chaetotaxy

English

Alternative forms

• chætotaxy (obsolete)
• chaeototaxy
• chetotaxy

Etymology

By analogy to phyllotaxy, substituting the prefix chaeto- from Greek χαίτη (khaítē). By surface analysis, chaeto- -taxy (compare taxis).

Noun

chaetotaxy (countable and uncountable, plural chaetotaxies)

1. (zoology) The arrangement of, and study of arrangement of, chaetae (chitinous bristles) on a species or subspecies of animal, usually and especially an arthropod or annelid.
   • 1884 November 5, C. R. Osten-Sacken, “An Essay of Comparative Chætotaxy, or the arrangement of characteristic bristles of Diptera”, in Transactions of the Entomological Society of London, London, page 497:

     I propose the term Chætotaxy for the arrangement of bristles on the different parts of the body of the Diptera, the composition of this term being analagous to phyllotaxy, the order or arrangement of leaves of plants.

Related terms

• chaetotactic
• chaetotaxic