Word for 07/12

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Maytag "Danged Agitator"
Merriam-Webster
Word of the Day

July 12

anthophilous \an-THAH-fuh-lus\

DEFINITION adjective

:feeding upon or living among flowers

EXAMPLES

The students studied the behaviors of the anthophilous insects found in the field.

"While about 30 families of beetles contain at least a few examples of flower visitors, the main anthophilous groups today — those that are of real importance as flower pollinators — are soldier beetles (Cantharidae) and longhorn beetles (Cerambycidae)." — From Pat Willmer’s Pollination and Floral Ecology, 2011

DID YOU KNOW?

Parrots love eucalyptus flowers. That's because anthophilous birds are naturally attracted to "ornithophilous" flowers — which is to say, flowers that are pollinated by birds. The "-philous" in both of those terms is the combining form that means "loving" (from Greek "-philos"). "Anthophilous" uses the Greek word "anthos," meaning "flower," while "ornithophilous" traces back to Greek "ornis," meaning "bird." "Ornithophilous" is one of a whole swarm of specialized words that identify flowers in terms of the flower-loving creatures that pollinate them. "Entomophilous" flowers, for example, are pollinated by anthophilous insects, such as bees. There's even a word specifically for plants that are pollinated by bees: "melittophilous" (from the Greek word "melitta," meaning "bee")
 




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