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Nymph (biology)

 
Nymph (biology)

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Nymph (biology)



 
 
In biology
Biology

Biology is a branch of the natural sciences concerned with the study of living organisms and their interaction with each other and their environment ....
, a nymph is the immature form of some insect
Insect

Insects are the biggest class of arthropods and the only ones with wings. They are the most diverse group of animals on the planet. They are most diverse at the equator and their diversity declines toward the poles....
s, which undergoes incomplete metamorphosis (hemimetabolism
Hemimetabolism

File:Milkweedbugs.nymphadult9.0.jpgHemimetabolism or hemimetaboly, also called incomplete Metamorphosis , is a term used to describe the mode of development of certain insects that includes three distinct stages: the egg , Nymph , and the adult stage, or imago....
) before reaching its adult stage; unlike a typical larva
Larva

A larva is a young form of animal with indirect developmental biology, going through or undergoing metamorphosis .The larva can look completely different from the adult form, for example, a caterpillar differs from a butterfly....
, a nymph's overall form already resembles that of the adult. In addition, while a nymph moults
Ecdysis

Ecdysis is the molting of the cuticula in arthropods and related groups . Since the cuticula of these animals is also the skeletal support of the body and is inelastic, it is shed during growth and a new, larger covering is formed....
 it never enters a pupa
Pupa

A pupa is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation. The pupal stage is found only in Holometabolism insects, those that undergo a complete metamorphosis, going through four life stages; embryo, larva, pupa and imago....
l stage. Instead, the final moult results in an adult insect.

This is the case, for example, in Orthoptera
Orthoptera

The Orthoptera are an order of insects with paurometabolous or incomplete metamorphosis, including the grasshoppers, cricket s and locusts. Many insects in this order produce sound by rubbing their wings against each other or their legs, the wings or legs containing rows of corrugated bumps....
 (crickets
Cricket (insect)

Crickets, family Gryllidae , are insects somewhat related to grasshoppers and more closely related to Tettigoniidae . They have somewhat flattened bodies and long antenna ....
 and grasshopper
Grasshopper

Grasshoppers are insects of the suborder Caelifera in the order Orthoptera. To distinguish them from Tettigoniidae, they are sometimes referred to as short-horned grasshoppers....
s), Hemiptera
Hemiptera

Hemiptera is an order of insects, comprising around 80,000 species of cicadas, aphids, planthoppers, leafhoppers, shield bugs, and others. They range in size from 1 mm to around 15 cm, and share a common arrangement of sucking mouthparts ....
 (cicada
Cicada

A cicada is an insect of the order Hemiptera, suborder Auchenorrhyncha, in the superfamily Cicadoidea, with large eyes wide apart on the head and usually transparent, well-veined wings....
s, shield bug
Shield bug

Pentatomoidea is a superfamily of insects in the Heteroptera suborder of the Hemiptera order, which are commonly referred to as shield bugs or stink bugs....
s, etc.), mayflies, termite
Termite

The termites are a group of social insects usually classified at the Taxonomy of Order Isoptera . As truly social animals, they are termed eusocial along with the ants and some bees and wasps which are all placed in the separate Order Hymenoptera....
s, cockroach
Cockroach

Cockroaches are insects of the order Blattaria. This name derives from the Latin word for "cockroach", blatta.There are about 4,000 species of cockroach, of which 30 species are associated with human habitations and about four species are well known as pest s....
es, mantids, and Odonata
Odonata

Odonata is an Order of insects, encompassing Dragonfly and Damselfly . The word dragonfly is also sometimes used to refer to all Odonata. The term odonate has been coined to provide an English language name for the group as a whole, but is not in common usage; most Odonata enthusiasts avoid ambiguity by using the term true dragon...
 (dragonflies
Dragonfly

A dragonfly is a type of insect belonging to the order Odonata, the suborder Epiprocta or, in the strict sense, the infraorder Anisoptera....
 and damselflies
Damselfly

The Damselfly is an insect in the Order Odonata. Damselflies are similar to dragonfly, but the adults can be differentiated by the fact that the wings of most damselflies are held along, and parallel to, the body when at rest....
).






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In biology
Biology

Biology is a branch of the natural sciences concerned with the study of living organisms and their interaction with each other and their environment ....
, a nymph is the immature form of some insect
Insect

Insects are the biggest class of arthropods and the only ones with wings. They are the most diverse group of animals on the planet. They are most diverse at the equator and their diversity declines toward the poles....
s, which undergoes incomplete metamorphosis (hemimetabolism
Hemimetabolism

File:Milkweedbugs.nymphadult9.0.jpgHemimetabolism or hemimetaboly, also called incomplete Metamorphosis , is a term used to describe the mode of development of certain insects that includes three distinct stages: the egg , Nymph , and the adult stage, or imago....
) before reaching its adult stage; unlike a typical larva
Larva

A larva is a young form of animal with indirect developmental biology, going through or undergoing metamorphosis .The larva can look completely different from the adult form, for example, a caterpillar differs from a butterfly....
, a nymph's overall form already resembles that of the adult. In addition, while a nymph moults
Ecdysis

Ecdysis is the molting of the cuticula in arthropods and related groups . Since the cuticula of these animals is also the skeletal support of the body and is inelastic, it is shed during growth and a new, larger covering is formed....
 it never enters a pupa
Pupa

A pupa is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation. The pupal stage is found only in Holometabolism insects, those that undergo a complete metamorphosis, going through four life stages; embryo, larva, pupa and imago....
l stage. Instead, the final moult results in an adult insect.

