| 释义 |
‖ phalæna Entom.|fəˈliːnə|
[mod.L., a. Gr. ϕάλαινα, prop. ϕάλλαινα a moth.]
A moth: used by Linnæus as a generic name for all moths; afterwards for all below the Sphingina, or for the Geometrina; not now used with any entomological value.
1658Rowland tr. Moufet's Theat. Ins. 958 There are those that interpret this Phalaina to be the Cicindela or Glow-worm, but not rightly. Ibid. 1110 The Phalenæ that come from thence stick by the feet to the roofs of houses. 1752J. Hill Hist. Anim. 77 The antennæ of the Phalæna are attenuated to the point... The species of this genus are very numerous. 1800Asiat. Ann. Reg. 5/2 The phalæna, a species of which is to be found in a treatise published in France on foreign butterflies.
Hence phaˈlænian a., of or pertaining to a phalæna; n. one of the Phalænæ, a moth, esp. a geometrid moth; phaˈlænoid a., akin to a phalæna; moth-like; n. a moth-like insect.
1887Science Apr. 318/2 Some of the Phalaenian larvae have 12 legs, and some even 14. 1858Mayne Expos. Lex. 928/1 Phalenoid. |