Prothorax
Theprothoraxis the foremost of the three segments in thethoraxof aninsect,and bears the first pair oflegs.Its principalsclerites(exoskeletal plates) are thepronotum(dorsal), theprosternum(ventral), and thepropleuron(lateral) on each side. The prothorax never bears wings in extant insects (except in some cases ofatavism), though some fossil groups possessed wing-like projections.[1]All adult insects possess legs on the prothorax, though in a few groups (e.g., thebutterflyfamilyNymphalidae) the forelegs are greatly reduced. In many groups of insects, the pronotum is reduced in size, but in a few it is hypertrophied, such as in allbeetles(Coleoptera). In mosttreehoppers(familyMembracidae,orderHemiptera), the pronotum is expanded into often fantastic shapes that enhance theircamouflageormimicry.Similarly, in theTetrigidae,the pronotum is extended backward to cover the flight wings, supplanting the function of thetegmina.
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^Medved, Victor; Marden, James; Fescemyer, Howard; Der, Joshua; Liu, Jin; Mahfooz, Najmus; Popadic, Aleksander (December 2015)."Origin and diversification of wings: Insights from a neopteran insect".Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.112(52): 15946–15951.Bibcode:2015PNAS..11215946M.doi:10.1073/pnas.1509517112.JSTOR26466262.PMC4702999.PMID26668365.Retrieved19 November2020.
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