hemimetabolic
/ˌhɛmɪmɪˈtæbəlɪk/
adjective
- Describing insects that develop through incomplete metamorphosis, where the young resemble adults and do not go through a pupal stage.
- Students learned that grasshoppers are hemimetabolic, unlike butterflies which undergo complete metamorphosis.
- The hemimetabolic life cycle includes egg, nymph, and adult stages.
- Dragonflies are hemimetabolic insects because their nymphs live in water and look like wingless adults.