Alary

Alary is a term that means 'relating to wings'. It is often used when discussing the muscles used to operate the wings of an insect, these commonly being known as the alary muscles. Another example of usage would be alary dimorphism.

In alary dimorphic species some individuals have different wing shapes/sizes/colours compared to others. Pond skaters (Gerris sp.) are a good example of an alary dimorphic species. Individuals that are nymphs during later spring/summer have short wings when adults; individuals that are nymphs towards the end of summer and autumn (when the day length is shorter) have longer wings when adults.

The pond skater (Gerris lacustris) is an alary dimorphic species.

Related terms

• Alate
• Calypter
• Costa
• Dimorphism
• Direct flight muscles
• Discal cell
• Frenulum
• Haltere
• Indirect flight muscles
• Jugum
• Pterostigma
• Quadrilateral
• Vein
• Venation

Related groups of terms

• General biology

Related pages on this web site

• Insect wings

See other words beginning with A