Strepsiptera

plural noun

Strep·​sip·​tera

strepˈsiptərə

: a group formerly included in the Coleoptera but now regarded as a separate order and comprising minute insects which are parasitic as larvae in other insects, in which the females remain permanently in the host and degenerate into a sac wherein the eggs hatch and the larvae develop, and which undergo a hypermetamorphosis in the course of larval development compare stylops, xenos

Word History

Etymology

New Latin, from strepsi- (from Greek, from strepsis act or instance of turning) + -ptera; from the twisted front wings

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