Editing Imago

{{Short description|Last stage in an insect's metamorphosis}}
{{Other uses}}
[[File:Cicada molting animated-2.gif|thumb|upright=.8|Last [[Moulting|molting]] of a [[cicada]] giving rise to the winged imago]]

In [[biology]], the '''imago''' ([[Latin]] for "image") is the last stage an [[insect]] attains during its [[metamorphosis]], its process of growth and development; it is also called the ''imaginal'' stage ("imaginal" being "imago" in adjective form), the stage in which the insect attains maturity. It follows the final [[ecdysis]] of the immature [[instar]]s.<ref name= "CarpenterGH">{{Cite book |last=Carpenter |first=Geo. H. |title=The Life-Story of Insects. Cambridge University Press 1913 |url=https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/16410 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150330032928/http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/16410 |archive-date=2015-03-30 |access-date=2015-03-29 |url-status=live}}</ref>

In a member of the [[Apterygota|Ametabola]] or [[Hemimetabolism|Hemimetabola]], species in which metamorphosis is "incomplete", the final ecdysis follows the last immature or ''[[Nymph (biology)|nymphal]]'' stage. In members of the [[Holometabola]], in which there is a pupal stage, the final ecdysis follows emergence from the [[pupa]], after which the metamorphosis is complete, although there is a prolonged period of maturation in some species.<ref name= "isbn0-412-61390-5">{{cite book |author1=Richards, O. W. |author2=Davies, R. G. |year=1977 |title=Imms' General Textbook of Entomology: Volume 1: Structure, Physiology and Development; Volume 2: Classification and Biology |location=Berlin |publisher=Springer |isbn=0-412-61390-5 }}</ref>

The imago is the only stage during which the insect is [[Sexual maturity|sexually mature]] and, if it is a [[Insect wing|winged]] species, the only stage that has functional wings. The imago often is referred to as the ''adult'' stage.<ref name= "CarpenterGH"/>

Members of the order [[Mayfly|Ephemeroptera]] (mayflies) do not have a pupal stage, but they briefly pass through an intermediate winged stage called the [[subimago]]. Insects at this stage have functional wings but are not yet sexually mature.<ref name="CarpenterGH"/> 

The Latin plural of ''imago'' is ''imagines'', and this is the term generally used by [[Entomology|entomologists]] when a plural form is required&nbsp;–however, ''imagoes'' is also acceptable.<ref>Gordh, Gordon; Headrick, David H. (2010). "Imago". ''A Dictionary of Entomology'', 2nd ed. Wallingford, Oxfordshire, UK: CABI. [https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofento0000gord/page/724/mode/2up p. 725]. {{ISBN|978-1845935429}}.  {{OCLC|441191893}}.</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Imaginal disc]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

== External links ==
{{EB1911 Poster|Larval Forms}}
{{Commons category}}
{{Wiktionary}}
* Arenas-Mena, C. (27 February 2010). [http://rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/365/1540/653.full "Indirect Development, Transdifferentiation and the Macroregulatory Evolution of Metazoans"]. ''Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences''.  '''365''': 1540. pp. 653–669.

[[Category:Insect developmental biology]]