entomophilous

American  

[en-tuh-mof-uh-luhs] / ˌɛn təˈmɒf ə ləs /

adjective

1. pollinated by or having spores distributed by insects.

---

entomophilous British  

/ ˌɛntəˈmɒfɪləs /

adjective

1. (of flowering plants) pollinated by insects Compare anemophilous

---

entomophilous Scientific  

/ ĕn′tə-mŏf′ə-ləs /

1. Pollinated by insects.

---

Other Word Forms

• entomophily
  noun

Etymology

Origin of entomophilous

First recorded in 1875–80; entomo- + -philous

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

entomophilous

In the above two classes taken together there are thirty-eight anemophilous and thirty-six entomophilous genera; whereas in the great mass of hermaphrodite plants the proportion of anemophilous to entomophilous genera is extremely small.

From Effects of Cross and Self Fertilisation in the Vegetable Kingdom by Charles Darwin

Now the separation of the sexes, whether the plant were anemophilous are entomophilous, would most effectually bar self-fertilisation, and this may be the cause of so many trees and bushes being diclinous.

From Effects of Cross and Self Fertilisation in the Vegetable Kingdom by Charles Darwin

Although the number of anemophilous species is small, as the author just quoted remarks, the number of individuals is large in comparison with that of entomophilous species.

From Effects of Cross and Self Fertilisation in the Vegetable Kingdom by Charles Darwin

In the class Monoecia of Linnaeus, Delpino shows that the species of twenty-eight genera are anemophilous, and of seventeen genera entomophilous.

From Effects of Cross and Self Fertilisation in the Vegetable Kingdom by Charles Darwin

Both these authors remark that plants must have been anemophilous before they were entomophilous.

From Effects of Cross and Self Fertilisation in the Vegetable Kingdom by Charles Darwin