allotroph

plural allotrophs

1. rareSynonym of heterotroph.

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

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

   3 more examples

   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.

   1968, M. S. Mani, Ecology and Biogeography of High Altitude Insects, →ISBN, page 406

   [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, […]

   1974, Roger Pearson, Introduction to Anthropology, page 39

   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 […]

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

   Synonyms: heterotroph