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Holometabolism



Holometabolism, also called complete metamorphism, is a term applied to insect groups to describe the specific kind of insect development which includes four life stages - as an embryo, a larva, a pupa and an imago. For example, in the life cycle of a butterfly, the embryo grows within the egg, hatching into the larval stage caterpillar, before entering the pupal stage within its chrysalis and finally emerging as an adult butterfly imago.

The superorder Endopterygota groups holometabolic insects. Orders in the superorder are :

  • Coleoptera - Beetles
  • Diptera - Flies
  • Hymenoptera - Ants, bees, sawflies and wasps
  • Lepidoptera - Butterflies and moths
  • Mecoptera - Scorpionflies
  • Megaloptera - Alderflies, dobsonflies and fishflies
  • Miomoptera (extinct)
  • Neuroptera - Lacewings, dobsonflies, etc.
  • Protodiptera (extinct)
  • Raphidioptera - Snakeflies
  • Siphonaptera - Fleas
  • Strepsiptera - Twisted-winged parasites
  • Trichoptera - Caddisflies

See also

 
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Holometabolism". A list of authors is available in Wikipedia.
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