Final answer:
The two main advantages of helminth parasites' complex life cycles allowing their larvae to live away from parents are greater survival chances and dispersion to new habitats, enabling the species to spread and avoid host immune defenses.
Step-by-step explanation:
The student asks about the advantages of helminth parasites having complex life cycles that include living in a different environment or host organism from their parents. The correct answer is Greater survival chances, dispersion to new habitats.
Helminth parasites often develop complex life cycles in order to effectively perpetuate their species and avoid immune system detection or elimination by the host. These complex life cycles often involve different developmental stages occurring in different hosts or environments, which provides several advantages.
One key advantage is the greater survival chances of their offspring or larvae, which can evade the host's immune system by encapsulating or by being substantially large. Furthermore, the larvae and offspring can often survive outside the host in various environments, where they might be less susceptible to the defenses of a particular host.
Another advantage is the dispersion to new habitats, which enables the spread of the parasite species into new areas and hosts. This reduces competition for resources among offspring and the likelihood of inbreeding, and it increases the chances of the species finding suitable environments and hosts to continue their life cycle.