P.R. Mantis Dictionary

A Little Latin Lesson

Every living thing that scientists have identified has been given a scientific, Latin or Greek name. These names were chosen based on some characteristic of the plant or animal (or whatever!) being named. For example, humans are called Homo sapiens. That name basically means "the hominid (two-legged primate) that thinks or knows." Here are some other examples of scientific names:
 
Monarch Butterfly Danaus plexippus
House Cat Felis domesticus
Fast Growing Mustard Plant Brassica rapa
House Fly Musca domestica
Honeybee Apis mellifera
Poison Ivy Toxicodendrens radicans

Most of these names get their roots from Latin or Greek words that describe something about the plant or animal. The first word is the Genus name. There can be many different species in a Genus. For example, there are different species in the Genus Felis. Most look very much like regular house cats, but even the Mountain Lion (whose scientific name is Felis concolor, is in this genus.

If you take a bunch of different genera (plural for genus) that are similar, they can be grouped into a Family. A bunch of similar Families makes an Order (This chart will help you figure all this out!). It is at the level of Order that we will find our Latin Lesson.

Insects are grouped into Orders usually based on wing type. So the names of the Orders usually describe the wing type.

The Latin root for "wing" is "-ptera." Here is a nice classroom word activity for teachers (and other word lovin' folks)!

Here are some major Insect Orders and the roots of their names:
 

Coleoptera    Flower Beetle Coleo= sheath ptera =wing  Beetles
Dermaptera    (sorry, can't find the photo!) Derma= skin   ptera= wing  Earwigs
Lepidoptera     Luna Moth Face Lepis (Greek)= a scale (as in a fish scale)    ptera= wing  Butterflies and Moths
Isoptera    Termite nest Iso= same (size) ptera= wing  Termites
Hemiptera     Hemi= half ptera= wing True Bugs
Orthoptera   Grasshopper nymph Ortho= straight   ptera= wing  Grasshoppers, crickets
* Diptera   Robber Fly with prey Di= two ptera= wing  Flies, mosquitoes
* Hymenoptera   Yellowjacket Wasp Hymeno= membrane ptera= wing  Bees, wasps

So while the rule for insects is that they have four wings, flies appear to have only two. This is reflected in the name Diptera. Wasps clearly have four, membranous wings. You can learn more about flies’ wings back at the Wasp/Fly BUG-Quiz Answer.
 
 
 

Mark Berman 1999

 

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