dermopteran

dermopteran

English

Etymology

Dermoptera +‎ -an

Noun

dermopteran (plural dermopterans)

1. (mammalogy) Any mammal in the order Dermoptera, the flying lemurs
2. (entomology, obsolete) Any insect which has the anterior pair of wings coriaceous, and does not use them in flight.

   Earwigs are dermopterans.

3. (entomology) Misspelling of dermapteran.

Usage notes

• Attempts in the 19th century to correct the name of the insect order Dermaptera to Dermoptera were unsuccessful because that name was already in use for the flying lemurs, so applying this derived term to insects is now considered taxonomically incorrect. More recent usage of that sense seems to be mostly from confusion over the spelling of the insect order.

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for dermopteran in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.)