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aphid

(Encyclopedia)aphid or plant louse, tiny, usually green, soft-bodied, pear-shaped insect injurious to vegetation. It is also called greenfly and blight. Aphids are mostly under  14 in. (6 mm) long. Some are win...

greenfly

(Encyclopedia)greenfly: see aphid.

phylloxera

(Encyclopedia)phylloxera flk´sr [key], small, sap-eating, greenish insect of the genus Phylloxera, closely related to the aphid. Phylloxeras feed on leaves and roots, and many species produce galls on deci...

symbiosis

(Encyclopedia)symbiosis smb´ss [key], the habitual living together of organisms of different species. The term is usually restricted to a dependent relationship that is beneficial to both participants (als...

parthenogenesis

(Encyclopedia)parthenogenesis pärthnjn´ss [key] [Gr.,=virgin birth], in biology, a form of reproduction in which the ovum develops into a new individual without fertilization. Natural parthenogenesis ...

louse

(Encyclopedia)louse, common name for members of either of two distinct orders of wingless, parasitic, disease-carrying insects. Lice of both groups are small and flattened with short legs adapted for clinging to th...

insect

(Encyclopedia)insect, invertebrate animal of the class Insecta of the phylum Arthropoda. Like other arthropods, an insect has a hard outer covering, or exoskeleton, a segmented body, and jointed legs. Adult insects...

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