hemimetaboly
/ˌhɛmɪmɪˈtæbəli/
noun
- A type of insect development where the young (nymphs) look somewhat like the adults but lack wings and reproductive organs, and change gradually through a series of molts without a pupal stage.
- Students learned that hemimetaboly is common in insects such as crickets and true bugs.
- In hemimetaboly, there is no resting pupal stage like in butterflies.
- Grasshoppers undergo hemimetaboly, so the nymphs already resemble tiny adults.
Antonyms