zoophilousadj.
/zuːˈɒfᵻləs/, /zəʊˈɒfᵻləs/, U.S. /zuˈɑfələs/, /zoʊˈɑfələs/ 1. 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. at entomo- comb. form , ornithophilous adj.
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the world > plants > part of plant > reproductive part(s) > seed > plant having seed > [adjective] > of or characterized by dispersal of seeds
zoophilous1881
zoochorous1904
hydro-chorous1905
myrmecochorous1908
hydro-choric1940
1881 Amer. Naturalist 15 265 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.
1893 H. G. Wells Text-bk. Biol.: Pt. II 52 But zoophilous methods, or pollination by animals, are among flowering plants the most frequent.
1908 Jrnl. Bot., Brit. & Foreign 46 84 The zoophilous fruit appealing..to a constituency of birds and mammals, must adapt itself to the local fauna.
1982 Oikos 39 242/1 Fifty-three species of zoophilous plants occurred in this meadow.
2004 Econ. Bot. 58 554/2 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.
2015 J. Boenigk et al. Biodiversity & Earth Hist. ii. 136/1 Zoophilous pollination evolved through associations of flowers and insects.
2. 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.
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1922 tr. E. Martini in Rev. Appl. Entomol. B. 10 228 (heading) A criticism of the theory of ‘misanthropic’ or ‘zoophilous’ [Ger. ‘zoophilen’] anophelines.
1949 Public Health Rep. (U.S. Public Health Service) 64 870 The zoophilous habits of C[ulex] quinquefasciatus will keep some of them from entering houses.
1996 E. D. Walker & H. D. Newson in R. W. Merritt & K. W. Cummins Introd. Aquatic Insects N. Amer. (ed. 3) xxiv. 572/1 The females of a great majority of mosquito species are zoophilous.
2002 G. R. Mullen in G. R. Mullen & L. A. Durden Med. & Vet. Entomol. xviii. 375/1 More than 100 species of zoophilous moths have been observed feeding on lachrymal secretions, primarily in Thailand, Malaysia, and other parts of Southeast Asia.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2017; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1881