Hematophagy

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /ËŒhiː.məˈtÉ’f.É™.dʒɪ/, /ËŒhiː.məˈtÉ’f.É™.ɡɪ/
• US IPA: /ËŒhi.məˈtÉ‘f.É™.dÊ’i/

Alternative forms

• haematophagy

Origin

From Ancient Greek αἷμα (haima, "blood") and the suffix -phagy (to feed on); from ἔφαγον (ephagon, "I ate") + -y

Full definition of hematophagy

Noun

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 239Most 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

• hematophagia

Related terms

• hematophagous
• hemovore