Thread-like synonyms

The antennae of Diptera, which are also extremely important in classification, are thread-like in the more primitive families, such as the Tipulidae (daddy-long-legs), where they consist of a considerable number of joints, all of which except the first two, and sometimes also the last two, are similar in shape; in the more specialized families, such as the Tabanidae (horse-flies), Syrphidae (hover-flies) or Muscidae (house-flies, blue-bottles and their allies), the number of antennal joints is greatly reduced by coalescence, so that the antennae appear to consist of only three joints.

The antennae are long and thread-like, composed at first of few joints, but the number of these latter apparently increases at each moult.

The most serious trouble has been occasioned in the Malay States by a white thread-like fungus (Fomes semitostus) which attacks the roots of the Hevea tree and eventually kills it.

Cuscuta has a thread-like, spirally twisted embryo with no trace of cotyledons.