Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com

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

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

entomophilous Scientific  
/ ĕn′tə-mŏfə-ləs /
  1. Pollinated by insects.


Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of entomophilous

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

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

All the species hitherto mentioned which produce cleistogamic flowers are entomophilous; but four genera, Juncus, Hordeum, Cryptostachys, and Leersia are anemophilous.

From The Different Forms of Flowers on Plants of the Same Species by Charles Darwin

If this view is correct, plants must have been rendered hermaphrodites at a later though still very early period, and entomophilous at a yet later period, namely, after the development of winged insects.

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

The entomophilous ancestry of Pringlea is clearly shown by the occasional remnants of coloured markings in the petals, like those which in other flowers serve as finger-posts to visiting-insects, and are called nectar-guides.

From Springtime and Other Essays by Sir Francis 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

This holds good especially in cold and temperate regions, where insects are not so numerous as under a warmer climate, and where consequently entomophilous plants are less favourably situated.

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

Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Dictionary.com's Learning Companion

Go beyond just looking up words.
Remember them forever with VocabTrainer.

Start training