A parasitic condition where an organism requires different host species at different stages of its life cycle.
From Greek hetero- 'different,' oikos 'house,' and the suffix -ism. The term crystallized in parasitology in the late 19th century as scientists studied complex life cycles.
Some parasitic worms practice heteroecism so extreme they infect three different animals in sequence—a fish, a bird, and a mammal—making their life cycles engineering marvels of adaptation.
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