insectivorous

[in-sek-tiv-er-uhs]

adjective

1. feeding on insects, especially when they constitute the entire diet, as in the case of many arachnids, birds, and small mammals.

2. Botany.,  having specialized leaves or leaf parts capable of trapping and digesting insects, as the Venus flytrap, the pitcher plants, and the sundews.

insectivorous

/ ˌɪnsɛkˈtɪvərəs /

adjective

1. feeding on or adapted for feeding on insects

   insectivorous plants

2. of or relating to the order Insectivora

Usage

See entomophagy.

Other Word Forms

• insectivory noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of insectivorous¹

First recorded in 1655–65; from New Latin insectivorus, equivalent to insect ( def. ) + -i- ( def. ) + -vorous ( def. )

Example Sentences

A naked mole rat is seen in a display enclosure of a new building for small mammals, birds, carnivorous plants and insectivorous animals at the zoological-botanical garden in Stuttgart.

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The insectivorous bats are thought to play a key role in the surrounding ecosystems, eating crop pests and controlling disease-bearing mosquitoes.

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"We think bats probably evolved from a small, tree-dwelling, insectivorous mammal," Jones said.

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In Europe, parallel declines of insectivorous swallows, house martins and swifts have all been linked to insect declines.

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Despite their reputation as ferocious predators, which they certainly could be, they were normally “frugivorous and insectivorous,” as Roosevelt put it in The Times.

Read more on Los Angeles Times