while anything that requires a second or third step of reasoning, such as naming the parasite of a particular host, tends to climb. The practical conclusion: the more specialised and the less conversational the name, the more points it earns.