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Longicorn ID: Tool for Diagnosing Cerambycidae Subfamilies and Tribes
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Glossary of Terms



Definitions adapted from Torre-Bueno glossary of entomology (Nichols, 1989).

A

  • aedeagus: in male beetles, the penis (plural: aedeagi)

  • alar: relating to the wings

  • alutaceous: rather pale leather-brown; covered with minute cracks like the human skin and leathery in texture

  • annulate: surrounded by a ring of a different color

  • antenna: in larval and adult insects, paired segmented appendages, borne one on each side of the head, functioning as sense organs and bearing a large number of sensilla (plural: antennae)

  • antennomere: a subunit of the antenna, including scape, pedicel, and flagellomeres

  • antero-: Latin prefix; before; to the front of

  • apex: end of any structure distad to the base (plural: apices)

  • appendiculate: bearing appendages

  • arcuate: arched or bow-like

  • attenuate: gradually tapering apically

B

  • base: the part of any appendage or structure that is nearest the body

  • bidentate: having two teeth

  • bifid: cleft or divided into two parts; forked

  • bilabiate spiracle: an elongate or annular spiracle with a pair of projecting lips interior to the spiracular frame (peritreme)

  • brachypterous: having short or reduced wings

C

  • callose: furnished with calli

  • carina: an elevated ridge or keel, not necessarily high or acute (plural: carinae)

  • castaneous: chestnut brown; bright red-brown

  • caudal: of or pertaining to the cauda or to the anal end of the insect's body

  • chitin: a major polysaccharide constituent of arthropod cuticle

  • chitinization: the process of depositing or filling with chitin

  • chitinized: filled in with or hardened by chitin

  • chitinous: composed of chitin or like it in structure

  • cicatrix: a scar; a scar-like structure

  • clavate: thickening gradually toward the tip

  • clypeus: that part of the insect head below the frons, to which the labrum is attached anteriorly

  • conical: wider at base than apex

  • contiguous: so near together as to touch

  • corneus: of a horny or chitinous substance; resembling horn in texture

  • crenulate: having the margin finely notched with small, rounded teeth

  • crista: a prominent, longitudinal carina on the upper surface of any part of the head or body (plural: cristae)

  • cuneate: wedge-shaped

  • cuticle: a secretion of the epidermis, covering the entire body of the insect

  • cylindrical: shaped like a cylinder, parallel sided

D

  • dimorphic: occurring in two distinct forms

  • distad: toward the distal end

  • distal: near or toward the free end of any appendage; that part of a segment farthest from the body

  • divaricate: forked or divided into two branches

  • divergent: spreading out from a common base

E

  • elongate: much longer than wide

  • elytron: the leathery forewing of beetles, serving as a covering for the hind wings, commonly meeting opposite elytron in a straight line down the middle of the dorsum in repose (plural: elytra)

  • emarginate: notched at the margin

  • epicranium: the upper part of the head from the frons to the neck, including frons, vertex, and genae

  • epimeron: the posterior division of a thoracic pleuron, marked anteriorly by the pleural sulcus

  • epipleurum: in larval Coleoptera, the lateral are immediately above the ventrolateral suture and below the alar area

  • epistoma: the oral margin or sclerite directly behind the labrum, e.g., anteclypeus, clypeus or frontoclypeus

  • excurved: curved outward

  • exserted: projecting; thrust forth

F

  • farinose: dotted with many single flour-like spots

  • filiform: threadlike, i.e., slender and of equal diameter, being commonly applied to antennae

  • fimbriate: fringed with hairs of irregular length

  • flabellate: fan-shaped, i.e., with long thin processes lying flat on each other like the folds of a fan, e.g. flabellate antennae

  • flagellomere: one part of a multiannulated flagellum of an antenna

  • frass: solid larval insect excrement

  • frons: the upper anterior portion of the head capsule, usually a distinct sclerite between the epicranium and clypeus

  • frontoclypeal suture: the suture between the frons and the clypeus

  • fusiform: spindle-shaped, i.e., broad at the middle and narrowing towards the ends

G

  • gena: the part of the cranium on each side below the eye (plural: genae)

  • gin-traps: in pupal Coleoptera, defense organs formed by local sclerotization of opposable edges of adjacent abdominal segments

  • girdle: to cut away the bark and cambium in a ring around (a plant) usually to kill by interrupting the circulation of water and nutrients

  • glabrous: smooth, devoid of pubescence; devoid of any sculpturing

  • granulate: minutely and densely verrucose or minutely farinose

H

  • humerus: shoulder; the basal exterior angle of the elytra (plural: humeri)

  • hypopleurum: in larval Coleoptera, the lateral area immediately below the ventrolateral suture

L

  • labrum: the upper lip, abutting the clypeus in front of the mouth

  • lobe: a rounded projection of protuberence

M

  • macula: a spot or mark (plural: maculae)

