 Inherently this added niche opens up a new branch off of the evolutionary tree
The evolutionary success of ectosymbiosis is based on the benefits experienced by the parasite and the host.Due to the dependence of the parasite on the host and the associated benefits and cost to both the parasite and host, the two will continue to coevolve as explained by the Red Queen hypothesis.The Red Queen hypothesis states that a host will continually evolve defenses against a parasitic attack, and the parasite species will also adapt to these changes in the host defense.