A thickening of the epidermis of an insect larva which, on pupation, develops into a particular organ of the adult insect.
〔昆〕器官芽，成虫盘
Example sentencesExamples
Because the dorsal body wall develops from the wing imaginal disc, data on thoracic body wall patterning are available in Drosophila.
Why are imaginal discs present in some insects and not in others?
The genital imaginal discs contain primordia for both male and female reproductive organs and the major function of the sex-determination pathway is to repress the opposite sex primordia.
The imaginal discs now develop into rudimentary adult appendages like wings, legs, and antennae.
The adult eye develops from a monolayer of epithelial cells, the eye imaginal disc.