pupa

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“
The pupal cuticle has to be shed for the emergence of the imago, but the pupa is already a somewhat reduced model of the final instar, with abbreviated wings and doubled-up legs.

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Definitions (13)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. noun The nonfeeding stage between the larva and adult in the metamorphosis of holometabolous insects, during which the larva typically undergoes complete transformation within a protective cocoon or hardened case.

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Examples (50)

  • After midnight, rather than kicking me awake, the pupa was whispering, 'The Republicans will win easy commenting on everything the spider had regurgitated for it. —  F ;SF; - vol 087 issue 02 - August 1994
  • The first time she saw him he was wrapped like a pupa, mummy in white, bony and incongrubus, shivering mute with some vast disturbance; he could not talk; his family talked too quietly and at such length that she could not stop to listen; she had work to do. —  Omni: July 1994
  • As a developing pupa, the beetles 'horns and genitalia compete for the same nutrients. —  Mongabay.com News
  • Once the butterfly exits the pupa, the remaining chrysalis skin is clear and has a very papery feel. —  Museum Blogs
  • The large wiggler and the pupa are taking air from the surface of the water through their breathing tubes The life of the mosquito is quite interesting and is an excellent example of an insect which lives in the water part of its life and in the air the rest. —  An Elementary Study of Insects
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Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Latin pūpa, girl, doll.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. from New Latin pupa, a pupa, chrysalis, from Latin pupa, puppa, a girl, a doll, puppet, feminine of pupus, a boy, child; cf. puer, a boy, child, pusus, a boy, from √ pu, beget. From Latin pupus, pupa, are also ult. pupe, pupil, pupil, etc., puppet, puppy, pup, etc.
 

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/ˈpjupə/
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