Adjacent Words

Pupa definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

PU'PA, n. [L. supra.] In natural history, an insect in that state in which it resembles an infant in swaddling clothes. As some insects in this state have a bright exterior,as if gilded, it has been called chrysalis or aurelia, from the Gr. and L. aurum, gold; but as this gilded appearance belongs to few insects, the term pupa is now more generally used.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: an insect in the inactive stage of development (when it is not feeding) intermediate between larva and adult

Merriam Webster's

noun (plural pupae or pupas) Etymology: New Latin, from Latin pupa doll Date: 1815 an intermediate usually quiescent stage of a metamorphic insect (as a bee, moth, or beetle) that occurs between the larva and the imago, is usually enclosed in a cocoon or protective covering, and undergoes internal changes by which larval structures are replaced by those typical of the imago • pupal adjective

Britannica Concise

Inactive, nonfeeding stage in the life of insects that undergo complete metamorphosis. In a protective covering (cocoon or chrysalis), the larva is transformed into an adult. During pupation, a process controlled by hormones, larval structures break down and adult structures form; wings appear for the first time. The adult emerges either by splitting the pupal skin and chewing its way out or by secreting a fluid that softens the cocoon.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. (pl. pupae) an insect in the stage of development between larva and imago. Derivatives: pupal adj. Etymology: mod.L f. L pupa girl, doll

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Pupa Pu"pa, n.; pl. L. Pup?, E. Pupas. [L. pupa girl. doll, puppet, fem. of pupus. Cf. Puppet.] 1. (Zo["o]l.) Any insect in that stage of its metamorphosis which usually immediately precedes the adult, or imago, stage. Note: Among insects belonging to the higher orders, as the Hymenoptera, Diptera, Lepidoptera, the pupa is inactive and takes no food; in the lower orders it is active and takes food, and differs little from the imago except in the rudimentary state of the sexual organs, and of the wings in those that have wings when adult. The term pupa is sometimes applied to other invertebrates in analogous stages of development. 2. (Zo["o]l.) A genus of air-breathing land snails having an elongated spiral shell. Coarctate, or Obtected, pupa, a pupa which is incased in the dried-up skin of the larva, as in many Diptera. Masked pupa, a pupa whose limbs are bound down and partly concealed by a chitinous covering, as in Lepidoptera.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Pupa Pu"pa, n.; pl. L. Pup?, E. Pupas. [L. pupa girl. doll, puppet, fem. of pupus. Cf. Puppet.] 1. (Zo["o]l.) Any insect in that stage of its metamorphosis which usually immediately precedes the adult, or imago, stage. Note: Among insects belonging to the higher orders, as the Hymenoptera, Diptera, Lepidoptera, the pupa is inactive and takes no food; in the lower orders it is active and takes food, and differs little from the imago except in the rudimentary state of the sexual organs, and of the wings in those that have wings when adult. The term pupa is sometimes applied to other invertebrates in analogous stages of development. 2. (Zo["o]l.) A genus of air-breathing land snails having an elongated spiral shell. Coarctate, or Obtected, pupa, a pupa which is incased in the dried-up skin of the larva, as in many Diptera. Masked pupa, a pupa whose limbs are bound down and partly concealed by a chitinous covering, as in Lepidoptera.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(pupae) A pupa is an insect that is in the stage of development between a larva and a fully grown adult. It has a protective covering and does not move. (TECHNICAL) The pupae remain dormant in the soil until they emerge as adult moths in the winter. N-COUNT

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. Chrysalis, aurelia.