The notopleuron (plural notopleura) is a region on an insect thorax. Notopleura are useful in characterizing species, particularly, though not uniquely, in the

Order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of ...

Diptera Flies are insects of the order Diptera, the name being derived from the Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwings having evolved into advanced ...

(the "true flies"). The notopleuron is a thoracic pleurite (a

sclerite A sclerite (Greek , ', meaning " hard") is a hardened body part. In various branches of biology the term is applied to various structures, but not as a rule to vertebrate anatomical features such as bones and teeth. Instead it refers most commonly ...

on the pleuron) situated at the end of the transverse

suture Suture, literally meaning "seam", may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Suture'' (album), a 2000 album by American Industrial rock band Chemlab * ''Suture'' (film), a 1993 film directed by Scott McGehee and David Siegel * Suture (ban ...

. Apart from in the Diptera, visible notopleural structures occur in the beetle suborder

Adephaga The Adephaga (from Greek ἀδηφάγος, ''adephagos'', "gluttonous") are a suborder of beetles, and with more than 40,000 recorded species in 10 families, the second-largest of the four beetle suborders. Members of this suborder are collect ...

and in certain

Hemiptera Hemiptera (; ) is an order of insects, commonly called true bugs, comprising over 80,000 species within groups such as the cicadas, aphids, planthoppers, leafhoppers, assassin bugs, bed bugs, and shield bugs. They range in size from to arou ...

, but this list is not exhaustive.

References

* Zombori, L. & Henrik Steinmann (1999) Dictionary of Insect Morphology. Walter de Gruyter. Insect anatomy {{insect-anatomy-stub it:Glossario entomologico#notopleuron