Mycophages

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An organism that feeds primarily on fungi, such as certain insects and animals
2. A type of consumer in an ecosystem that specializes in consuming fungal material for nutrition
3. A creature that plays a role in the decomposition process by ingesting and processing mushrooms and other fungi

Etymology: "Mycophages" is the plural of "mycophage," which is built from two Greek-derived combining forms. The first, "myco-," comes from Greek "mykes," meaning "fungus" or "mushroom," and it appears in English in terms such as mycology, the study of fungi. The second, "-phage," comes from Greek "phagein," meaning "to eat," and it is the same element found in words like bacteriophage, a virus that infects bacteria, and macrophage, a large cell that engulfs foreign material. Put together, the parts literally describe something that eats fungus. The word follows the pattern of many scientific coinages in which Greek elements are combined to name a specific function, so its meaning comes straight from the joined parts rather than from any older everyday use. Because "-phage" carries the sense of consuming, the word is naturally applied to organisms that feed on mushrooms and other fungi in the breakdown of dead material.