aculeate

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   zoology: having a stinger, especially belonging to the hymenopteran group Aculeata

   Female aculeate wasps use a modified ovipositor as a sting for defense or prey capture.

2. 2
   noun

   an insect of the group Aculeata, which includes ants, bees, and many wasps

   Each aculeate in the colony develops from an egg laid by the queen.

3. 3
   adj

   botany: bearing sharp prickles or points

   The aculeate stem was armed with short, rigid prickles.

From Latin aculeatus, 'provided with a sting or prickle,' from aculeus, 'sting,' a diminutive of acus, 'needle.' Entomologists use Aculeata for hymenopterans whose ancestral egg-laying organ was modified into a stinger.

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