pronymph

P3R1O1N1Y4M3P3H4

noun

An arthropod hatchling still inside its embryonic cuticle, often specialized for breaking the eggshell or leaving the oviposition site; a prolarva.

Scrabble 20

Meanings

nounpronymph (plural pronymphs)

plural pronymphs

  1. An arthropod hatchling still inside its embryonic cuticle, often specialized for breaking the eggshell or leaving the oviposition site; a prolarva.

    Rudimentary mandibular and maxillary stylets of a pronymph are external, short, tubular appendages containing tips of the corresponding nymphal stylets, whose more basal parts develop inside of the head.

    2018, Roman Rakitov, Pronymphs, hatching, and proboscis assembly in leafhoppers and froghoppers (Hemiptera, Cicadellidae and Aphrophoridae), Elsevier
    1 more example

    The nymphs first hatch out in a sort of safety suit that wraps all their limbs close to their body (at this stage they are called a 'pronymph'), they then work their way slowly to the surface pushing through the soil or foam above them with the help of an expanding sack in the top base of their necks […]

    a. 2020, Gordon Ramel, Gordon's Orthoptera Page
  2. A prepupa with externally visible pupal traits.

    The transition from eonymph to pronymph was marked by a certain number of morphological modifications and by the progressive formation of the pupal eye.

    1998, Martine Hamel et al., The effects of 20-hydroxyecdysone on breaking diapause of Diprion pini L. (Hym., Diprionidae), Blackwell Science, pages 337-346
    1 more example

    2004, Nikita Kluge, Larval/pupal leg transformation and a new diagnosis for the taxon Metabola Burmeister, 1832 = Oligoneoptera Martynov, 1923, Russian Entomological Journal However, unlike other Metabola, disturbed pronymph of Sialis, after some period of immovable lying, stands on its legs, runs away and bury itself into the ground.

Origin

Cite this entry
APA

pronymph. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pronymph

MLA

“pronymph.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pronymph. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “pronymph,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pronymph.

Source: pronymph on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.