Most Goa'uld are asexual, though they usually take on the gender of their preferred host.

Adult ticks are more apt to seek and find their preferred host, the white-tailed deer.

Therefore, infection should be avoided by preventing arthropod vectors from feeding on the blood of their preferred hosts.

But fertile women were the preferred hosts.

This may be due to the high mortality, and thus depletion of the preferred hosts, i.e., the specific bird species.

The most popular species to pair with T. fuciformis is its preferred host, Annulohypoxylon archeri.

The fungus has several distinct species, and each has its own preferred host.

Parasites such as dodder make use of this in locating their preferred hosts and locking on to them.

This is not the case in other brood parasites, such as Cowbirds, in which both the male and female imprint on their preferred host.

Of these, Gossypium appears to be the preferred host, but significant pest presence on okra has also been reported.