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Abdomen. The hindmost of the three main body divisions of an insect.
Acaricide. A chemical employed to kill and control mites and ticks.
Acetyl choline. A substance present in many parts of the body of animals and important to the function of nerves.
Acrostichal Bristles. The two rows of hairs or bristles lying one on either side of the mid-line of the thorax of a true fly.
Active Space. The space within which the concentration of a pheromone or other behaviourally active substance is concentrated enough to generate the required response, remembering that like light and sound pheromones become more dilute the further they radiate out from their source.
Aculeate. (Hymenoptera) Those members of the Hymenoptera which possess a sting.
Acuminate. Tapering to a long point.
Adeagus. The part of the male genitalia which is inserted into the female during copulation and which carries the sperm into the female. Its shape is often important in separating closely related species.
Adecticous. Of pupa: referring to the state in which the pupa does not posses movable mandibles, the opposite being Decticous.
Aestivation. Summer dormancy, entered into when conditions are unfavourable for active life i.e. it is too hot or too dry.
Age Polyethism. The regular changing of roles of colony members as they get older.
Air sac. A dilated portion of a trachea
Alar Squama. The middle of three flap-like outgrowths at the base of the wing in various flies.
Alate. Winged; having wings.
Alitrunk. Name given to the thorax and propodeum of 'wasp-waisted' hymenopterans.
Allopatric. Two or more forms of a species having essentially separate distributions.
Alternating Generations. When two generations are produced within a life cycle each producing individuals of only one sex, either male first and then female or visa-versa.
Alula. In insects (not birds) the outermost of the three flap-like outgrowths at the base of the wing in various flies: really a part of the wing membrane.
Aldrin. (common name). A synthetic insecticide; a chlorinated hydrocarbon of not less than 95 per cent 1,2,3,4,10,10-hexachloro-1,4,4a,5,8,8a-hexahydro-1,4:5,8-dimethanonaphthalene; moderately toxic to mammals, acute oral LD,, for rats 44 mg/kg; phytotoxicity: none when properly formulated, but some crops are sensitive to solvents in certain formulations.
Aliphatic. A term applied to the "open chain" or fatty series of hydrocarbons.
Alkaloids. Substances found in plants, many having powerful pharmacologic action, and characterized by content of nitrogen and the property of combining with acids to form 'salts'.
Alloparental. When individuals other than the parent assist in the caring for that parents offspring.
Altruistic. Self-destructive. or potentially self-destructive behaviour performed for the benefit of others.
Ambrosia. The fungus cultivated by wood-boring beetles of the family Scolytidae
Ametabola. The insects which develop without metamorphosis, namely the Protura, Thysanura, and Collembola.
Amide. Compound derived from carboxylic acids by replacing the hydroxyl of the -COOH by the amino group, -NH2-.
Amine. An organic compound containing nitrogen, derived from ammonia, NH3, by replacing one or more hydrogen atoms by as many hydrocarbon radicals.
Amino acid. Organic compounds that contain the amino (NH,) group and the carboxyl (COOH) group. Amino acids are the "building stones" of proteins.
Ammonia. A colorless alkaline gas, NH3, soluble in water.
Anal. Pertaining to last abdominal segment which bears the anus.
Anal angle. The small apical area enclosed by the inner and outer margins of the hindwing.
Anal fold. A fold in the inner margin of the hindwing.
Anaplasmosis. Infection with Anaplasma, a genus of Sporozoa that infests red blood cells.
Anasa wilt. A wilt disease of cucurbits caused solely by the feeding of the squash bug, no parasitic microorganism involved.
Androconia. (singula = Androconium) In male butterflies, specialised wing scales (often called scent scales) possessing special glands which produce a chemical attractive to females.
Anemic. Deficient in blood quantity or quality.
Annulate. Formed in ring-like segments or with ring-like markings.
Antenna. (pl., antennae). Pair of segmented appendages located on the head and usually sensory in function - the 'feelers'.
Antennation. Touching with the antenna
Antenodal Veins. Small cross-veins at the front of the dragonfly or damselfly wing, between the wing base and the nodus.
Anterior. Concerning or facing the front, towards the head.
Antibiosis. An association between two or more organisms that is detrimental to one or more of them.
Anticoagulin. A substance antagonistic to the coagulation of blood.
Anus. The posterior opening of the digestive tract.
Anal veins. The hindmost, or most posterior longitudinal wing veins.
Aorta. The anterior, non-chambered, narrow part of the insect heart which opens into the head.
Apex. The point where the costal vein and the outer margin of the forewing meet.
Apiary. A place where bees are kept, normally a group of hives.
Apical. At or concerning the tip or furthest part of any organ: apical cells, for example are at the wing-tip.
Apical area Of the forewing, the area just inside of and contiguous with the apex.
Appendage. Any limb or other organ, such as an antenna, which is attached to the body by a joint
Appendix. In insects, a short vein, especially a short continuation after the main vein has changed direction.
Apterous. Without wings.
Apterygote. Any member of the Apterygota -primitively wingless insects (i.e. insects which have never developed wings during their evolutionary history) in modern classifications this includes the Thysanura but not Collembola Diplura and Protura which are no longer considered insects, but are termed Hexapods instead.
Aquatic. Living in water.
Arachnida. A class of arthropods which include the scorpions, spiders, mites, ticks, among others.
Arboreal. Living in, on, or among trees.
Arista. A bristle-like outgrowth from the antenna in various flies.
>Aristate. Bearing an arista or bristle.
Arolium. A small pad between the claws on an insect's foot. Usually very small, but well developed in grasshoppers and some other insects.
Arrhenoyoky. The production of males from unfertilised eggs.
Arthropoda. A phylum of animals with segmented body, exoskeleton, and jointed legs.
Arthropods. Animals belonging to the phylum Arthropoda.
Asymmetrical. Organs or body parts not alike on either side of a dividing line or plane.
Astelocyttarus. Pertaining to nests, normally those of social wasps, in which the come is attached directly to the support.
Aster yellows. A virus disease of many kinds of plants transmitted by the six spotted leaf hopper and characterized by stunting of plants, sterility, and chlorosis in foliage.
Attractants. Substances which elicit a positive directional response; chemicals having positive attraction for animals such as insects, usually in low concentration and at considerable distances.
Axon. The process of a nerve cell that conducts impulses away from the cell body.

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