This is the case, for example, in Orthoptera
Orthoptera

The Orthoptera are an order of insects with paurometabolous or incomplete metamorphosis, including the grasshoppers, cricket s and locusts. Many insects in this order produce sound by rubbing their wings against each other or their legs, the wings or legs containing rows of corrugated bumps....
 (crickets
Cricket (insect)

Crickets, family Gryllidae , are insects somewhat related to grasshoppers and more closely related to Tettigoniidae . They have somewhat flattened bodies and long antenna ....
 and grasshopper
Grasshopper

Grasshoppers are insects of the suborder Caelifera in the order Orthoptera. To distinguish them from Tettigoniidae, they are sometimes referred to as short-horned grasshoppers....
s), Hemiptera
Hemiptera

Hemiptera is an order of insects, comprising around 80,000 species of cicadas, aphids, planthoppers, leafhoppers, shield bugs, and others. They range in size from 1 mm to around 15 cm, and share a common arrangement of sucking mouthparts ....
 (cicada
Cicada

A cicada is an insect of the order Hemiptera, suborder Auchenorrhyncha, in the superfamily Cicadoidea, with large eyes wide apart on the head and usually transparent, well-veined wings....
s, shield bug
Shield bug

Pentatomoidea is a superfamily of insects in the Heteroptera suborder of the Hemiptera order, which are commonly referred to as shield bugs or stink bugs....
s, etc.), mayflies, termite
Termite

The termites are a group of social insects usually classified at the Taxonomy of Order Isoptera . As truly social animals, they are termed eusocial along with the ants and some bees and wasps which are all placed in the separate Order Hymenoptera....
s, cockroach
Cockroach

Cockroaches are insects of the order Blattaria. This name derives from the Latin word for "cockroach", blatta.There are about 4,000 species of cockroach, of which 30 species are associated with human habitations and about four species are well known as pest s....
es, mantids, and Odonata
Odonata

Odonata is an Order of insects, encompassing Dragonfly and Damselfly . The word dragonfly is also sometimes used to refer to all Odonata. The term odonate has been coined to provide an English language name for the group as a whole, but is not in common usage; most Odonata enthusiasts avoid ambiguity by using the term true dragon...
 (dragonflies
Dragonfly

A dragonfly is a type of insect belonging to the order Odonata, the suborder Epiprocta or, in the strict sense, the infraorder Anisoptera....
 and damselflies
Damselfly

The Damselfly is an insect in the Order Odonata. Damselflies are similar to dragonfly, but the adults can be differentiated by the fact that the wings of most damselflies are held along, and parallel to, the body when at rest....
). Some arachnid
Arachnid

Arachnids are a class of Arthropod invertebrate animals in the subphylum Chelicerata. All arachnids have eight legs, but some exceptions are of some species having the first pair legs convert to sensory function and harvest mite larvae have only 3 pairs of legs....
s (e.g., mite
Mite

Mites, along with ticks, belong to the subclass Acarina and the class Arachnida. Mites are among the most diverse and successful of all the invertebrate groups....
s and tick
Tick

Tick is the common name for the small arachnids in superfamily Ixodoidea that, along with other mites, constitute the Acarina. Ticks are ectoparasites , living by hematophagy on the blood of mammals, birds, and occasionally reptiles and amphibians....
s) also have nymphs.

Nymphs of aquatic insects
Aquatic insects

Aquatic insects live some portion of their biological life cycle in the water. They feed in the same ways as other insects. Some diving insects, such as Predation diving beetles, can hunt for food underwater where land-living insects cannot Competition....
, as in the orders
Order (biology)

In Biological classification used in biology, the order is a taxonomic rank between class and family . The superorder is a rank between class and order....
 Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies), Ephemeroptera (mayflies), and Plecoptera (stoneflies) are also called naiads, which is an Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek

Ancient Greek is the historical stage in the development of the Greek language spanning across the Archaic Greece , Classical Greece , and Hellenistic civilization periods of ancient Greece and the classical antiquity....
 name for mythological
Greek mythology

Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the Ancient Greece concerning their List of Greek mythological figures#Immortals and Greek hero cult, Cosmology#Metaphysical cosmology, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices....
 water nymphs
Nymph

In Greek mythology, a nymph is any member of a large class of mythological entities in human form. They were typically associated with a particular location or landform....
, who would lure men to their deaths with their cold black hearts. In older literature, these were sometimes referred to as the heterometabolous insects, as their adult and immature stages live in different environments
Natural environment

The natural environment, commonly referred to simply as the environment, is a term that encompasses all life and non-living things occurring nature on Earth or some region thereof....
 (terrestrial
Terrestrial animal

Terrestrial animals are animals that live predominantly or entirely on land, as compared with aquatic animals, which live predominantly or entirely in the water , or amphibians, which rely on a combination of aquatic and terrestrial habitats ....
 vs. aquatic
Aquatic animal

An aquatic animal is an animal, either vertebrate or invertebrate, which lives in water for most or all of its life.Natural environments and the animals that live in them can be categorized as aquatic or terrestrial ecoregion ....
).

Gallery


See also

  • Egg (biology)
    Egg (biology)

    In most birds and reptiles, an egg is the zygote, resulting from fertilization of the ovum. To enable incubation the egg is usually kept within a favourable temperature range as it nourishes and protects the growing embryo....
  • Naiad
    Naiad

    In Greek mythology, the Naiads or Naiades were a type of nymph who presided over fountains, wells, springs, streams, and brooks.They are distinct from river gods, who embodied rivers, and the very ancient spirits that inhabited the still waters of marshes, ponds and lagoon-lakes, such as pre-Mycenaean Lerna in the Argolid....
    s in Greek mythology