The scutellum is the posterior portion of either the

mesonotum The mesothorax is the middle of the three segments of the thorax of hexapods, and bears the second pair of legs. Its principal sclerites (exoskeletal plates) are the mesonotum (dorsal), the mesosternum (ventral), and the mesopleuron (lateral) on ...

or the metanotum of an

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs ...

thorax The thorax or chest is a part of the anatomy of humans, mammals, and other tetrapod animals located between the neck and the abdomen. In insects, crustaceans, and the extinct trilobites, the thorax is one of the three main divisions of the ...

; however, it is used almost exclusively in the former context, as the metanotum is rather reduced in most insect groups. In the Hemiptera, and some

Coleoptera Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 describ ...

, the scutellum is a small triangular plate behind the

pronotum The prothorax is the foremost of the three segments in the thorax of an insect, and bears the first pair of legs. Its principal sclerites (exoskeletal plates) are the pronotum ( dorsal), the prosternum ( ventral), and the propleuron ( lateral) o ...

and between the forewing bases. In Diptera and Hymenoptera the scutellum is nearly always distinct, but much smaller than (and immediately posterior to) the mesoscutum. File:Heteroptera morphology-d.svg, 26 = Heteroptera scutellum File:Housefly anatomy-key.svg, 6 = Diptera scutellum File:Coléoptère schématique.jpg, 9 = Coleoptera scutellum File:Scheme ant worker anatomy-numbered.svg, 10 = Formicidae scutellum

References

{{Reflist Insect anatomy

See also

References