'apiphagous' originates from New Latin/Modern Latin, specifically the combining form 'api-' from Latin 'apis' meaning 'bee' and the suffix '-phagous' from Greek 'phagein' meaning 'to eat'.

'apiphagous' was formed in scientific/New Latin usage by combining Latin 'apis' and the Greek-derived combining form '-phagous'; it appears in biological descriptions in the 19th and 20th centuries and entered English technical vocabulary without major orthographic change.

Initially it meant 'feeding on bees' in technical descriptions, and this core meaning has been preserved in modern usage.