Calypter

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A small scale or flap covering the base of the wings in certain insects ; a membranous lobe or structure protecting or concealing part of an insect's anatomy ; a delicate anatomical feature acting as a shield near the insect wing area
2. A thin plate or lobe found in some flies, serving as a cover for the wing's base ; an appendage providing protection or concealment to specific insect parts ; a small shield-like structure positioned at the wing root in certain Diptera
3. A protective flap or scale-like structure located at the wing base of particular insects ; an anatomical feature that partially hides or safeguards parts of the insect's wing ; a delicate covering that aids in the wing morphology of some fly species

Etymology: "Calypter" is a bit of a hidden relative of "calyptra," the Latin-style name for a hood or veil, and it reaches English through New Latin, the scholarly Latin used by naturalists and botanists in early modern Europe. The Ancient Greek root is "kalyptein," meaning "to cover" or "to hide," and the Greek noun "kalyptra" meant a hood or a covering, like a veil worn over the head. Naturalists borrowed that Greek word into New Latin as "calyptra" to name structures that cover or hide other parts, and English then took that term. The English word "calypter" is a borrowing of that New Latin term and names the small flap of tissue that covers the halteres of a fly, or the wing-base structures of certain insects. The name fits the shape: each flap hoods the part beneath it, much as the Greek hood covered the head. The underlying idea is simply "covering," which the word has kept since its Greek beginnings.

Synonyms: calyptra, wing cover, wing flap, wing scale, covering