phas·mid

(făz′mĭd)

Any of numerous chiefly tropical, often wingless insects of the order Phasmida (or Phasmatodea), having elongated bodies that resembles twigs or leaves, and including the walking sticks and the leaf insects.

[From New Latin Phasmida, order name, from Phasma, type genus, from Greek phasma, apparition, from phainein, to show; see phase.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

phasmid

(ˈfæzmɪd)

(Animals) any plant-eating insect of the mainly tropical order Phasmida: includes the leaf insects and stick insects

adj

(Animals) of, relating to, or belonging to the order Phasmida

[C19: from New Latin Phasmida, from Greek phasma spectre]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

phas•mid

(ˈfæz mɪd)

n.

any insect of the order Phasmida, characterized by long slender legs and antennae and a wingless, twiglike body: includes walking sticks and leaf insects.

[1870–75; < New Latin Phasmida=Phasm(a) the type genus (< Greek phásma apparition, so named from their extremely close resemblance to surrounding plants) + -ida -id²]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

phasmid - large cylindrical or flattened mostly tropical insects with long strong legs that feed on plants; walking sticks and leaf insects

phasmid insect

insect - small air-breathing arthropod

order Phasmatodea, order Phasmida, Phasmatodea, Phasmida - in some classifications considered a suborder of Orthoptera: stick insects; leaf insects

stick insect, walkingstick, walking stick - any of various mostly tropical insects having long twiglike bodies

leaf insect, walking leaf - tropical insect having a flattened leaflike body; common in southern Asia and the East Indies

Translations

Gespenstschrecke

phasmide

patyczakstraszyk

Mentioned in

References in periodicals archive

His animal body incorporates the environment like a "phasmid," a stick insect indistinguishable from a leaf or twig, and even looks like a ghost, apparent yet not appearing, just as the phasmid etymologically relates to the phantasm or apparition (Didi-Huberman 1998).

Dog and Thief: Two Modes of Abject Agency Crossing over East Asian Capital Networks in Global Korean Cinema

Both phasmid and anus were distinct and clearly visible.

Further Observations on Meloidogyne indica Whitehead, 1968 from India

Clark Sellick JT (1997) Descriptive terminology of the phasmid egg capsule, with an extended key to the phasmid genera based on egg structure.

Description of the female, egg and first instar nymph of the stick insect Paraphasma pautense (Phasmatodea: Pseudophasmatidae) from Southeast Brazil

Phasmid: Saving the Lord Howe Island Stick Insect is a beautifully illustrated and well-written picture book.

Phasmid: Saving the Lord Howe Island Stick Insect

Many phasmid species have shown variation with respect to their ploidy (Pijnacker 1967; 1969; Marescalchi and Scali 1990; Giorgi 1992; Sandoval et al.

Sexual vs. asexual reproduction in a stick insect

4.8 [+ or -] 0.4 (4.3-5.3) Tail/Rectum 1.1 [+ or -] 0.1 (0.9-1.2) Phasmid from posterior 73.4 [+ or -] 9.3 (63-81) Gonad length 257.8 [+ or -] 36.5 (201-301.8) Vulval body diam.

Refuge from predation, the benefit of living in an extreme acidic environment?

This particular species of phasmid is frequently used in laboratory and school research.

Hydraulics to the rescue? Legged robot program a test bed for smaller fluid power technology; research could one day lead to development of life-saving machines

This might suggest that -20% of individuals in a phasmid population experience complications with molting at some point during their lifetime, and predation attempts double that base rate of autotomy.

Autotomy in a stick insect (Insecta: Phasmida): predation versus molting

Paleontologists have found precious few phasmid fossils, and they had never previously unearthed one of a leaf insect.

Paleotrickery: a lengthy lineage for leaf-mimicking insects

Phasmid and inner labial sensilla do not appear to be essential for chemotaxis.

Behavioral evidence for chemosensory and thermosensory pathway convergence in the caenorhabditis elegans nervous system

The basis for separating them into classes is determined by the presence or absence of a phasmid, a small sensory organ, probably a chemoreceptor located on the suffice of the nematode.

Nematodes: Worms of the world

Length of vulval slit (20.90 to 25.65) and tail terminus to vulva-slit (22.80 to 32.30) showed low variation (CV<10); and inter- phasmid (24.94) and vulva to anus distance (17.03) moderate variation (CV<20).

Detection, Diagnosis and Pathogenic Potential of Meloidogyne incognita on Passion Fruit from Mizoram, India