Heterometabolic (Adjective)
Meaning
(of an insect) undergoing incomplete metamorphosis in which the nymph is essentially like the adult and there is no pupal stage.
Classification
All adjective clusters.
Examples
- Grasshoppers exhibit a heterometabolic life cycle in which they have a distinct adult stage following several juvenile instars.
- Some scientists differentiate heterometabolic development in true bugs and those insects like the crickets, as though not actually quite a simple, step wise evolution to change or adult structure exists between life phases.
- This allows many heterometabolic insects, like katydids and walking sticks, to potentially pass their final larval development tests faster to successfully escape severe physical injuries they will certainly accumulate when advancing forward further if able at these delicate insect younger phase lives at varying lesser aged types too long now all young even becoming totally lethal too if all cannot break it most will not get their reward of reproducing themselves in change passing to the last adulthood at all through having an incomplete single transformation nature like these instead without going through chrysalis-like dormant periods.
- Scientists identify such heterometabolic life cycles with organisms that start their sexual readiness during different growth stages too, even sometimes at smaller ages in size that are pre and post molting actions involved with normal developmental progressions.
- Numerous species like mantids undergo heterometabolic development, in which the stages between juvenile and adult phases will also eventually start producing fully formed species as they grow until physical structure is set.