Insect physiology

thumb|upright=1.6|Pupa of the rose chafer beetle, Cetonia aurata thumb|Tumbler (pupa) of a mosquito. Unlike most pupae, tumblers can swim around actively. A pupa (; : pupae) is the life stage of insects from the Holometabola clade undergoing transformation between immature and mature stages. Insects that go through a pupal stage are holometabolous: they go through four distinct stages in their life cycle, the stages thereof being egg, larva, pupa, and imago. The processes of entering and completing the pupal stage are controlled by the insect's hormones, especially juvenile hormone, prothoraci

thumb|Gynandromorph of Athyma inara inara thumb|Gynandromorph of the common blue butterfly (Polyommatus icarus)

Polyembryony is the phenomenon of two or more embryos developing from a single fertilized egg. Due to the embryos resulting from the same egg, the embryos are identical to one another, but are genetically diverse from the parents. The genetic difference between the offspring and the parents, but the similarity among siblings, are significant distinctions between polyembryony and the process of budding and typical sexual reproduction. Polyembryony can occur in humans, resulting in identical twins, though the process is random and at a low frequency. Polyembryony occurs regularly in many species

flight of insects

thumb|Horned lizard showing evidence of autohaemorrhaging Autohaemorrhaging, or reflex bleeding, is the action of animals deliberately ejecting blood from their bodies. Autohaemorrhaging has been observed as occurring in two variations. In the first form, blood is squirted toward a predator. The blood of these animals usually contains toxic compounds, making the behaviour an effective chemical defense mechanism. In the second form, blood is not squirted, but is slowly emitted from the animal's body. This form appears to serve a deterrent effect, and is used by animals whose blood does not seem

thumb|A female Anopheles|Anopheles minimus mosquito obtaining a blood meal from a human host to support its anautogenous reproduction In entomology, anautogeny is a reproductive strategy in which an adult female insect must eat a particular sort of meal (generally vertebrate blood) before laying eggs in order for her eggs to mature. This behavior is most common among dipteran flies, such as mosquitoes. Anautogenous animals often serve as vectors for infectious disease in their hosts because of their contact with hosts' blood. The opposite trait (needing no special food as an adult to successfu

thumb|Planidia and larva of a parasitoid wasp of the Perilampidae family. thumb|Triungulin, later larval, and other instars of a Blister beetle|Meloid beetle. thumb|Planidia of a Meloidae|Meloid beetle in opportunistic phoresy on a male solitary bee ([[Andrena carlini), awaiting contact with a female, whose nest they then could invade.]] A planidium is a specialized form of insect larva seen in the first-instar of a few families of insects that have parasitoidal ways of life. They are usually flattened, highly sclerotized (hardened), and quite mobile. The function of the planidial stage is to