The biological condition or characteristic of undergoing complete metamorphosis with internal wing development.
Formed from 'endopterygotic' + '-ism' (a system or condition). This technical entomological term crystallized in the late 1800s as biologists needed precise language to describe the fundamental life-cycle differences between insect groups.
Endopterygotism is why dragonflies never turn into butterflies—they're fundamentally different biological strategies that evolved millions of years ago, and insects are locked into one or the other from the moment they hatch.
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