cactophile

plural cactophiles

1. biologyAn animal which lives in or feeds on cacti.

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

   1985, Hot Deserts and Arid Shrublands, Part 1, page 163

   2 more examples

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

   2002, Nancy B. Simmons, “Phylogeny and Convergence in Cactophilic Bats”, in Theodore H. Fleming, Alfonso Valiente-Banuet, editors, Columnar Cacti and Their Mutualists: Evolution, Ecology, and Conservation, page 89

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

   2003, Journal of Experimental Biology, volume 206, number 7, page 1185

2. A person who is especially fond of cacti.

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

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

   2 more examples

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

   1984, Del Weniger, Cacti of Texas and Neighboring States: A Field Guide, page 159

   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.

   2005, Cactus and Succulent Journal, volume 77, numbers 1-6, page 56