insectivorous

English

Etymology

From Latin insectum (“insect”) and -vorus, from vorō (“to eat”), equivalent to insectivore +‎ -ous or insect +‎ -i- +‎ -vorous.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌɪnsɛkˈtɪv(ə)ɹəs/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪvəɹəs

Adjective

insectivorous (comparative more insectivorous, superlative most insectivorous)

1. Feeding on insects.
   • 2015 November 24, Patrick Barkham, “Pesticide may be reason butterfly numbers are falling in UK, says study”, in The Guardian‎^[1]:

     Researchers in the Netherlands have linked neonicotinoids found in surface water to declines in insectivorous birds and there is widespread scientific evidence that neonicotinoids harm bees – reducing their ability to pollinate plants, for instance.

2. (of a plant) Capable of trapping and absorbing insects; such as the sundew, pitcher plant and Venus flytrap.

Synonyms

• entomophagous
• insectivorian

Related terms

• Insectivora
• insectivore
• insectivory

Translations

feeding on insects

• Belarusian: насякомае́дны (nasjakomajédny)
• Catalan: insectívor
• Czech: hmyzožravý (cs)
• Dutch: insectenetend
• Finnish: hyönteissyöjä (fi)
• French: insectivore (fr)
• Georgian: მწერიჭამია (mc̣erič̣amia)
• German: insektenfressend (de)
• Greek: εντομοφάγος (el) (entomofágos)
• Hungarian: rovarevő (hu)
• Irish: feithiditeach
• Italian: insettivoro (it)
• Japanese: 食虫 (ja) (shokuchū)
• Kazakh: жәндікқоректі (jändıkqorektı)
• Polish: owadożerny (pl)
• Portuguese: insectívoro (Portugal), insetívoro (pt)
• Romanian: insectivor (ro)
• Russian: насекомоя́дный (ru) (nasekomojádnyj)
• Spanish: insectívoro (es)
• Ukrainian: комахої́дний (uk) (komaxojídnyj)
• Welsh: pryfysol (cy)