Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
mental (often resting) stage between a larva and a
pupa.
Prescutum
The anterior-most (first) of the three
main dorsal components of each of the three sec-
tions of the thorax, usually obvious only on the
mesothorax (cf. Scutum, Scutellum).
Prespiracular plate
In an insect larva, a plate lying
anterior to a spiracle.
Pretarsus
In certain mites the terminal (distal) part of
the tarsus, forming part of the ambulacrum (q.v.).
Proboscis
The elongated, often curled, 'tongue' of
an insect, as in many adult butterflies and moths.
Prodorsal shield
The more-or-less triangular shield-
like part of an eriophyid mite, anterior to the
annulated hysterosoma, which overlies the
propodosoma.
Prognathous
With a more or less horizontal head
and the mouthparts located anteriorly.
Proleg
One of a pair of unsegmented 'false' legs aris-
ing from the abdominal segment of a larva.
Pronotum
The often enlarged, shield-like dorsal sur-
face of the prothorax (q.v.).
Propodeum
The first abdominal segment in certain
Hymenoptera (Apocrita), located in front of the
pedicel and thus appearing to be part of the
thorax.
Propodosoma
That part of the idiosoma of a mite
lying anterior to the sejugal furrow and bearing
the first and second pairs of legs.
Propodosomal shield
(see
Prodorsal shield).
Propupa
(pi.
propupae)
In thrips, the resting devel-
opmental stage between the nymph and the pupa.
Prothoracic plate
A dorsal plate, often present on
the first thoracic segment of a larva.
Prothorax
The first (of three) main sections of the
thorax of an insect.
Protogyne
The 'summer' female in a species of mite
exhibing deuterogeny (q.v.).
Protonymph
The first nymphal stage of a mite.
Pseudocellus
(pi.
pseudocelli)
A light-sensitive
receptor on the abdomen of a springtail.
Pseudo-gall
An often distinctly coloured gall-like
deformation of part of a host plant (e.g. a leaf),
induced by a pest such as an aphid.
Pseudopod
A false leg, applied especially to that
present on the anal segment of certain larvae.
Pseudo-pupa
The resting stage of certain
hemimetabolous insects in which moulting to the
adult occurs, as in whiteflies.
Pteromorphae
Wing-like or ridge-like expansions to
the idiosoma of an oribatid mite.
Pterostigma
A small pigmented area present to-
wards the tip of an otherwise 'clear' wing of an
insect (sometimes also called a 'stigma').
Ptilinum
A small balloon-like structure which is pro-
jected temporarily from the front of the head of a
young fly to aid its emergence from the puparium.
Pubescent
Covered in short, soft hairs.
Pulvillus
(pi.
pulvilli)
A pad at the tip of the tarsus
(foot); also, in mites, a small cushion-like struc-
ture at the tip of the ambulacrum (q.v.).
Punctate
Covered in small pits or depressions.
Pupa
(pi.
pupae)
The pre-adult stage of a
holometabolous insect, in which metamorphosis
occurs; also, the pre-adult 'resting' stage of cer-
tain mites.
Pupal paedogenesis
Parthenogenetic reproduction
in which the adult stage is omitted from the life-
cycle and the 'pupa' (= hemi-pupa) (q.v.) gives
rise directly to a 'new' generation of larvae.
Puparium
(pi.
puparia)
In higher Diptera: the
barrel-shaped structure, formed from the cast-off
skin of the fmal-instar larva (exuvium), within
which the pupa is formed.
Pupate
To turn into a pupa (the act of pupation).
Pygidium
The dorsal surface of the last visible ab-
dominal segment.
Pyriform
Pear-shaped.
Radicicola
(pi.
radicicolae)
A member of a root-
inhabiting generation, as in grape phylloxera.
Raptorial
Grasping, prehensile.
Reniform
Kidney-shaped.
Reticulate
With a net-like pattern.
Retinaculum
The retaining hook on the third ab-
dominal segment of springtails which possess a
furcula (q.v.); also, a hook or group of bristles
located on the forewing of certain insects which
possess a frenulum (q.v.).
Rickettsia
(pi.
rickettsiae)
A bacterium- or virus-like
blood parasite which can reproduce only in an
animal cell.
Rickettsial disease
A disease caused by a rickettsia
(q.v.).
Rostrum
The beak of a heteropteran bug; also, the
snout of a beetle or weevil
(see also
Gnathosoma).
Saltatory
Jumping.
Saprophagous
Feeding on dead or decaying organic
material.
Scape
The basal (first) segment of an antenna.
Scarabaeiform larva
A larva with a thick, fleshy
(often C-shaped) body and a well-developed
head and thoracic legs - exemplified by chafer
larvae.
Sclerite
One of any of the hardened (sclerotized)
plates which form the body wall.
Sclerotization
The process by which the cuticle is
hardened and tanned by the formation of the pro-
tein sclerotin.
Scopa
The pollen-collecting apparatus of a bee.
Scutellum
The third of the main dorsal components
of each of the three sections of the thorax, usually
obvious only on the mesothorax and often very
large in certain bugs (cf. Prescutum, Scutum).
