Glossary of Lepidoptera Technical Terms

Don Herbison-Evans ( donherbisonevans@yahoo.com )
&
Stella Crossley

(updated 19 November 2007)


names of areas of a wing

 

apex

The area of a wing usually furthest from the body, where the costa meets the termen
(plural: apices).

 

base

The area of a wing nearest the body.

 

coremata

Organs at the end of the abdomen of male moths that can be everted to emit pheromones.

 

costa

The leading edge of a wing, between the base and the apex.

 

cremaster

One or more hooks at the tip of the abdomen of a pupa that hook into a pad of silk laid on some supporting object.

 

cubitus

The fifth major vein in a wing.

 

discal

A cell in the middle of a wing that is relatively free of veins, bounded by the radial, the cubital and the discocellular veins.

 

dorsal

On the back.

 

haustellum

A type of tongue on the adults of some butterfly and moth families, used for sucking up liquids, otherwise kept coiled under the head.

 

inner margin

The trailing edge of a wing, between the tornus and the base.

 

instar

One of the 4 to 6 stages of growth in the life of a Caterpillar. At the end of each stage, having reached the limit of the elasticity of its skin, it sheds the outer skin layer, having grown a potentially larger skin underneath. Often the coloration and/or pattern of each skin stage is different from the previous one.

 

larva

The 'Caterpillar' or second life stage of many insects, after the egg, and before the pupa
(plural: larvae).

 

margin

An edge of a wing, usually the farthest from the body, more accurately called the 'outer margin' or 'termen'.

 

media

The fourth major vein in a wing.

 

osmeterium

A gland bearing strongly smelling substances, usually forked and everted typically from behind the head. plural: osmeteria.

 

pheromone

Specific aromatic substances that attract the males and females of a particular species together.

 

pupa

The 'chrysalis' or third stage in the life of many insects (between the larval and adult stages), often surrounded by a silk cocoon, and in which the major metamorphosis from larva to adult occurs
(plural: pupae).

 

radius

The third major vein in a wing.

 

spiracles

Holes along the side of the body, one each side of each segment, allowing air to flow and diffuse into the body.

 

submarginal/subterminal

Parallel to and somewhat inward from the termen (outer margin).

 

synanthropic

Found in the company of humans.

 

synonym

Another scientific name given to a biological entity such as a species or family, by an author describing it in a scientific publication, usually after it has already been described and given another name.

 

termen

The edge of a wing furthest from the body, (between the apex and the tornus) also called the 'outer margin' or just 'margin'.

 

tornus

The corner of a wing where the outer margin meets the inner margin.

 

ventral

Underneath, on the underside.

Further reading :

Ian F.B. Common,
Moths of Australia, Melbourne University Press, 1990, pp. 5-28, and 512-517.

Link to
Frequently Asked Questions about Caterpillars

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