Meanings
- not comparablebiologyDescribing a parasite that feeds on another parasite that feeds on a third parasite.
The spatial overlap between bean species and bruchine hosts, together with the great morphological similarity among the Horismenus species, has made the study of the ecology and population genetics of this tritrophic system difficult.
2015 September 10, “Uncovering Cryptic Parasitoid Diversity in Horismenus (Chalcidoidea, Eulophidae)”, in PLOS ONE, →DOI
Origin
- Ancient Greekτροφικός“nursing, tending”
- Englishtritrophic
From tri- (“three”) + -trophic (“relating to feeding and nutrition”), from Ancient Greek τροφικός (trophikós, “nursing, tending”), from τροφή (trophḗ, “nourishment, food”) + -ικός (-ikós, “-ic”).
More words from Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with tritrophic
Cite this entry
tritrophic. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tritrophic
“tritrophic.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tritrophic. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “tritrophic,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tritrophic.
Source: tritrophic on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.