Mesodiplosis

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A genus of small gall midge flies in the family Cecidomyiidae, whose larvae develop inside plant tissue
2. A taxonomic group of tiny flies within the gall midge family, named for the insects classified under it
3. The name given to a genus of minute gall-forming midges that belong to the order Diptera

Etymology: Mesodiplosis is the name of a genus of gall midges, tiny flies whose larvae feed inside plant tissue and provoke the plant to grow abnormal swellings called galls. The name was built entirely from Ancient Greek: "mésos" meant "middle," and "díplōsis" meant "a doubling." Taxonomists in the 19th and 20th centuries often coined genus names from classical roots, so the Greek words were assembled for this insect group rather than being used by the ancient Greeks themselves. The "doubling" in the name is not explained by the source, so any reading of it should be treated with caution. What the parts show plainly is that the name is a technical coinage, a compound of two ordinary Greek words put together to label a single group of insects.