holopneustic
holopneustic adjective: in tracheal systems, properly: having all ten pairs of spiracles functional, as occurs in the caterpillar larvae of some Hymenoptera. Loosely applied also to insects (properly termed hemipneustic) in which most, but not all, spiracles are functional.
Adjective
holopneustic (not comparable)
- in tracheal systems, properly: having all ten pairs of spiracles functional, as occurs in the caterpillar larvae of some Hymenoptera. Loosely applied also to insects (properly termed hemipneustic) in which most, but not all, spiracles are functional.
- 1964 O.W. Richards & R.G. Davies A general textbook of entomology pub. Methuen
The Holopneustic Respiratory System... is the most primitive arrangement found in living insects, 10 pairs of functional spiracles being present, on the first 8 abdominal segments, the metathorax and either the prothorax...
- 1964 O.W. Richards & R.G. Davies A general textbook of entomology pub. Methuen
Origin of holopneustic
From ὅλος (hólos, “entire, whole”) and πνευστικός (pneustikós).
Questions about holopneustic
- What does holopneustic mean?
- Holopneustic means in tracheal systems, properly: having all ten pairs of spiracles functional, as occurs in the caterpillar larvae of some Hymenoptera. Loosely applied also to insects (properly termed hemipneustic) in which most, but not all, spiracles are functional.
- What part of speech is holopneustic?
- Holopneustic is an adjective.
Words near holopneustic in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: holopneustic (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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