protonymphn.
/ˈprəʊtə(ʊ)nɪmf/, U.S. /ˈproʊdoʊˌnɪmf/ Zoology.
The first nymphal stage in the life cycle of certain chelicerate arthropods, esp. mites and pseudoscorpions.
ΚΠ
1938 H. J. Quayle Insects Citrus & Other Subtropical Fruits ii. 30 The entire cycle from hatching to death of the adult occupies from 35 to 40 days, divided as follows: egg, 10 days; larva, 3 days; protonymph, 3 days; deutonymph, 3 days; adult, 18 days.
1961 J. L. Cloudsley-Thompson & J. Sankey Land Invertebr. xi. 123 In the Mesostigmata there is a larval and two nymphal stages (the proto- and deutonymph) before the mite matures.
1986 S. Hubbell Country Year (1987) Summer 66 Inside, his body parts melt down and reconstitute themselves into a legless, pupa-like protonymph, which in turn changes into an active deutonymph.
1995 Ecology 76 1208/1 For statistical analyses, motile and quiescent larvae, protonymphs, and deutonymphs were combined into a category called juveniles.
Derivatives
ˌprotoˈnymphal adj. of or relating to a protonymph.
ΚΠ
1946 Ann. Entomol. Soc. Amer. 39 112 For a few days before the emergence of the nymph, the protonymphal body shape and appendages may be seen.
1999 J. E. Winston Describing Species xii. 254 Against this we can only draw attention to the fact that no galeae can be observed on the protonymphal chelicerae.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, September 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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