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

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 Darwin, Charles

There must also have been a period when winged insects did not exist, and plants would not then have been rendered entomophilous.

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

Poterium sanguisorba is anemophilous; and Sanguisorba officinalis presumably was so formerly, but has reacquired an entomophilous habit; the whole tribe Poterieae being, in fact, a degraded group which has descended from Potentilleae.

From Darwinism (1889) by Wallace, Alfred Russel

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 Darwin, Charles

The larger proportion of entomophilous genera in this latter class is probably the indirect result of insects having the power of carrying pollen to another and sometimes distant plant much more securely than the wind.

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