Definition of oviposit in English:
oviposit
verboviposited, ovipositing, oviposits ˌəʊvɪˈpɒzɪtˌōvəˈpäzət
[no object]Zoology (especially of an insect) lay an egg or eggs.
larger females have the potential to oviposit on a greater number of hosts
Example sentencesExamples
- Potential egg layers were given 10 days in the oviposition chambers to oviposit.
- Examples include butterflies ovipositing on host plants, beetles and flies on dung pats, parasitoid wasps on insect hosts, and many insects on seeds or fruit.
- Because they oviposit at high tide, their eggs incubate out of water, buried in the sand of some of the most heavily used urban beaches in this populous area.
- Females oviposit and larvae develop solely in the fruit.
- After mating, the female ceases light emission and oviposits and continues to hold her body near to the eggs.
Derivatives
noun ˌəʊvɪpəˈzɪʃ(ə)n
Zoology Increased fecundity may result from ejaculate compounds that stimulate egg maturation or oviposition in females.
Example sentencesExamples
- These are either the time until the first oviposition on a patch, or the time between ovipositions.
- The dissection of larvae revealed that multiple ovipositions into a single host did not occur in our experiments.
- It is known, for example, that male crickets transfer substances in their ejaculates that stimulate egg production and oviposition in females.
- Once a female stops shaking, males guard her during oviposition and subsequently attempt to copulate with her away from the dung.
Origin
Early 19th century: from ovi- 'egg' + Latin posit- 'placed' (from the verb ponere).