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Glite Dictionary
Aphidoidea

Aphidoidea

1 9.9
A large group of insects that includes most kinds of aphids
  • noun
  • /ˌeɪfɪˈdɔɪdɪə/
  • Specialized
: Aphidoidea
  • Scientists are researching how Aphidoidea affect agricultural crops worldwide.

Examples

  • The study detailed the life cycle of Aphidoidea, which are commonly known as aphids.

  • Two exceptions are the Aphidoidea and the Cynipidae, of which it has 34% and 50% of the known species.

    Academic text (1996)

  • Entomologists identified several new species within the Aphidoidea superfamily.

Surface Forms

Aphidoidea singular
Aphidoideas plural

Morphology

Aphidoidea = aphid (opaque) = aphid + oidea

The element '-oidea' is a specialized biological/taxonomic suffix meaning 'superfamily' and is not a productive everyday morpheme for average learners.

Etymology

Aphidoidea comes from aphid, the small insect that feeds on plants, and the ending -oidea meaning 'like' or 'form', as in humanoid which means 'like a human'. So Aphidoidea means 'the group that is like aphids', which is why it names a large group of aphid insects.