Definitions
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- An order of Hexapoda, or of the class Insecta proper, having the posterior pair of membranous wings sheathed by the hardened anterior pair called elytra, which when folded together usually form a nearly complete covering of the body; the sheath-winged insects or beetles. The head is mandibulate, completely and very uniformly constructed, consisting of a labrum attached to a clypeus, generally by means of an epistoma; 2 strong mandibles; 2 maxillæ, each bearing a palp; and a lower lip or labium, also palpiferous, and attached to a mentum which joins the jugulum or under side of the head. The antennæ range in number of joints from 1 to 50 or more, but the typical number is 11; they vary greatly in form. (See
antenna .) The larva is variable, having 6 legs or none; there are no prolegs; the pupa is inactive; and metamorphosis is complete. The Coleoptera are by far the largest ordinal group in the animal kingdom, having about 80,000 species and 8,000 genera. Latreille's division of them into Pentamera, Heteromera, Tetramera, and Trimera, according to the number of joints of the tarsi, is still generally followed, though it is to some extent artificial and not strictly correct. Subordinate divisions now current are such as Adephaga, Palpicornia, Brachelytra, Clavicornia, Lamellicornia, Sternoxi, Malacodermi, Atrachelia, Trachelida, Rhynchophora. Xylophaga, Longicornia, Phytophaga, Clavipalpi, Fungicola, and Aphidiphaga. The Coleoptera are also calledEleutherata . - n. Plural of coleopteron.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. (Zoöl.) An order of insects having the anterior pair of wings (elytra) hard and horny, and serving as coverings for the posterior pair, which are membranous, and folded transversely under the others when not in use. The mouth parts form two pairs of jaws (mandibles and maxillæ) adapted for chewing. Most of the Coleoptera are known as beetles and weevils.
WordNet 3.0
- n. beetles.
Examples
“The green beetle can be both green and a member of the coleoptera, just as a writer such as Melville can be a world traveler and influenced by the German Romantics, but also the author of a book that forms one of the gigantic foundation stones of "American Literature.”
“The Beetles are insects from the group coleoptera.”
Buddy Holly "got as close as anyone has to the essence of rock 'n' roll...."
“Many coleoptera of the family Pasalidae are also endemic to the Sierra Madre del Sur, which is also one the richest areas in butterfly species (161 species) in the Mexican Pacific.”
“Assemblages of fossil coleoptera (beetles) have been obtained from eight sites in southern England that date from the early phase (Pinus — Quercetum mixtum — Corylus pollen assemblage zone) of the Eemian (Ipswichian) interglacial Stage.”
Bürger and Cubasch: Are multiproxy climate reconstructions robust? « Climate Audit
“In the forest itself the only common and conspicuous coleoptera were two tiger beetles.”
“All insects that slough at all slough in the same way; as the silphe, and the empis or midge, and all the coleoptera, as for instance the cantharus-beetle.”
“Some of the coleoptera and of the small and nameless insects make small holes or cells of mud on a wall or on a grave-stone, and there deposit their grubs.”
“The coleoptera are, without exception, devoid of stings; the diptera have the sting in front, as the fly, the horsefly, the gadfly, and the gnat.”
“There are several species of coleoptera that have lost the power of flight, for one reason or another.”
“But, the moment it came in view, it began to dwindle, and that so rapidly that, in a couple of seconds at most, a little heap of drapery was lying on the floor, on which was a truly astonishing example of the coleoptera.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘coleoptera’.
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The Aubrey/Maturin List I'm Gonna Mak...
I'm wading through Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin novels one by one, and someday, I'll wade through them again and list all the words I learned while reading them.
Edit: I started ma...studdingsail, carronade, mumchance, grumlin-futtocks, crosscat-harpings, holystone, sennit, orlop, orchitis, negus, kevel, altumal and 1112 more...
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daleshipley's Words
brinksmanship, contravene, teleological, sartorial, conventicle, habiliment, tendentious, acrimonious, ontology, epistemology, impugn, dysphasia and 219 more...
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The Fantastical Repertoire of Captain...
The popular Belgian cartoon Tintin contains a memorable character in the form of Captain Haddock. He has a remarkable repertory of insults, which render just as well in the English translation. Thi...
ostrogoth, brigand, body-snatcher, steamroller, phylloxera, pyrographer, abecedarian, breathalyser, rhizopod, anthropophagus, odd-toed ungulate, hydrocarbon and 88 more...
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All Manner of Lovely Insect Words
instar, ephemeroptera, pterostigma, hymenoptera, coleoptera, dictyoptera, hexapoda, orthoptera, phasmida, embioptera, diptera, lepidoptera and 8 more...
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Nest Words
structured and spacious words - literally and figuratively
nest, niche, nidification, nido, nestle, nye, patulous, inquiline, neb, coleoptera, aerie, nidicolous and 39 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for coleoptera.
chained_bear "'I have rarely seen a man so happy as my friend Martin: the coleoptera alone would have been worth the voyage, in his opinion, but as well as making a collection of very curious beetles he has also seen a boa...'"
--Patrick O'Brian, The Far Side of the World, 190 Feb 21, 2008