Planidium
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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, and quite m
Planidia and larva of a parasitoid wasp of the Perilampidae family.
Triungulin, later larval, and other instars of a Meloid beetle.
Planidia of a Meloid beetle in opportunistic phoresy on a male solitary bee (Andrena carlini), awaiting contact with a female, whose nest they then could invade.
Strepsiptera
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Strepsiptera, from Ancient Greek στρέψις, meaning "turning around", and πτερόν, meaning "wing", are an order of insects with eleven extant families that include about 600 described species. They are e
Planidium
…only the more general term "planidium". Planidia occur among subsets of the members of several orders, including: Neuroptera, Hymenoptera, Coleoptera, Strepsiptera, and Diptera. Examples include: the neuropteran family Mantispidae; the beetle families Meloidae and Ripiphoridae; and the fly families Acroceridae…
Halictophagus schwarzi
Strepsiptera Fem
Free living female of Mengenilla moldrzyki (Mengenillidae)
Male pupa head (top left) and adult female of Xenos yangi (Stylopidia, Xenidae) in ventral view (right) and closeup of the cephalothorax (centre and bottom left)