cactophile

cactophile

English

Etymology

cacto- +‎ -phile

Noun

cactophile (plural cactophiles)

1. (biology) An animal which lives in or feeds on cacti.
   • 1985, Hot Deserts and Arid Shrublands, Part 1, page 163:

     Other insects are cactophiles, including Homoptera such as the cactus dodger (Cacama valvata) […]

   • 2002, Nancy B. Simmons, "Phylogeny and Convergence in Cactophilic Bats", in Columnar Cacti and Their Mutualists: Evolution, Ecology, and Conservation (eds. Theodore H. Fleming & Alfonso Valiente-Banuet), page 89:

     Phyllostomus discolor is an opportunistic cactophile that occasionally visits flowering columnar cacti in the Venezuelan Andes (Sosa and Soriano, 1996) .

   • 2003, Journal of Experimental Biology, Volume 206, Issue 7, page 1185:

     Although not all cactophiles live in deserts, they and their host plants tend to inhabit dry regions.

2. A person who is especially fond of cacti.
   • 1984, Del Weniger, Cacti of Texas and Neighboring States: A Field Guide, page 159:

     As a group they present all of the challenges in collecting, classifying, and culturing cacti which the most ardent cactophile can desire.

   • 2005, Cactus and Succulent Journal, Volume 77, Issues 1-6, page 56:

     I'm a cactophile yet my favorite plant (I define favorite as the one plant that will make me cry should it ever leave me for the great botanists in the sky) is a Haemantha albiflos.

   • 2020, John Bagnasco & Bob Reidmuller Jr., Succulents: Choosing, Growing, and Caring for Cactuses and Other Succulents, page 112:

     Googly eyes are often added to this plant as a novelty. One look at it captures the imagination of every cactophile.

Related terms

• cactophilic
• cactophily