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-ptera

Also ‑pteran and ‑pterous.

Winged animals.

Greek pteron, wing.

This ending forms systematic names for groups of animals with wings, mainly the insects but also the bats, of which some examples are in the list below. Forms in ‑pteran are either adjectives relating to the group or names for members of it (coleopteran, dipteran); other adjectives are formed in ‑pterous (heteropterous, orthopterous).

Examples of words in -ptera
All word origins are from Greek.

Chiroptera

the bats

kheir, hand

Coleoptera

the beetles

koleos, sheath

Diptera

the two-winged or true flies

di‑, two

Ephemeroptera

the mayflies

ephēmeros, lasting only a day

Hemiptera

the true bugs, including aphids, cicadas, and leafhoppers

hemi‑, half, because of their forewing structure

Heteroptera

a group of true bugs comprising those in which the forewings are non-uniform

heteros, other

Homoptera

a group of true bugs comprising those in which the forewings are uniform in texture, such as aphids, whitefly, scale insects, and cicadas

homos, same

Hymenoptera

a large order of insects that includes the bees, wasps, ants, and sawflies, with four transparent wings

humēn, membrane

Isoptera

the termites

isos, equal, because members have four large equal wings

Lepidoptera

the butterflies and moths, which have wings covered in scales

lepis, lepid‑, scale

Neuroptera

the lacewings, alderflies, snake flies, and ant lions, which have four finely veined membranous wings

neuron, veined

Orthoptera

the grasshoppers, crickets, and their relatives, which have straight and narrow forewings

orthos, straight

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