zoophiloushttp://www.oed.com/dictionary/zoophilous_adj%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_usezoophilous, adj.
Revised 2017

zoophilousadjective

  1. 1.
    1881–
    Ecology. Of a plant or flower: pollinated by animals. In later use also (of a fruit or seed): dispersed by animals. Also: of, relating to, or of the nature of this type of pollination or dispersal. Cf. entomophilous adj., ornithophilous adj.
    1. 1881
      Nectar..accumulates in the basal part of the corolla, and offers a considerable amount of tempting food to nectar-loving creatures, and this, advertised by the brilliant scarlet of the calyx and corolla, clearly proclaims the flowers to be zoöphilous, or adapted to fertilization by animals of some kind.
      American Naturalist vol. 15 265
    2. 1893
      But zoophilous methods, or pollination by animals, are among flowering plants the most frequent.
      H. G. Wells, Text-book Biol.: Part II 52
    3. 1908
      The zoophilous fruit appealing..to a constituency of birds and mammals, must adapt itself to the local fauna.
      Journal of Botany, Brit. & Foreign vol. 46 84
    4. 1982
      Fifty-three species of zoophilous plants occurred in this meadow.
      Oikos vol. 39 242/1
    5. 2004
      Unless such seeds are carried for long distances by animals in the jungle (zoophilous dispersal), rubber seeds in upland areas get dispersed over a few meters.
      Econ. Botany vol. 58 554/2
    6. 2015
      Zoophilous pollination evolved through associations of flowers and insects.
      J. Boenigk et al., Biodiversity & Earth History ii. 136/1
  2. 2.
    1922–
    Biology. Of a parasitic organism: that prefers to feed, live, or grow on animals rather than humans. Also: of, relating to, or characteristic of such organisms. Cf. zoophilic adj. 3.
    1. 1922
      A criticism of the theory of ‘misanthropic’ or ‘zoophilous[German ‘zoophilen’] anophelines.
      translation of E. Martini in Review of Applied Entomology B. vol. 10 228 (heading)
    2. 1949
      The zoophilous habits of C [ulex] quinquefasciatus will keep some of them from entering houses.
      Public Health Rep. (U.S. Public Health Service) vol. 64 870
    3. 1996
      The females of a great majority of mosquito species are zoophilous.
      E. D. Walker & H. D. Newson in R. W. Merritt & K. W. Cummins, Introd. Aquatic Insects North Amer. (ed. 3) xxiv. 572/1
    4. 2002
      More than 100 species of zoophilous moths have been observed feeding on lachrymal secretions, primarily in Thailand, Malaysia, and other parts of Southeast Asia.
      G. R. Mullen in G. R. Mullen & L. A. Durden, Med. & Vet. Entomology xviii. 375/1

Originally published as part of the entry for zoophile, n.

zoophilous, adj. was revised in June 2017.

zoophilous, adj. was last modified in September 2024.