Explanation of Names
Greek meso middle, plus soma body
Identification
mesosoma noun - the middle part of the body, or tagma, of arthropods whose body is composed of three parts, the other two being the prosoma and the metasoma. It bears the legs, and, in the case of winged insects, the wings.
In Apocrita Hymenoptera (wasps, bees and ants), it consists of the three thoracic segments and the first abdominal segment (the propodeum). For historical reasons, in ants it is commonly referred to by the alternative name
alitrunk. (Initial definition based on Wikipedia entry for
Mesosoma.)
Contributed by
Cotinis on 24 March, 2008 - 10:35am
Last updated 25 March, 2008 - 11:06am
