holopneustic

English

Holopneustic Hymenopteran sawfly larva, the dark spots on the flanks showing the sites of the spiracles

Etymology

From ὅλος (hólos, “entire, whole”) and πνευστικός (pneustikós).

Adjective

holopneustic (not comparable)

1. (arthropodology) 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 or the mesothorax. It is characteristic of the nymphs and imagines of many orders and of the larvae of the Bibionidae (Diptera) and some Hymenoptera.

Related terms

• apneustic
• amphipneustic
• hemipneustic
• metapneustic
• peripneustic
• propneustic