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fruit fly

(Encyclopedia)fruit fly, common name for any of the flies of the families Tephritidae and Drosophilidae. All fruit flies are very small insects that lay their eggs in various plant tissues. The Tephritidae contains...

naiad

(Encyclopedia)naiad, in zoology: see insect.

insect repellent

(Encyclopedia)insect repellent, substance applied to the skin in order to provide protection against biting insects, primarily mosquitoes, ticks, chiggers, fleas, and certain flies. The most effective such substanc...

leaf insect

(Encyclopedia)leaf insect, common name given to herbivorous insects of leaflike appearance forming a single family in the order Phasmida. Leaf insects are green and have extremely flattened, irregularly shaped bodi...

scale insect

(Encyclopedia)scale insect, common name for members of a highly modified group of insects belonging to several families of the superfamily Coccoidea. Scales possess antennae and are characterized by reduced legs. O...

stick insect

(Encyclopedia)stick insect: see walking stick. ...

gall, in botany

(Encyclopedia)gall, abnormal growth, or hypertrophy, of plant tissue produced by chemical or mechanical (e.g., the rubbing together of two branches) irritants or hormones. Chemical irritants are released by parasit...

worm

(Encyclopedia)worm, common name for various unrelated invertebrate animals with soft, often long and slender bodies. Members of the phylum Platyhelminthes, or the flatworms, are the most primitive; they are general...

pupa

(Encyclopedia)pupa pyo͞oˈpə [key], name for the third stage in the life of an insect that undergoes complete metamorphosis, i.e., develops from the egg through the larva and the pupa stages to the adult. A compl...

butterfly

(Encyclopedia)butterfly, any of a large group of insects found throughout most of the world; with the moths, they comprise the order Lepidoptera. There are about 12 families of butterflies. Most adult moths and but...