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noun

Lepidoptera n. pl. (Zool.) An order of insects, which includes the butterflies and moths. They have broad wings, covered with minute overlapping scales, usually brightly colored. Note: They have a tubular proboscis, or haustellum, formed by the two slender maxillae. The labial palpi are usually large, and the proboscis, when not in use, can be coiled up spirally between them. The mandibles are rudimentary. The larvae, called caterpillars, are often brightly colored, and they commonly feed on leaves. The adults feed chiefly on the honey of flowers.

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Etymology of 'Lepidoptera'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Lepidoptera" Quotes from Famous Books

... Worms, and Zooephytes. He was afterwards associated with H. Milne Edwards in works on annelid worms. December 26, 1827, Latreille asked to be allowed to employ Boisduval as a preparateur; he became the author of several works on injurious insects and Lepidoptera. ...

— Lamarck, the Founder of Evolution - His Life and Work • Alpheus Spring Packard

... appearance of the plumage of tropical birds is not superior to what the curious observer may discover in a variety of Lepidoptera; and those many-coloured eyes, which deck so gorgeously the peacock's tail, are imitated with success in Vanessa Io, one of our most common butterflies. "See," exclaims the illustrious Linnaeus, "the ...

— The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction, Vol. 14, - Issue 403, December 5, 1829 • Various

... know about the butterfly. It may be that Wiggs has lost us here a thought on lepidoptera which the world can ill spare; for ...

— Once on a Time • A. A. Milne

Words linked to "Lepidoptera" : order Lepidoptera, animal order, family Geometridae, Tineoidea, family Pieridae, family Pyralidae, Hexapoda, Bombycidae, family Danaidae, Lycaenidae, class Insecta, Satyridae, Lymantriidae, Sphingidae, Saturniidae, family Saturniidae, Noctuidae, family Pyralididae, family Lasiocampidae, family Gelechiidae, Geometridae, Insecta, class Hexapoda, Gelechiidae, Tortricidae, Arctiidae, lepidopteran, Pyralidae, lepidopterous insect, Nymphalidae, family Lycaenidae, family Noctuidae, Lasiocampidae, Pieridae, Danaidae, family Bombycidae, family Lymantriidae, caterpillar, family Arctiidae, family Nymphalidae, family Satyridae, Pyralididae, superfamily Tineoidea