The Nymphalidae are the largest family of butterflies with more than 6,000 species distributed throughout most of the world, belonging to the superfamily Papilionoidea. These are usually medium-sized to large butterflies. Most species have a reduced pair of forelegs and many hold their colourful wings flat when resting. They are also called brush-footed butterflies or four-footed butterflies, because they are known to stand on only four legs while the other two are curled up; in some species, these forelegs have a brush-like set of hairs, which gives this family its other common name. Many species are brightly coloured and include popular species such as the emperors, monarch butterfly, admirals, tortoiseshells, and fritillaries. However, the under wings are, in contrast, often dull and in some species look remarkably like dead leaves, or are much paler, producing a cryptic effect that helps the butterflies blend into their surroundings.
Closteroviridae is a family of viruses. Plants serve as natural hosts. There are currently 39 species in this family, divided among 4 genera. Diseases associated with this family include: yellowing and necrosis, particularly affecting the phloem.
Luteoviridae is a family of viruses. Plants serve as natural hosts. There are currently 33 species in this family, divided among 3 genera. Diseases associated with this family include: yellowing symptoms.
Tymoviridae is a family of single-stranded positive sense RNA viruses in the order Tymovirales. Plants serve as natural hosts. There are currently 37 species in this family, divided among 3 genera.
The Lasiocampidae are a family of moths also known as eggars, snout moths, or lappet moths. Over 2,000 species occur worldwide, and probably not all have been named or studied.
This glossary of entomology describes terms used in the formal study of insect species by entomologists.
The Ptychopteridae, phantom crane flies, are a small family of nematocerous Diptera. Superficially similar in appearance to other "tipuloid" families, they lack the ocelli of the Trichoceridae, the five-branched radial vein of the Tanyderidae, and the two anal veins that reach the wing margins of the Tipulidae. They are usually allied with the Tanyderidae based on similarities of the mesonotal suture, this group being called the Ptychopteromorpha.
In entomology, petiole is the technical term for the narrow waist of some hymenopteran insects, especially ants, bees, and wasps in the order Apocrita.
The Agromyzidae are a family commonly referred to as the leaf-miner flies, for the feeding habits of their larvae, most of which are leaf miners on various plants.
The pterostigma is a group of specialized cells in the outer wings of insects, which is often thickened or coloured, and thus stands out from other cells. It is particularly noticeable in dragonflies, but present also in other insect groups, such as snakeflies, hymenopterans and megalopterans.
Diastatidae are a family of flies, and are in the order Diptera. They occur primarily in the Holarctic Region, but several species are known from the Oriental, Neotropical, and Australasian regions. Members of the family number over 20 described species in three genera. There is an additional fossil genus.
The Scenopinidae or window flies are a small family of flies (Diptera), distributed worldwide. In buildings, they are often taken at windows, hence the common name window flies.
The Blastobasidae are a family of moths in the superfamily Gelechioidea. Its species can be found almost anywhere in the world, though in some places they are not native but introduced by humans. In some arrangements, these moths are included in the case-bearer family (Coleophoridae) as subfamily Blastobasinae. The Symmocidae are sometimes included in the Blastobasidae as subfamily or tribe.
A leaf is an organ of a vascular plant and is the principal lateral appendage of the stem. The leaves and stem together form the shoot. Leaves are collectively referred to as foliage, as in "autumn foliage".
Insect morphology is the study and description of the physical form of insects. The terminology used to describe insects is similar to that used for other arthropods due to their shared evolutionary history. Three physical features separate insects from other arthropods: they have a body divided into three regions, have three pairs of legs, and mouthparts located outside of the head capsule. It is this position of the mouthparts which divides them from their closest relatives, the non-insect hexapods, which includes Protura, Diplura, and Collembola.
Betaflexiviridae is a family of viruses in the order Tymovirales. Plants and fungi serve as natural hosts. There are currently 87 species in this family, divided among 7 genera. Diseases associated with this family include: mosaic and ringspot symptoms.
Lamoria is a genus of small moths belonging to the family Pyralidae.
The Comstock–Needham system is a naming system for insect wing veins, devised by John Comstock and George Needham in 1898. It was an important step in showing the homology of all insect wings. This system was based on Needham's pretracheation theory that was later discredited by Frederic Charles Fraser in 1938.
The Diptera is a very large and diverse order of mostly small to medium-sized insects. They have prominent compound eyes on a mobile head, and one pair of functional, membraneous wings, which are attached to a complex mesothorax. The second pair of wings, on the metathorax, are reduced to halteres. The order's fundamental peculiarity is its remarkable specialization in terms of wing shape and the morpho-anatomical adaptation of the thorax – features which lend particular agility to its flying forms. The filiform, stylate or aristate antennae correlate with the Nematocera, Brachycera and Cyclorrhapha taxa respectively. It displays substantial morphological uniformity in lower taxa, especially at the level of genus or species. The configuration of integumental bristles is of fundamental importance in their taxonomy, as is wing venation. It displays a complete metamorphosis, or holometabolous development. The larvae are legless, and have head capsules with mandibulate mouthparts in the Nematocera. The larvae of "higher flies" (Brachycera) are however headless and wormlike, and display only three instars. Pupae are obtect in the Nematocera, or coarcate in Brachycera.
