entomophilous

American  

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

adjective

1. pollinated by or having spores distributed by insects.

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entomophilous British  

/ ˌɛntəˈmɒfɪləs /

adjective

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

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entomophilous Scientific  

/ ĕn′tə-mŏf′ə-ləs /

1. Pollinated by insects.

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Other Word Forms

• entomophily noun

Etymology

Origin of entomophilous

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

Example Sentences

There is no great difficulty in understanding how an anemophilous plant might have been rendered entomophilous.

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

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

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 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