stenophagy

S1T1E1N1O1P3H4A1G2Y4

noun

Eating just a few types of food, generally all of similar types, such as eating only some kinds of termites, or some kinds of lily bulbs, or some kinds of Eucalyptus leaves.

“The often-found stenophagy in local populations of euryphagous species may indicate the emergence of stenophagous forms from euryphagous ones.”

Scrabble 19
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounstenophagy (uncountable)
  1. uncountableEating just a few types of food, generally all of similar types, such as eating only some kinds of termites, or some kinds of lily bulbs, or some kinds of Eucalyptus leaves.

    The often-found stenophagy in local populations of euryphagous species may indicate the emergence of stenophagous forms from euryphagous ones.

    1 more example

    ...there is sound circumstantial evidence ... that the predominance of stenophagy is due to the insects' restricted ability to recognize ... plant species...

    1990, Jermy, T., Labos, E., Molnar, I., edited by John Maynard Smith, Organizational Constraints on the Dynamics of Evolution, Manchester University Press, pages 157–166

Origin

From steno- + -phagy.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

stenophagy. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/stenophagy

MLA

“stenophagy.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/stenophagy. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “stenophagy,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/stenophagy.

Source: stenophagy on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.