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Glite Dictionary
🪰 About these flies 🪰 A parasitic fly
conopid

conopid

9.9
A thick-headed fly that often lives as a parasite on bees and wasps
  • noun
  • /kəˈnɒpɪd/
  • Specialized
: conópido
  • The conopids inject their eggs into the abdomens of foraging worker bees.

Examples

  • The nylon was chosen to mimic the larva of a conopid fly.

    Academic text (2003)

  • The conopid fly is known for its unique parasitic behavior towards bees.

  • During encapsulation, specialized hemolymph cells called hemocytes become attracted to an invader, such as the larva of a conopid fly.

    Academic text (2003)

  • Farmers noticed that the conopid flies were affecting their bee populations.

  • Researchers studied the life cycle of the conopid to understand its impact on pollinators.

Surface Forms

conopid singular
conopids plural

Morphology

conopid = Conopidae (opaque) = conop + id

This is a technical taxonomic formation based on the scientific family name stem and the zoological suffix '-id', but the stem is not meaningful to most learners.

Etymology

Conopid names a type of fly and comes from the Greek konops 'gnat' or 'mosquito' plus the ending -id that shows relation. So a conopid is a fly 'related to' those small flies that often live in or on bees and wasps.