alulan.
/ˈaljᵿlə/, U.S. /ˈæljələ/ 1. Ornithology. A group of three or four small quill feathers on the first digit of a bird's wing; the bastard wing.
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the world > animals > birds > parts of or bird defined by > [noun] > wing or wings > bastard-wing
bastard wing1678
alula1772
winglet1862
1772 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 62 420 The Alula, or bastard wing, is black.
1855 W. S. Dallas in Orr's Circle Sci.: Org. Nature III. 148 The thumb also bears a few quills, which form what is called the alula or bastard wing.
1938 Condor 40 255 The pterylosis of the wing..conforms to the general cathartid type..in having four enlarged alula feathers, narrow propatagium, and a claw on the pollex.
2007 L. M. Chiappe Glorified Dinosaurs i. 26/2 The inner digit carries a tuft of feathers known as the ‘bastard wing’ or alula.
2. Entomology. In many dipteran flies: a small free lobe near the base of the hind margin of each wing. Also: (in some dytiscid water beetles) a similar appendage at the angle of each elytron (rare).
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the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Diptera or flies > [noun] > member of > parts of > appendage at base of wing or alula
aileron1797
alula1817
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Coleoptera or beetles and weevils > [noun] > member of (beetle) > parts of > wing-case > appendage beneath
alula1877
1817 W. Kirby & W. Spence Introd. Entomol. II. 359 (Diptera) Their winglets (Alulæ).
1877 Encycl. Brit. VI. 127 In certain water beetles (Dytiscidæ) a pair of alulæ, or winglets, are developed at the inner angle of the elytra.
1947 A. D. Imms Outl. Entomol. (ed. 3) ii. 16 In the blow-fly and many related forms the alula is especially large.
2001 S. Gorb Attachment Devices Insect Cuticle viii. 131 The corresponding wing-brushes are located on the alulae.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2012; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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