At first I thought there was a parasitic undertone to this entire song, but after closer examination I don't think that's the case. Radiolarians are not parasitic at all (they muck up the ocean floor). It's worth noting that while the word "midge" today refers to small parasitic flies, up until the 1500s the word referred to cloth-eating moth larvae. Although fleas are mentioned, they are "fetal," and flea larvae do not drink blood.

Rather than a song being about leeching and parasitism, the underlying message seems to be one of potential for change. It's about youth, change, and uncertainty. The singer is changing into something stronger (someone who "speaks with perfect diction"), whether he likes it or not.

"This is sure to misspell disaster" - Delightful wordplay. Certainly, if something "spells disaster" it's going to be bad, but what if something misspells disaster? It's dubiously ominous, and only adds to the song's sense of uncertainty regarding the future.

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With a more macroscopic interpretation, the song's subject could be America, the land of immigrants. Particularly "come by sea / swarm like smoke in the dawn." Naturally, there is nothing anti-immigrant to this interpretation; the reference to the swarm is inclusive and in the past-tense (*we* were the swarm) perhaps offering a reproach to those who would discriminate against immigrants although they themselves are the descendants of immigrants. Furthermore, the swarm turns out to not be parasitic (as I noted above), but developmental: the final product of these larval swarms is a man "who speaks with perfect diction" and "acts with more conviction"... in other words, the swarm eventually improves upon the host.

So if the song is about immigration, the swarm represents the people who flock to America's harbors (I can see the Statue of Liberty welcoming them with the opening words: "come what may") and ultimately improve upon her being.

I also want to point out the wordplay in the line "in vestments of translucent alabaster." Yes, the skin ("vestments") of larvae is like translucent alabaster. But the line can also be read as "investments of translucent alabaster," which ties in nicely to the idea of the swarm developing into something better than the host.

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Random thought--->

If something is sure to miss-spell disaster \ disastre wouldn't that imply he means the opposite of disaster.
If disaster is miss-spelled than it by the very act of misspelling it, it would then NOT be a disaster....

This part always gives me chills (in the best possible way):

so they took me to the hospital
they put my body through a scan
what they saw there would impress them all
for inside me grows a man
who speaks with perfect diction
as he orders my eviction
as he acts with more conviction
than I

It reminds me of that feeling of helplessness you get in nightmares. I feel like it's a way of worrying that you're not doing enough with your life (you're not young any more, perhaps), that someone who has taken a backseat up until now wants a chance because you're useless.

to add to or further develop thriggle's comments...
I had similar ideas about the immigration and seeing his ancestors as a swarm of life taking over land. I think you could be even more macroscopic and apply it to the planet instead of just America. Are we not parasites living off the planet? Spreading out like a slow moving swarm throughout history.

I think the way the song is divided is interesting too. The first section introducing the swarm gives way to a more personal story. This is the story of one of the members of the swarm. I agree that the song is about individual change. As each member of the swarm does before him, he grows into a man, no longer fetal, and in a sense this new stronger thing destroys the old larval form. "As he orders my eviction"

or something like that.

To me this seems to be about conception and pregnancy?
"lay your eggs where it's warm"- the warmth and comfort the ovaries provide to eggs, or the soft and warm uterus where the zygote will form.

"we come here to swarm
come by sea
swarm like smoke in the dawn"- possibly sperm. they come in swarms, in fluid like a wave? And expand in the space they are given (disperse in the vagina like smoke in the air)

"flailing fetal fleas
feeding from the arms of the master
burrow into me
and this is sure to misspell disaster
Oh and the young in the larval stage
orchestrating plays
in vestments of translucent alabaster"- Burrowing into the uterine lining, being nervous about the 'disaster' that could come of this, and fetuses of course leech and feed off of their master

"so they took me to the hospital
they put my body through a scan
what they saw there would impress them all
for inside me grows a man
who speaks with perfect diction
as he orders my eviction"- a sonogram possibly, finding a 'man' growing inside the womb
and he is almost developed enough to fend for himself without the comfort of the womb

It took such a long time but Noble Beast eventually grew on me and this, amongst Not A Robot, Anonanimal & Souverian, is one of my favourites.
He's an incredible lyricist, obviously. Always manages to create about ten layers of meaning for me. I love the line "this is sure to misspell disaster" but I love this song mostly for the actual music. Perfect.