Insect Life Cycles
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- Most adult female insects are oviparous
- Lay eggs which hatch after deposition
- Some adult female insects are viviparous
- Lay larvae or nymphs
- Eggs rupture in female reproductive tract
Simple Metamorphosis
- Hemimetabolous
- Nymph emerges from the egg which resembles the adult but is sexually immature
- Nymph grows and undergoes several ecdyses (moults)
- Nymph becomes an adult (imago)
- E.g. Lice
Complex Metamorphosis
- Holometabolous
- Larva emerges from the egg and does not resemble the adult
- Larva feeds, grows and undergoes several ecdyses
- Larvae undergoes a quiescent stage where the outer cuticle hardens to form a pupa
- Some species have a silken cocoon
- Adult develops inside the pupal case before emerging
- E.g. Fleas and dipteran flies