Dealation is the loss or shedding of wings by an adult insect after a dispersal or mating flight. In practical insect identification, the term is used most often for ants and termites: an alate is the winged reproductive stage, while a dealate is the same kind of insect after the wings have been shed, broken […]
An alate insect is a winged reproductive form produced by a mature colony, not a separate species. Its life cycle usually moves from colony production to winged emergence, mating flight, wing loss, nest founding, egg laying, and the first worker generation. This pattern is most familiar in ants and termites, where winged males and females
In botany, alate means winged or furnished with a thin wing-like expansion. The term may describe a seed, fruit, stem, petiole, rachis, ovary, or other plant part, so it should not be read only as a seed-dispersal term. In plant morphology, alate is most familiar in samaras, the dry winged fruits of maples, ashes, elms,
Some insects have wings because flight helps them disperse, find mates, escape local crowding, or start new colonies. Other insects lack wings because they belong to primitively wingless lineages, are immature stages, are worker castes, or come from winged ancestors that later lost wings when flight stopped being useful. Insect wings are mainly adult structures
Alate insects are winged forms; apterous insects are wingless forms. The difference is most useful when comparing reproductive ants and termites, winged versus wingless aphids, or insects that are naturally wingless. In entomology, alate usually means an adult form with wings, often tied to dispersal or reproduction, while apterous means without wings, either because the
An alate is a winged form. In entomology, the word usually refers to the winged reproductive stage of social insects such as ants and termites, and it is also used for winged aphids. The same word appears in botany for plant parts with wings or wing-like expansions, including some seeds and fruits. The meaning depends