Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com

insectary

American  
[in-sek-ter-ee] / ˈɪn sɛkˌtɛr i /

noun

  • insectaries
    plural
  1. a laboratory for the study of live insects, their life histories, effects on plants, reaction to insecticides, etc.


Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms


Etymology

Origin of insectary

1885–90; variant of insectarium; see -ary


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

To reach these conclusions, the team combined information from butterfly houses, mark, release and recapture studies, and controlled insectary experiments.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 22, 2026

On a recent tour of the Pacoima insectary, Nicolas Tremblay, a senior vector ecologist with the district, whipped out a small container filled with a handful of what looked like vitamins.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 22, 2026

The lab has its own insectary, Corley remarked, which hatches mosquitoes to study the transmission of arboviruses, including Zika, dengue and West Nile.

From New York Times ● Nov. 23, 2021

"In this insectary we keep about 23 different strains of mosquitoes for all researchers within our campus and we have Aedis Egypti from 12 different countries," he said.

From BBC ● Jan. 27, 2016

A great many species have the most curious life histories, which can not be ascertained except by continued and persevering observation, not only in the vivarium or insectary but in the field.

From Directions for Collecting and Preserving Insects by C. V. Riley

Releasing predatory insects has become a keystone of pest control in organic agriculture, and commercial insectaries raise “beneficials” by the millions.

From Washington Post ● Jan. 30, 2018

The insectaries were behind five sets of doors, and they used a mosquito that doesn’t survive in California, should it manage to escape.

From Science Magazine ● Nov. 23, 2015

Of parasites which have already proved their worth hundreds of thousands were loosed from government insectaries.

From Time Magazine Archive

Hundreds of jars and vials, vivaria and insectaries, microscopes, guns, and cameras, with all their details and mysterious inner workings, left no table vacant.

From Jungle Peace by William Beebe

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

Get a word

Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Just like flashcards, but way more fun

Don't take our word for it. Leave the boring studying behind and join VocabTrainer today. You'll learn even faster and never look back.

Take me to Vocabulary.com