dipterous

American  

[dip-ter-uhs] / ˈdɪp tər əs /

adjective

1. Entomology. belonging or pertaining to the order Diptera, comprising the houseflies, mosquitoes, and gnats, characterized by a single, anterior pair of membranous wings with the posterior pair reduced to small, knobbed structures.

2. Botany. having two winglike appendages, as seeds or stems.

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dipterous British  

/ ˈdɪptərəs /

adjective

1. Also: dipteran.  of, relating to, or belonging to the Diptera, a large order of insects having a single pair of wings and sucking or piercing mouthparts. The group includes flies, mosquitoes, craneflies, and midges

2. botany having two winglike parts

   a dipterous seed

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Other Word Forms

• nondipterous adjective

Etymology

Origin of dipterous

1765–75; < New Latin dipterus < Greek dípteros; Diptera, -ous

Example Sentences

Nematocerous, nem-a-tos′e-rus, adj. having long thready antenn�, as a dipterous insect.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 3 of 4: N-R) by Various

Many plant-galls are due, however, to the presence of grubs of tiny dipterous insects, the Cecidomyidae or Gall-midges.

From The Life-Story of Insects by Carpenter, George H. (George Herbert)

Death of an ornate box turtle parasitized by dipterous larvae.

From Natural History of the Ornate Box Turtle, Terrapene ornata ornata Agassiz by Legler, John M.

Dip′teran, a dipterous insect; Dip′teros, a building with double peristyle or colonnade.—adjs.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 1 of 4: A-D) by Various

Pūpip′ara, a division of dipterous insects having pup� developed within the body of the mother.—adjs.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 3 of 4: N-R) by Various