The corium is the thickened, leathery, basal portion of an insect forewing or

hemelytron An elytron (; ; , ) is a modified, hardened forewing of beetles (Coleoptera), though a few of the true bugs (Hemiptera) such as the family Schizopteridae are extremely similar; in true bugs, the forewings are called hemelytra (sometimes alterna ...

in the order

Hemiptera Hemiptera (; ) is an order (biology), order of insects, commonly called true bugs, comprising over 80,000 species within groups such as the cicadas, aphids, planthoppers, leafhoppers, Reduviidae, assassin bugs, Cimex, bed bugs, and shield bugs. ...

. Specifically the inner cell of the basal portion is the corium.

Hemelytra

The forewings of the winged aquatic bugs are modified into hemelytra (singular,

), in which the basal part is thickened and leathery and the apical part is membranous. The thickened region is divided into a corium and

clavus Clavus may refer to: * Claudius Clavus (born 1388), 15th-century Danish cartographer * ''Clavus'' (gastropod), a genus of snails in the family Drilliidae * The Roman ''clavus'', a reddish-purple stripe on garments that distinguished members of the ...

. The membranous region has veins and the venation is of taxonomic importance. However, in many families, the distinction between the leathery and membranous regions of the hemelytron is not pronounced, and the wing tends to be more fully sclerotized (e.g.,

Pleidae Pleidae, the pygmy backswimmers, is a family of aquatic insects in the order Hemiptera (infraorder Nepomorpha, or "true water bugs"). There are 37 species in three genera, distributed across most of the world, except the polar regions and r ...

) or more fully membranous (e.g., winged

Gerridae The Gerridae are a family of insects in the order Hemiptera, commonly known as water striders, water skeeters, water scooters, water bugs, pond skaters, water skippers, or water skimmers. Consistent with the classification of the Gerridae as t ...

). The hind wings are fully membranous and held beneath the hemelytra when at rest. Many adult aquatic bugs are brachypterous, micropterous, or apterous, having reduced wings or none at all. However, it is common that entomologists refer to the entire basal portion of the wing as the corium.

References

{{insect-anatomy-stub Insect anatomy