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Holometabolism, also called complete metamorphosis, is a form of insect development which includes four life stages: egg, larva, pupa, and imago (or adult). Holometabolism is a synapomorphic trait of all insects in the superorder Holometabola. Immature stages of holometabolous insects are very different from the mature stage.
Hypermetamorphosis, or heteromorphosis, [1] is a term used mainly in entomology; it refers to a class of variants of holometabolism, that is to say, complete insect metamorphosis. Hypermetamorphosis is exceptional in that some instars, usually larval instars, are functionally and visibly distinct from the rest. The differences between such ...
Their front legs are shorter and used for grasping food. As hemimetabolous insects, they do not undergo complete metamorphosis; they hatch from an egg into a nymph or "hopper" which undergoes five moults, becoming more similar to the adult insect at each developmental stage. [1]
Insects undergo considerable change in form during the pupal stage, and emerge as adults. Butterflies are well-known for undergoing complete metamorphosis; most insects use this life cycle. Some insects have evolved this system to hypermetamorphosis. Complete metamorphosis is a trait of the most diverse insect group, the Endopterygota. [82]
Hemimetabolism or hemimetaboly, also called partial metamorphosis and paurometabolism, [1] is the mode of development of certain insects that includes three distinct stages: the egg, nymph, and the adult stage, or imago. These groups go through gradual changes; there is no pupal stage.
In a complete (holometabolous) metamorphosis the insect passes through four distinct phases, which produce an adult that does not resemble the larva. In an incomplete (hemimetabolous) metamorphosis an insect does not go through a full transformation, but instead transitions from a nymph to an adult by molting its exoskeleton as it grows.
Since mealybugs, as well as all other Hemiptera, are hemimetabolous insects, they do not undergo complete metamorphosis in the true sense of the word. However, male mealybugs exhibit a radical change during their life cycle, changing from wingless, ovoid nymphs to wasp -like flying adults.
Blattodeans are related to mantids, crickets, and other winged insects that do not undergo complete metamorphosis. Like ants, termites are eusocial, with sterile workers, but they differ greatly in the genetics of reproduction. The similarity of their social structure to that of ants is attributed to convergent evolution. [23]