detritivore

noun

de·tri·ti·vore di-ˈtrī-tə-ˌvȯr

: an organism (such as an earthworm or a fungus) that feeds on dead and decomposing organic matter

Examples of detritivore in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Midge larvae love eating algae and are what’s called a detritivore, Calabrese said. —

Emily Bamforth, cleveland, 19 May 2020 Being a detritivore, the snail gets its nutrients primarily from eating rotted vegetation. —

National Geographic, 26 Mar. 2020 All parts of the food chain were attracted to the reefs, including herbivores, detritivores, planktivores and predatory piscivores, the researchers found. —

Fox News, 3 Dec. 2019 The discussion about detritivores, which process waste material into soil by way of their own humus-like waste material. —

David Gilbert, The New Yorker, 4 June 2017 These non-insect arthropods are usually detritivores (feed on decaying plant material), but can and do sometimes feed on vegetables, particularly root vegetables like carrots and sugar beets. —

OregonLive.com, 31 Mar. 2018

Word History

Etymology

probably borrowed from French détritivore, from détritus detritus + -i- -i- + -vore "one feeding on," noun derivative of -vore -vorous

Note: Compare earlier German Detritivor, cited as the adjectival source of English detritivorous by Oxford English Dictionary, though spelled with a capital D. The citation is "A[nton] Handlirsch 1929, in C. Schröder Handbuch d. Entomologie II. 38." French usage of détritivore appears to be based on Albert Vandel's Biospéologie (1964) and earlier works.

First Known Use

1959, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler

The first known use of detritivore was in 1959

See more words from the same year