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View synonyms for ootheca

ootheca

[ oh-uh-thee-kuh ]

noun

, plural o·o·the·cae [oh-, uh, -, thee, -see].
  1. a case or capsule containing eggs, as that of certain gastropods and insects.


ootheca

/ ˌəʊəˈθiːkə /

noun

  1. a capsule containing eggs that is produced by some insects and molluscs
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Derived Forms

  • ˌooˈthecal, adjective
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Other Words From

  • oo·thecal adjective
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Word History and Origins

Origin of ootheca1

From New Latin, dating back to 1850–55; oo-, theca
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Word History and Origins

Origin of ootheca1

C19: New Latin, from oo- + thēkē case
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Example Sentences

Behind the female’s bottomless appetite is the extraordinary size of her egg case, or ootheca, a frothy proteinous mass studded with up to 400 eggs that can amount to half her body weight.

Dr. Brown, of SUNY-Fredonia, and Katherine L. Barry of Macquarie University in Australia showed that cannibalized males sired about 60 more eggs than did non-cannibalized fathers, an increase of 20 percent over the standard ootheca complement of 258 eggs.

Ampulla: Orthoptera; an extensile sac between head and prothorax used by the young in escaping from oötheca, and later, in molting: Heteroptera; a blister-like enlargement at the middle of the anterior margin of the pro-thorax.

Egg-case: the case or covering prepared or secreted by an insect to contain or hold together the egg-mass as a whole: see oötheca.

Oötheca: the covering or case over an egg mass, as in certain Orthoptera: see egg case.

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