hematophagy

English
WOTD – 21 March 2009

Alternative forms

Etymology

hemato- +‎ -phagy

Pronunciation
  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˌhiː.məˈtɒf.ə.dʒɪ/, /ˌhiː.məˈtɒf.ə.ɡɪ/
  • (US) IPA(key): /ˌhi.məˈtɑf.ə.dʒi/
  • Audio (US)(file)

Noun

hematophagy (uncountable)

  1. The practice, of some animals, of feeding on blood.
    • 2005, Conrad C. Labandeira, "Fossil History and Evolutionary Ecology of Diptera and Their Associations with Plants", in David K. Yeates & Brian M. Wiegmann (editors), The Evolutionary Biology of Flies, page 239
      Most Lower brachyceran taxa also have nectarivorous or related fluid diets..., although a few basal clades have shifted to predominantly hematophagy; particularly the Spaniidae, Anthericidae, Xylophagidae, and certain lineages within the Tabanidae.

Synonyms

Translations
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