insectivore
- noun
- /ɪnˈsɛktɪˌvɔr/
- Specialized
- The hedgehog is a well-known insectivore that thrives on a diet of insects, especially beetles and caterpillars.
- insectivores like bats
- insectivores and rodents
Examples
-
The life of a nocturnal outcast insectivore isn't that bad.
Fiction book (1994) -
The other species was an opportunistic insectivore, grabbing whatever insect it could see and catch.
Blog text (29) -
Now a lot of bats are insectivores, and they will hunt moths at night in complete darkness, and they do it with sonar.
-
Bats are important insectivores that consume a large number of insects, helping to control their populations.
-
As an insectivore, the shrew spends most of its time hunting for various insects to eat.
Synonyms
A mammal from Central and South America with a long snout and tongue that eats ants and termites
A plant that eats insects and small animals to get food
A small mouse from western North America that hunts insects and scorpions and makes loud howls
A bat that eats insects and finds them by using sound
A long-legged bug that eats other insects and sometimes sucks blood from mammals
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Insectivore joins insect and -vore, and -vore comes from a Latin word meaning 'to eat'. So an insectivore is an animal that mainly 'eats' insects, just like a carnivore eats meat and a herbivore eats plants.