sb. pl. Zool. [mod.L., pl. of trophus, a. Gr. τροφός feeder, f. τρέφειν to nourish.] A collective name for the mouth-parts in insects, as organs for seizing and preparing the food. Also applied to the parts of the pharynx in rotifers, having a similar function.
1826. Kirby & Sp., Entomol., xxxiii. III. 355. Trophi, the different instruments or organs contained in the mouth, or closing it, and employed in manducation or deglutition. They include the Labrum, Labium, Mandibulæ, Maxillæ, Lingua, and Pharynx.
1833. Lyell, Princ. Geol., III. 277. The antennæ, tarsi and trophi are generally very obscure or distorted.
1888. Rolleston & Jackson, Anim. Life, 633. Class Rotifera…. The mouth leads into an oesophagus, followed … usually directly by a muscular pharynx or mastax containing the chitinous jaw-apparatus or ‘trophi.’… The shape of the ‘trophi’ is variable.
