Mesosoma

Mesosoma
Scorpion anatomy: 1 = Prosoma; 2 = Mesosoma; 3 = Metasoma
The mesosoma is clearly visible on this ant: it is the middle section, in between the head and the petiole

The mesosoma is 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.[1][2][3]

In scorpions, it is composed of six segments and forms the first part of the abdomen, containing all of the major organs. The first segment contains the sexual organs as well as a pair of vestigial and modified appendages forming a structure called the genital operculum. The second segment bears a pair of featherlike sensory organs known as the pectines; the final four segments each contain a pair of book lungs. The mesosoma is armoured with chitinous plates, on the upper surface by the tergites and on the lower surface by the sternites.

In other arachnids such as spiders, the mesosoma is fused with the metasoma to form the opisthosoma.

References

  • Charles A. Triplehorn, Norman F. Johnson (2005) Borror and DeLong's introduction to the study of insects, 7th edition, Thomson Brooks/Cole.

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Look at other dictionaries:

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  • Mésosoma — Mésosome (morphologie) Pour les articles homonymes, voir Mésosome. Schéma de l abdomen de l apocrite En morphologie, le mésosome représente une région interm …   Wikipédia en Français

  • mesosoma — n. [Gr. mesos, middle; soma, body] 1. The middle part of an invertebrate s body. 2. (ARTHROPODA: Chelicerata) In Arachnida, the anterior portion of the abdomen, often clearly set off from the metasoma. 3. (ARTHROPODA: Insecta) For Hymenoptera,… …   Dictionary of invertebrate zoology

  • mesosoma — ► masculino ZOOLOGÍA Tórax de los artrópodos y, por extensión, porción media del cuerpo de otros invertebrados. ► MICROBIOLOGÍA Invaginación de la membrana plasmática de las bacterias de estructura diversa y cuya función es similar a las… …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • mesosoma — meso·soma …   English syllables

  • mesosoma — …   Useful english dictionary

  • мезосома — (mesosoma; мезо + греч. soma тело) полифункциональный структурный компонент бактериальной клетки, являющийся производным цитоплазматической мембраны и связанный с нуклеоидом …   Большой медицинский словарь

  • Мезосо́ма — (mesosoma; Мезо + греч. soma тело) полифункциональный структурный компонент бактериальной клетки, являющийся производным цитоплазматической мембраны и связанный с нуклеоидом …   Медицинская энциклопедия

  • Ameise — Dieser Artikel wurde aufgrund von formalen und/oder inhaltlichen Mängeln in der Qualitätssicherung Biologie zur Verbesserung eingetragen. Dies geschieht, um die Qualität der Biologie Artikel auf ein akzeptables Niveau zu bringen. Bitte hilf mit,… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

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