For his latest book, Martins embarked on a journey to document the lives of much-maligned parasites, an idea encouraged and revived by British-Sierra Leonean writer Aminatta Forna.
The book, Hidden Creatures: Luscious Leeches, Bashful Botflies and the Wondrous, History-Shaping World of Parasites, published this month, is based on personal encounters in East Africa, New York, Borneo rainforests, and London parks.
Martins, who studied anthropology at Indiana University and earned a doctorate in biology at Harvard, recalled raising caterpillars as a child only to discover one had been parasitised by wasps.
The wasps laid eggs in the caterpillar's body, developed and fed on the living host, and emerged by bursting through its skin to form cocoons.
"This made such an impression on me as a young child," says Martins, who describes parasites with curiosity and empathy.
He notes that understanding ecosystems requires understanding the creatures holding them together.
"No ecosystem or habitat exists without parasites.
Their presence is an indicator of a healthy, complex biodiversity, even if we might be alarmed by their presence."
Martins argues that parasites are central to biodiversity and extinction, and their ability to move between hosts or hijack immune systems offers insights for novel medical therapies.
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"Parasites are central to the story of biodiversity … affecting all living things directly or indirectly," he says.
When species like the dodo become extinct, humans lose the ability to understand complex relationships, and practical lessons in biology and conservation vanish alongside the disappearing parasites.
