How to Use pupa in a Sentence

pupa

noun
  • Larvae hatch from the eggs, eat and grow, then turn into pupae.
    — Aspen Pflughoeft, Miami Herald, 6 June 2024
  • In fact, as soon as one of the ants emerged from its pupa, the other members of the colony ate him.
    — Jason Daley, Smithsonian, 18 May 2017
  • After the larvae stage, there's a brief stage as pupae before the adults emerge.
    — Aliza Chasan, CBS News, 7 June 2024
  • The insect overwinters as a late-stage larvae or pupae in the top inch or two of soil.
    — Arricca Elin Sansone, Southern Living, 23 Apr. 2025
  • The new species spends most of the year — roughly nine months — as pupae before emerging as adults, the study said.
    — Aspen Pflughoeft, Miami Herald, 6 June 2024
  • Sort through your cloves to make sure all are solid and free of damage, chew marks, and brown, seedlike fly pupa.
    — Cathy Rubin, Philly.com, 3 Oct. 2017
  • The authors point out that this weapon might even be the remnants of the liquid that was inside the pupa.
    — Elizabeth Preston, Discover Magazine, 29 Sep. 2017
  • When the butterfly emerged from its pupa, Robert Reed was stunned.
    — Ed Yong, The Atlantic, 18 Sep. 2017
  • Larvae then transform into pupae, which swim to the surface and emerge as adult midges ready to mate.
    — Claire Reid, Journal Sentinel, 25 Apr. 2024
  • Inside this cocoon, the pupa transforms into an adult crane fly.
    — Tiffany Acosta, The Arizona Republic, 12 Mar. 2024
  • After the larva stage, fireflies have a short stage as a pupa before emerging as adults.
    — Aliza Chasan, CBS News, 7 June 2024
  • In early spring, the pupa are moved to a protective cage, which is attached to the top of the wooden box on the post.
    — Don Lyman, BostonGlobe.com, 16 June 2022
  • Mosquito pupae mill about inside a shallow tray full of water.
    — Stephanie Nolen and Eleanor Lutz. Photography and Video By Federico Rios Escobar For The New York Times. Eleanor Lutz, New York Times, 29 Sep. 2023
  • At this time of year, a pupa in the soil is likely to be the winter cutworm, Noctua pronuba.
    — oregonlive, 2 May 2020
  • Japanese beetles have a one-year complete life cycle from egg, larva, pupa to adult.
    — Betty Cahill, The Denver Post, 24 June 2019
  • Moths have been noticed sooner than expected this year, with some spotted in early May. Maybe one of their life stages of a moth, larva or pupa overwintered to start the next infestation.
    — Tom MacCubbin, OrlandoSentinel.com, 10 June 2017
  • The black dots are larval tracks pushing into an oak, while the white object is a pupa preparing to become an adult.
    — Lila Seidman, Los Angeles Times, 28 May 2024
  • As new broods reached the pupa state, a mechanical sorter separated them by size to pull out the males, which are smaller.
    — Andrew Howley, National Geographic, 21 Oct. 2016
  • Caterpillars are cute and butterflies are beautiful, but nobody wants to hang out with a pupa.
    — Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 27 Mar. 2024
  • The insect’s larvae feed on the upper part of the plant’s root for about two months before going into the pupa stage inside the plant.
    — Keith Ridler, San Diego Union-Tribune, 18 Sep. 2019
  • Flea eggs become flea larvae, which become flea pupae — which hang out, just waiting for an unsuspecting host.
    — Lisa J. Huriash, Sun-Sentinel.com, 26 May 2017
  • The larvae then spin cocoons and develop into pupae before emerging as adult fleas.
    — Amber Smith, Discover Magazine, 8 Nov. 2023
  • Born as an egg, growing up as a larva, congealing into a pupa, and unfurling into a winged adult.
    — Sabrina Imbler, Harper's BAZAAR, 6 Dec. 2022
  • Both the female and male luna moths die about five to seven days after emerging from the pupa, Kwiatkowski explained.
    — Don Lyman, BostonGlobe.com, 16 June 2022
  • The pupa are then collected off the ground, and placed into a wooden box to overwinter, said Kwiatkowski.
    — Don Lyman, BostonGlobe.com, 16 June 2022
  • Fleas have what is known as a complete life cycle, which is starting as an egg, becoming a larvae, then a pupa then and adult, Lame said.
    — Karl Schneider, The Indianapolis Star, 12 July 2022
  • Mosquitoes tend to reside close to standing water, where their larvae and pupae develop.
    — USA TODAY, 29 May 2023
  • After running through its allotment of instars, a caterpillar ceases to be itself and becomes a pupa.
    — Elizabeth Kolbert, The New Yorker, 13 Mar. 2023
  • In the larva stage, mosquitoes are aquatic and then develop into pupae in as little as five days but often longer, sometimes even over the course of the winter.
    — USA TODAY, 29 May 2023
  • Solitary bees, bumble bees, moths, and butterflies—whether as eggs, pupae, or adults—often use the leaf layer for warmth and protection during the cold winter months.
    — Anne Readel, Better Homes & Gardens, 22 Sep. 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'pupa.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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