phoresy

Phoresy describes a specific biological strategy of hitchhiking where the relationship is purely transactional and temporary. It is distinguished from parasitism because the phoretic organism does not feed on or harm the host, and from mutualism because the host typically derives no benefit from the transport.

This term is used almost exclusively in scientific and academic registers, particularly within entomology and marine biology. Because it refers to a biological phenomenon or a state of being, it is treated as an uncountable noun and does not have a plural form.