Nutrition

A drawing of Amanita muscaria
Source:blogs.scientificamerican.com

Amanita muscaria, as a heterotroph and a decomposer, has some similarities with the kingdom Animalia in its ways of ingestion and nutrition while possessing a few major differences.
Some similarities and differences are:

• Heterotroph: Amanita muscaria, being heterotrophic, cannot make its own food, just as organisms in the kingdon Animalia cannot make their own food. Heterotrophs have to consume other organisms as opposed to plants which can produce their own food through photosynthesis.
• Decomposer: as a decomposer, or a saprophyte, Amanita muscaria digests food, in this case a decaying organic material, then ingest the food. Decomposers secrete external enzymes to digest decaying material.This process is different from animals' digestion as they ingest first, then digest.
• Sugar storage: like animals, Amanita muscaria stores sugar in the form of glycogen.

In addition to Amanita muscaria's nutrient intakes, it shares nutrients with trees with which it forms a symbiotic relationship (see Habitat). The mutual relationship between Amanita muscaria and the tree allows Amanita muscaria to use the tree's sugars, proteins, and lipids, as the products of photosynthesis; and it allows the tree to increase its surface area to absorb water and other nutrients, such as phosphorous and nitrogen, in the soil due to the mycelium of Amanita muscaria.