triungulin

noun

tri·​un·​gu·​lin

trīˈəŋgyələ̇n

plural -s

1

: a larva that is the first larval stage of various hypermetamorphic beetles (as oil beetles and blister beetles), is active and of the campodeiform type but during later development becomes legless and parasitic, and in the best-known forms feeds on eggs of bees, wasps, or locusts

2

or triungulid : the active spiny campodeiform primary larva of a strepsipteral insect that seeks out and attacks the hymenopteran or sometimes homopteran host in which further development takes place

Word History

Etymology

International Scientific Vocabulary tri- + ungul- (from Latin ungula claw, from unguis nail) + -in

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