- metamorphosis
- 1. A change in form, structure, or function. 2. Transition from one developmental stage to another. SYN: allaxis, transformation (1). [G. metamorphasos, transformation fr. meta, beyond, over, + morphe, form]- complete m. insect development from egg, through successive larval instars, pupa, and adult; the latter is distinct from the first two forms of the insect, permitting specialization of feeding (larval) and reproductive-flying functions (adult); characteristic of the higher insect orders, such as Coleoptera (beetles), Hymenoptera (bees, wasps, ants), Diptera (two-winged flies), and Siphonaptera (fleas). SYN: holometabolous m..- fatty m. the appearance of microscopically visible droplets of fat in the cytoplasm of cells. SEE ALSO: fatty degeneration. SYN: fatty change.- heterometabolous m. SYN: incomplete m..- holometabolous m. SYN: complete m..- incomplete m. the development of a nymph into the imago which in many respects resembles the former; characteristic of more primitive insect orders, such as Heteroptera (true bugs), Orthoptera (locusts, grasshoppers), and Blatterria (roaches). SYN: heterometabolous m..- retrograde m. SYN: degeneration (3). 1. SYN: cataplasia.
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1) change of physical form, structure, or substance2) a marked and more or less abrupt developmental change in the form or structure of an animal (as a butterfly or a frog) occurring subsequent to birth or hatching* * *
meta·mor·pho·sis (met″ə-morґfə-sis) [meta- + morphosis] change of shape or structure, particularly a transition from one developmental stage to another, as from larva to adult form. metamorphic adj
Medical dictionary. 2011.
