Beinlose Larve mancher Insekten, bes. bei Fliegen u. Hautflüglern.
ETYM W. macai, pl. maceiod, magiod, a worn or grub; cf. magu to bread.
The larva of the housefly and blowfly commonly found in decaying organic matter.
Soft, plump, limbless larva of flies, a typical example being the larva of the blowfly which is deposited as an egg on flesh.
ETYM Old Eng. worm, wurm, AS. wyrm.
Any of various elongated limbless invertebrates belonging to several phyla. Worms include the flatworms, such as flukes and tapeworms; the roundworms or nematodes, such as the eelworm and the hookworm; the marine ribbon worms or nemerteans; and the segmented worms or annelids.
In 1979, giant sea worms about 3 m/10 ft long, living within tubes created by their own excretions, were discovered in hydrothermal vents 2,450 m/8,000 ft beneath the Pacific NE of the Galápagos Islands.
1. Any of numerous relatively small elongated soft-bodied animals especially of the phyla Annelida, Chaetognatha, Nematoda, Nemertea and Platyhelminthes; also many insect larvae.
2. Has a nasty or unethical character undeserving of respect; SYN. louse, insect, dirt ball.
3. Threads gear with the teeth of a worm wheel or rack.