  • mesepimeron: the epimeron of the mesothorax

  • mesocoxa: coxa of the midleg (plural: mesocoxae)

  • mesofemur: midfemur (plural: mesofemora)

  • mesosternum: sternum of the mesothorax

  • mesosternal process: a prolongation of the mesosternum extending between the mesocoxae

  • mesothorax: the second or middle thoracic segment bearing the midlegs and the forewings

  • metacoxa: coxa of the hind leg (plural: metacoxae)

  • metafemur: hind femur (plural: metafemora)

  • micropyle: one of the minute openings in the chorion of an insect egg, through which sperm enter in fertilization

  • moniliform: beaded like a necklace, e.g., monoliform antennae

O

  • oblong: longer than broad

  • ocelliform: in the shape of ocelli

  • occiput: dorsal part of the head between the occipital sulcus and the postoccipital sulcus

  • ommatidium: one of the visual elements of the compound eye (plural: ommatidia)

  • orbicular: round and flat

  • ovate: egg-shaped, with the broader end at the base

  • oviposit: to deposit or lay eggs or ova

  • ovoid: see ovate

P

  • palpifer: any palp-bearing part

  • parascutal area: alar area

  • pectinate: applied especially to antennae or claws, with even processes like the teeth of a comb

  • peritreme: the sclerite plate about any body opening, especially about any spiracle

  • phytophagous: feeding in or on plants

  • piceous: black

  • postero-: Latin prefix; posterior; back

  • pretarsus: last segment of the insect leg (plural: pretarsae)

  • proalar: pertaining to forewing

  • procoxa: coxa of the proleg (plural: procoxae)

  • profemur: forefemur (plural: profemora)

  • pronotum: the upper and dorsal part of the prothorax (plural: pronota)

  • protergum: tergum of the prothorax

  • protuberance: any outgrowth or elevation above the surface

  • protuberant: rising or produced above the surface or general level

  • proximal: that part of an appendage nearest the body, as opposed to distal

  • pseudotetramerous: having apparently four articles, although five are actually present

  • pubescent: downy; clothed with soft, short, fine, loosely set hair

  • punctate: set with fine, impressed points or punctures appearing as pin-pricks

  • punctation: pits or depression of variable size in cuticle

R

S

  • scape: see antennal scape

  • sclerite: any plate of the body wall bounded by membrane or sutures

  • serrate: sawlike, i.e., with notched edges like the teeth of a saw, e.g., serrate antennae

  • seta: a sclerotized hair-like projection of the cuticle (plural: setae)

  • setiferous: set with or bearing setae; see setose

  • setose: surnished or covered with setae or stiff hairs

  • sinuous: undulating, curved in and out

  • spiculate: having the form of a spicule, or needlelike spine

  • spinose: armed with thorny spines, more elongate than echinate

  • spinule: a small spine

  • sternellar: pertaining to the sternellum

  • sternellum: the second sclerite of the ventral part of each thoracic segment, frequently divided into longitudinal parts which may be widely separated

  • striate: marked with parallel, fine, longitudinal, impressed lines or furrows

  • subquadrate: not quite a square

  • subtruncate: not quite cut off squarely at the tip

  • sulcus: groove with a purely functional origin (plural: sulci)

  • suture: groove marking the line of fusion of two formerly distinct plates; the line of junction of elytra

T

  • tarsomere: subdivision or article of the tarsus, usually numbering from two to five

  • tarsus: the leg segment attached to the apex of the tibia, bearing the pretarsus and consisting from one to five tarsomeres (plural: tarsi)

  • tarsal claw: usually paired claws of the pretarsus, at the apex of the leg

  • tergum: the upper or dorsal surface of any body segment of insect, whether consisting of one or more than one sclerite (plural: terga)

  • transverse: broader than long

  • truncate: cut off squarely at the tip

  • tubercle: a small knoblike or rounded protuberance

  • type: a particular kind of specimen; e.g. allotype, cotype, holotype, lectotype, paratype, syntype

U

  • uncate: hooked; barbed

  • unguiculus: a small claw or claw-like process

  • urogomphus: in larval Coleoptera, usually paired processes from the posterior end of the tergum of the ninth abdominal segment, being joined and movable by muscles, or unjointed and immoveable (plural: urogomphi)

V

  • vertex: the top of the head between the eyes, frons and occiput, anterior to the occipital suture (plural: vertices)

  • verrucose: covered with irregularly shaped lobes or wart-like protuberances

  • vitta: a broad longitudinal stripe (plural: vittae)

X


 

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Longicorn ID last updated 2020  E.H. Nearns, N.P. Lord, S.W. Lingafelter, A. Santos-Silva, K.B. Miller, & J.M. Zaspel