phengo-, pheng-

(Greek: light, splendor, luster, sunlight, daylight)

A reference to pheno- words. Don't confuse the words in this unit with those in the pheno-, phen- unit.

phengite (s) (noun), phengites (pl)
A stone often used for carving which may have a mica content that creates the brightness: The urn on the fireplace was made of phengite and had a bright glow on its surface.
Phengodidae (plural form) (noun)
The scientific name for a beetle whose larvae are glowworms so named for the bioluminescent qualities among the females: The farmer said that there must have been a great number of the families of the Phengodidae in the woods recently because he had seen so many glowworms.

The beetle family Phengodidae is also known as "glowworm beetles" or "glowworms"

Larval and larviform female glowworms are predators, feeding on millipedes and other arthropods that exist in soil and litter. The winged males, which are often attracted to lights at night, live for a short time and probably do not feed.

Females are much larger than the males and are completely larviform. Males may be luminescent, but females and larvae have a series of luminescent organs on their trunk segments which produce yellow or green light, and sometimes an additional head organ which exhibits red light, as in "railroad worms".

—Compiled from Phengodidae. (2006, July 20). In Wikipedia,
"The Free Encyclopedia". Retrieved 20:51, August 1, 2006, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Phengodidae&oldid=64823346.
phengophilous (adjective), more phengophilous, most phengophilous
In biology, pertaining to an organism that thrive in, or has an affinity for light: The varieties of phengophilous cactus plants in the greenhouse were growing very well in the hot sunshine.
phengophobia (s) (noun) (usually only in the singular)
1. An excessive fear of daylight or of sunlight: Human manifestations of phengophobia involve secluding themselves in curtained rooms where the brilliance of the sun cannot enter and only allowing illumination by artificial lambency. Usually the individual can go out at night and move around in greater comfort than during solar time.
A man who has phengophobia and avoids direct sunlight.
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We mustn't fear daylight just because it almost always illuminates a miserable world.

—René Magritte
2. In biology, intolerance of luminosity: Some creatures have a natural phengophobia, including certain plants and animals, because they cannot exist in bright fulgence.

Etymologically related "light, shine, glow" word families: ethero-; fulg-; luco-; lumen-, lum-; luna, luni-; lustr-; pheno-; phospho-; photo-; scinti-, scintill-; splendo-.