VPA 221: Veterinary Entomology and Acarology (1+1)

Complete and Incomplete Metamorphosis

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN COMPLETE AND INCOMPLETE METAMORPHOSIS

Complete Metamorphosis	Incomplete Metamorphosis
Examples: Flies, Fleas	Ticks, Lice, Mites, Bugs
LIFE CYCLE
EGG-LARVA-PUPA(Imago)-Adult (Chrysalis) (Click here to view the Lifecycle of Complete Metamorphosis)	EGG-NYMPH-ADULT e.g. Lice EGG-LARVA-NYMPH-ADULT e.g. Ticks (Click here to view the Lifecycle of Incomplete Metamorphosis)
Complete metamorphosis is when the adult stages are totally different from the immature stages morphologically	Incomplete metamorphosis is when the adults and immature stages resemble one another morphologically
They also differ in their habitat	They share the same habitat too
The young one is called larvae. It is immature stage of insect	Larvae/Nymph
Larvae have ocelli only. No compound eyes	Nymph and adult have compound eyes
There is a prolonged resting phase-pupal stage	No resting stage
HABITAT
Adults and immature stages occupy different habitats e.g. mosquito larvae/pupae are aquatic while the adult is terrestrial	Occupy same habitat Mites larvae/nymph and adult are all seen in the skin of host
FEEDING HABIT
Adults and immature stages feed differently	Similar feeding habits and mouth parts
Adults and immature stages have different types of mouth part E.g. Mosquito piercing and sucking mouth part in adult, chewing mouthparts in larvae, pupa non-feeding stage	E.g. In biting louse chewing mouth parts in larvae, nymph and adult