Phoresy

Phoresy is like when a tiny friend piggybacks on a bigger friend to get around. Just like how you might hop on your older sibling's back to get a ride, these tiny animals also hop on bigger animals to get around.

In nature, certain small animals like mites and ticks want to move to different places but they can't really do it on their own because they move very slowly. So, they climb onto the bigger animals like birds, insects, or mammals and let them do the hard work of moving around. The bigger animals don't really mind because the small ones are too tiny to bug them.

This "hitchhiking" behavior is called phoresy. The small animals get to go on a free ride while the bigger animals might not even know that they have a passenger on their back. It's like taking a ride on the bus without paying the fare!