[[File:Kartoffelkäfer.jpg|thumb|right|The Colorado potato beetle will typically only feed on plants of the family Solanaceae.]] '''Oligophagy''' refers to the eating of only a few specific foods, and to monophagy when restricted to a single food source.<ref>[https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/science/sikkim-sees-surge-in-butterfly-biodiversity/article29667459.ece Sikkim sees surge in butterfly biodiversity - The Hindu]</ref> The term is usually associated with insect dietary behaviour.<ref name="Dict"> [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/oligophagy ''Oligophagy'' on Dictionary.com]. Accessed on 9 January 2010.</ref> Organisms may exhibit narrow or specific oligophagy where the diet is restricted to a very few foods or broad oligophagy where the organism feeds on a wide variety of specific foods but none other.<ref name="Huffaker_Gutierrez">Huffaker & Gutierrez ''Ecological Entomology'', pg 201.</ref>
Polyphagy, on the contrary, refers to eating a broad spectrum of foods. In the insect world it refers usually to insects that feed on plants belonging to different families.
== Examples == The diet of the yucca moths is restricted to the developing fruits of species of yucca<ref name="Huffaker_Gutierrez"/> while the sea hare, ''Aplysia juliana'' (Quoy & Gaimard), is found on and feeds only on a single alga, ''Ulva lactuca'' (Linnaeus) in east Australian waters.<ref name="Sea_hare">Rogers et al (1995).</ref> These are both narrow oligophages. Conversely the migratory locust may be said to be broadly oligophagous or even polyphagous.<ref name="Huffaker_Gutierrez"/>
==Footnotes== {{Reflist|2}}
==References== * {{aut|Huffaker, Carl B. & Gutierrez, A. P.}} (1999). ''Ecological Entomology''. 2nd Edition (illustrated). John Wiley and Sons. {{ISBN|0-471-24483-X}}, {{ISBN|978-0-471-24483-7}}. [https://books.google.com/books?id=aw5Iycas70cC Limited preview] on Google Books. Accessed 9 January 2010. * {{aut|Rogers, C. N.; Steinberg, P. D. & de Nys, R.}} (1994). "Factors associated with oligophagy in two species of sea hares (Mollusca: Anaspidea)". ''Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology'', Volume 192, Issue 1, 17 October 1995, Pages 47–73. {{doi|10.1016/0022-0981(95)00057-X}}.
{{Wiktionary}}
Category:Eating behaviors Category:Insect behavior