ovipositor

English

A grasshopper's ovipositor.

Etymology

From ovi- (“egg”) +‎ Latin positor (“one who places”, agent noun form of pōnere).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /əʊvɪˈpɒzɪtə/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /oʊvɪˈpɑzɪtɚ/

Noun

ovipositor (plural ovipositors)

1. (zoology) A tubular protruding organ for laying eggs.
   • 2019 September 15, Jonathan Amos, “Wasps: If you can't love them, at least admire them”, in BBC News‎^[1]:

     I'm fascinated by a splendid European wasp - Rhyssa persuasoria (sabre wasp). […] It has a remarkable ovipositor. That's the multi-function "hypodermic needle" at the end of the abdomen, and, in this instance, it doubles the length of the wasp to about 8cm.

Related terms

• oviposit
• oviposition

Translations

tubular organ for laying eggs

• Catalan: oviscapte m
• Dutch: legboor (nl) f
• Finnish: munanasetin (fi)
• Greek: ωοθέτης (el) m (oothétis), ωοαποθέτης (el) m (ooapothétis)
• Irish: ubhlonnaitheoir m
• Italian: ovopositore m
• Macedonian: легалка f (legalka)
• Maori: pūtukuhua, pūwhānauhua
• Spanish: ovipositor m

Further reading

• ovipositor on Wikipedia.Wikipedia