Descriptionary

albino white with pinkish skin and blue or hazel eyes.

Appaloosa a distinct breed noted for its spotted rump.

bald a white streak on a horse's face and covering one of its eyes. See blaze.

bars black stripes on the legs of some breeds; also known as zebra striping.

bay a reddish brown with a black mane and tail.

blaze a broad, white streak running from between the eyes to the muzzle.

blood bay a deep red bay.

buckskin beige with a black mane and tail; may or may not have an eel stripe.

buttermilk another name for a palomino.

calico a spotted or piebald color; a pinto.

California sorrel reddish gold.

chestnut chestnut, bronze, or coppery. Also known as sorrel.

claybank yellowish cross of a sorrel and a dun.

cremello cream albino with pink skin and blue eyes.

dappled spotted or mottled.

dun beige with a beige or brown mane and tail.

eel stripe a dark stripe extending from the withers to the tail.

flaxen chestnut-colored with a white or cream- colored mane and tail.

grulla bluish gray or mouse-colored. Also known as smokey.

medicine hat black speckles found on mustangs, considered good luck by American Indians.

moros bluish.

paint irregularly patterned white with colored areas. Same as pinto.

palomilla milk white with white mane and tail.

palomino light tan or golden with an ivory or cream-colored mane and tail.

piebald black and white.

pinto a piebald; a spotted or irregularly marked horse. Also known as paint or Indian pony.

race a crooked blaze on the forehead.

roan bay, chestnut, or sorrel sprinkled with gray and white.

sabino light red or roan with a white belly.

skewbald patches of white over any color except black. Sometimes humorously referred to as a stew- ball.

snip a white marking along the nostril.

sock white on leg below the fetlock.

sorrel chestnut or brown.

star small white marking between eyes.

stocking any white extending above the fetlock. See sock.

zebra dun dun-colored with a dorsal stripe and stripes on its legs.

INSECTS AND SPIDERS

abdomen the posterior segment of an insect's body.

antennae sensory appendages used for probing or smelling.

arachnid the class of insects with four pairs of legs, including spiders, scorpions, mites, and ticks.

arachnoid resembling a spider's web, or pertaining to arachnids.

bristle any stiff hair arising from the body.

carapace a hard covering of the body of some insects, for protection from predators.

caste system a social system in which each insect in a colony has a clearly defined role. Termites, for example, have four castes: workers, soldiers, kings, and queens.

cephalothorax the first segment of a spider's body, including the head and thorax.

cercus a sensory appendage on the abdomen.

chitin the main component in an insect's outer structure or exoskeleton.

claspers part of the male sex organs in some insects, two clasping appendages used to hold the female dur­ing mating.

colony a community of insects that work together for one another's benefit.

compound eye multifaceted eyes consisting of sev­eral individual lenses.

cryptic coloration coloration that provides cam­ouflage to help an insect blend into its surroundings without detection by predators.

diapause a period of suspended growth or develop­ment during the life cycle.

dimorphism the existence of two different forms within the same species.

elytra the hard wing covers of beetles.

entomology the study of insects.

exoskeleton the exterior supporting structure of the insect body.

fang an appendage similar to a sharp tooth, also known as the chelicera.

formic acid the acid injected or sprayed by some ants as a defense.

fritiniency insect noises.

gallmaker an insect that causes plants or trees to grow warty protuberances, or "galls," around them.

herbivore an insect that feeds exclusively on plants.

histamine one of the main components of the poi­son injected by the sting of a wasp.

honeydew the sugary excretion of aphids and some other insects.

insectivore any animal or insect that eats insects.

instar any single stage of insect development in which the insect is transformed from one form to another; some insects have more than a half dozen such instars or stages.

larva the wormlike form of a newly hatched insect before metamorphosis.

leg segments from top to bottom these are the coxa, the trochanter, the femur, the tibia, and the footlike tarsus.

mandible the upper jaw of an insect, used in chewing.

mesothorax the middle segment of the thorax from which are attached the second pair of legs.