EXPLANATION OF TERMS 



USED IN 



ENTOMOLOGY 



A: prefix, is privative; wanting or without. 

 Ab : off ; away from. 

 Abbreviated: cut short; not of usual length. 



Abdomen: the third or posterior division of the insect body: consists nor- 

 mally of nine or ten apparent segments, but actual number is a mooted 



question : bears no functional legs in the adult stage. 

 Abdominal: belonging or pertaining to the abdomen. 

 Abdominal feet: see pro-legs. 

 Abdominal groove: the concave lobe of the inner margin of secondaries 



enveloping the abdomen beneath, in some butterflies. 

 Abdominal pouch: in female Parnassiids, a sac-like ventral cavity, formed 



by material secreted during copulation. 

 Abductor: applied to muscles that open out or extend an appendage or draw 



it away from the body : see adductor. 



Abductor mandibulae: the muscle that opens the mandibles. 

 Aberrant: unusual; out of the ordinary course. 

 Aberration: a form that departs in some striking way from the normal type; 



either single or occurring rarely, at irregular intervals. 

 Abiogenesis: spontaneous generation. 



Abnormal: outside the usual range or course; not normal. 

 Aborted: a structure developed so as to be unfit for its normal function; 



obsolete or atrophied. 

 Abraded: scraped or rubbed. 

 Abrupt: suddenly or without gradation. 

 Abscissus: cut off squarely, with a straight margin. 

 Absconditus: hidden, concealed; retracted into another. 

 Acalyptrata: those muscid flies in which alulae are absent or rudimentary. 

 Acanthus: a spine, spur or prickle. 

 Acaudal-ate: without a tail. 

 Accessory: added, or in addition to. 



Accessory carinae: in Orthoplera the lateral carinae of the face. 

 Accessory cell: a cell not commonly present in the group; in some orders of 



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