Wing bud

Wing buds are flattened structures on the bodies of nymphs that will form the wings in adult insects. The wing buds can often been seen on the sides or top of the nymph's thorax.

Dragonfly nymphs are aquatic and must climb out of the water in order to moult in to the final, more familiar, adult form. The wing buds are clearly visible as two flat structures on the back of this dragonfly exuviae (moulted skin).

Other names for (or types of) Wing bud include:

• Wing pad

Related terms

• Ecdysis
• Exopterygota
• Incomplete metamorphosis
• Larva

Related groups of terms

• Insect life cycles
• Invertebrate body structure

Related pages on this web site

• Exopterygota
• Insect life cycles

See other words beginning with W