Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada

prosternum

Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
No Taxon (Glossary)
No Taxon (P)
No Taxon prosternum
Identification
prosternum noun, adjective prosternal - the under surface of the prothorax; the front-most prominent sclerite on the underside of the thorax.
The presence and/or form of a process or spine on the prosternum is important in the identification of some beetles (coleoptera) and orthoptera (e.g., spur-throated grasshoppers).

Photos illustrating the prosternum:
See Also

Divisions of thorax (front | middle | rear):

Dorsal surface of thorax (notum):

Lateral (pleural) surface of thorax:

Ventral surface of thorax:
prosternum | mesosternum | metasternum