polyphagous
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.31 in modern English
22
Scrabble Score
11
Letters
1
Syllables
9
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Feeding on many different species of host plants.
Example Sentences
- "Animals show various degrees of adaptation aimed at taking advantage of available resources, but. . . most can be considered either specialists or generalists. Among plant-eating insects the more specific terms polyphagous, oligophagous, and monophagous are widely employed in relation to the variety of plant species they use. The majority of phytophagous insects are oligophagous. While they differ in their behavior from monophagous insects (which feed on only a single plant species), they are selective as far as which plant families or genera are acceptable. Other factors besides nutritional composition of the plant are important in guiding their behavior. Specialist animals exploit a particular resource: perhaps a particular plant part such as leaves or fruit, or perhaps a single plant species. . . By contrast, humans are extreme generalists. Like other omnivores such as rats, bears, pigs, and many primates, we eat a range of animal and plant foods. For omnivores, not only sensory perception but also the lessons learned from the physiological consequences of ingestion are important in determining food selection."
- "2024 WA Government Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development: Agriculture and Food Polyphagous shot-hole borer Euwallacea fornicatus is a beetle native to Southeast Asia. The beetle attacks a wide range of plants by tunnelling into trunks, stems and branches. Polyphagous shot-hole borer has a symbiotic relationship with a Fusarium fungus, farming it inside the tree as a food source for the beetle and its larvae. In susceptible trees, the fungus kills vascular tissue causing Fusarium dieback and tree death."
Etymology
From poly- + -phagous.