PhasmidsinCyberspace - Glossary of Terms

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Glossary

Glossary

Glossary:		Translation:
Obtect		Covered; concealed.
Obtuse		Dull; blunt.
Ocellus (pl - Ocelli)		A simple eye consisting of a single beadlike lens, occurring singly or in groups. There are three small ocelli in some species of phasmids - located between the compound eye.
Ootaxonomy		The classification of insects based on ova (egg) morphology.
Ootheca		The hard foamy egg sac laid by (female adult) mantids. Contained within are between 20-400 nymphs (numbers dependent upon species, age of female, condition of ootheca etc) which hatch out by lowering themselves down on a tiny thread.
Ootheca		egg sac, oothecae = egg sacs
Opacus		A clouded, not transparent part.
Opercular spine		Based spine of the operculum, present in some phasmid species, such as the Ancanthoyla species from New Zealand.
Operculum		1) (in zoology) A lid or flap of skin covering an aperture, such as the gill slit cover of fish and larval amphibians and the horny calcareous operculum secreted by many gastopod moluscs, which closes the opening of the shell when the animal is inside. 2) (in botany) The cone-shaped lid of the capsule of mosses, which is forcibly detached to release the spores.
Order		A category of taxonomic classification ranking above the family and below the class.
Ossified		Made or converted into bone.
Ova/ Ovum		egg.
Ovoid		An oval shape.
Ovum		egg, ova = eggs.
Ovipositor		The egg-laying apparatus seen in female (phasmids).