allotroph

English

Etymology

From allo- +‎ -troph.

Noun

allotroph (plural allotrophs)

1. (rare) Synonym of heterotroph
   • 1968, M. S. Mani, Ecology and Biogeography of High Altitude Insects, →ISBN, page 406:

     The ecosystems of the extra-polar high mountains are described as anabolic-allotroph systems, but those of the Antarctic mountains are katabolic autotoph^{[sic – meaning autotroph]} systems.

   • 1970, Stephen H. Dole, Habitable Planets for Man, page 142:

     A living thing using only inorganic materials as food, as opposed to heterotrophs, allotrophs, parasites, or saprophytes, which depend on other organisms for nutrition.

   • 1974, Roger Pearson, Introduction to Anthropology, page 39:

     [We see the] plants as synthesizing autotrophs, extracting energy from light and storing it in organic form, and the animals as predatory allotrophs, consuming organic material in order to secure energy, […]

   • 1978, Israel Journal of Entomology, volumes 12-14, page 138:

     It is possible that at a young age these secondary host plants (allotrophs) have a similar chemistry to that of the primary hosts that is also attractant and palatable for the beetles. It is also possible that the allotrophs are actually phytochemically […]

Usage notes

• Allotrophe is rare; indeed, it occurs as a misspelling of allotrope (even in college-level reference works) almost as often as it occurs as asynonym of heterotroph.

Derived terms

• allotrophic

 

Translations

heterotroph — see heterotroph