insectivore

Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of insectivore Moreover, in every case, the ancestors were either insectivores or carnivores, with insect-eaters making the shift about three times more often than carnivores. Rupendra Brahambhatt, ArsTechnica, 20 Aug. 2025 Belonging to the same group of mammals as sloths and anteaters, armadillos are voracious insectivores that eat large numbers of beetles, grubs, ants, termites, and other insects, grabbing them with their sticky tongues. Arricca Elin Sansone, Southern Living, 18 July 2025 The lemurs and tenrecs of Madagascar, for example, are descended from primates and insectivores that used to be much more widespread. Riley Black, Smithsonian Magazine, 25 June 2025 This tiny insectivore has an exceptionally fast metabolism, demanding near-constant feeding to survive. Georgina Jedikovska, Interesting Engineering, 15 Mar. 2025 Among the species declines that have led to billions fewer birds in North America over the last half-century, grassland birds and aerial insectivores have been hit especially hard, having lost many bugs that once fed them. Brandon Loomis, The Arizona Republic, 22 Sep. 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for insectivore
Noun
  • Wild mammals and birds, both herbivores and carnivores, generally got smaller as human populations expanded, landscapes became more fragmented and hunting pressure increased.
    New Atlas, New Atlas, 7 Sep. 2025
  • Levi studies the endangered Humboldt marten, a small carnivore that lives on the Northern California and Southern Oregon coast.
    Andrew Cunningham, ArsTechnica, 28 Aug. 2025
Noun
  • Embark's DNA tests screens for more than 400 breeds of dog, including wild animals such as dingoes, coyotes, wolves and village dogs, helping owners of mixed breeds understand their pet's ancestry.
    Rachael O'Connor, MSNBC Newsweek, 18 Sep. 2025
  • Waste, agriculture, and energy increasingly intersect as crop residues and animal waste produce electricity and biofuels.
    Maurice Obeid, Forbes.com, 17 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • Card-carrying herbivores, seed-eaters, and omnivores switched to a cicada-heavy diet during a brood emergence in Washington, D.C., in 2021, according to Martha Weiss, a professor of biology at George Washington University.
    Sarah Henry, The Courier-Journal, 8 July 2025
  • But slugs can be beneficial omnivores that feed on algae, fungi, decomposing organic matter and plants.
    Tom MacCubbin, The Orlando Sentinel, 5 July 2025
Noun
  • This includes the eyeball alien that’s possessed the sheep, a rapidly growing Xenomorph, and large, flying bug-like creatures that have made a little hive for themselves.
    Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 17 Sep. 2025
  • Thousands of skeletal creatures were lying on bunks unable to move, while dead bodies were piled in heaps all around the camp, reeking of putrefaction.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 17 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • Stores like Target, Walmart, and Amazon are replete with an eclectic array of builds from seasonally appropriate critters to gorgeous botanicals that act as verdant home décor.
    Izzy Baskette, PEOPLE, 16 Sep. 2025
  • Yards with moles, mice, or other critters are especially tempting, triggering a canine's natural prey drive.
    Lucy Notarantonio, MSNBC Newsweek, 11 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • My favorite Maginot menagerie beastie remains the multi-eyed crawling eyeball, who in this episode takes up residence within the eye socket of a Prodigy lab goat.
    Noel Murray, Vulture, 27 Aug. 2025
  • Most of the remaining beasties now live on remote islands near the equator, and most humans would conveniently like to forget them.
    Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 30 June 2025
Noun
  • Shop Deli Gifts 11 Dead on I-80 in 2009 National Cowboy Poetry Gathering—Find out what rhymes with varmint!
    Megan Cummins August 5, Literary Hub, 5 Aug. 2025
  • Another disadvantage: Adding banana peels directly to the soil may attract unwelcome varmints.
    Marin Independent Journal, The Mercury News, 14 Feb. 2025
Noun
  • This could include, but is not limited to, major vermin contamination.
    Sacbee.com, Sacbee.com, 10 Sep. 2025
  • At the time, cats were rewarded for using their hunting skills to keep settlements free from vermin.
    Maria Azzurra Volpe, MSNBC Newsweek, 10 Sep. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Insectivore.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/insectivore. Accessed 21 Sep. 2025.

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