Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Zoology A shieldlike bony plate or scale, as on the thorax of some insects.
- n. Botany Any of several shield-shaped structures, such as the cotyledon of a grass.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A little shield, plate, or scute. In botany: In grasses, a little shield-like expansion of the hypocotyl, which acts as an organ of suction through which the nutrient substance of the endosperm is absorbed by the embryo. In lichens, a rounded apothecium having an elevated rim.
Wiktionary
- n. Any of several shield-shaped structures in insects, grasses etc
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. (Bot.) A rounded apothecium having an elevated rim formed of the proper thallus, the fructification of certain lichens.
- n. The third of the four pieces forming the upper part of a thoracic segment of an insect. It follows the scutum, and is followed by the small postscutellum; a scutella. See Thorax.
- n. One of the transverse scales on the tarsi and toes of birds; a scutella.
Etymologies
- Neuter diminutive of Latin scutum a shield. (Wiktionary)
- New Latin scūtellum, from Latin, diminutive of scūtum, shield; see scutum. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“The scutellum is the white triangular spot at the front of the elytra or wingcovers, on the thorax.”
“Head shining, with white tomentum beneath and on each side of the face; third joint of the antennæ piceous, arista simple; thorax with two cinereous stripes and with one cinereous band, somewhat chalybeous towards the scutellum, which is tawny; the band continued on each side of the pectus, whose disk is cinereous; abdomen with an interrupted æneous-green band on the second segment, third and fourth segments æneous-green, each with three large black spots; tibia somewhat tawny towards the base; wings brown (male) or dark brown”
Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society - Vol. 3 Zoology
“Abutting onto the endosperm from one side is the scutellum, a single modified leaf that absorbs, digests, and conducts food from the endosperm to the embryo, or “germ,” which is at the base of the fruit, and which is also well endowed with oil, enzymes, and flavor.”
Simon & Schuster: On Food and Cooking, The Science and Lore of the Kitchen
“The large mass of endosperm cells stores food to nourish the early growth of the embryo or “germ.” fruit seed coats scutellum”
Simon & Schuster: On Food and Cooking, The Science and Lore of the Kitchen
“Dorso-alar region: Diptera; between the transverse suture and the scutellum on one side and the root of the wing and the dorso-central region on the other.”
“Axillae: two small, subtriangular sclerites at the lateral basal angles of the meso-scutellum in Proctytripidae.”
“Omia: the shoulders: the lateral anterior angles of an agglutinated thorax, when they are distinct: = see umbone: in Coleoptera; a corneous sclerite to which the muscles of the anterior coxa are attached; also the lateral margin of the prothorax; also the lateral margin of the scutellum in Carabids and Dytiscids.”
“Parapsidae: the small sclerites on each side of the scutellum in”
“Dorsulum: the mesonotum before the scutellum, with the wing sockets: also, specifically, the meso-scutellum.”
“Dorsum: the upper surface: in Coleoptera; often confined to meso - and meta-thorax: Odonata; includes mesepisterna and meso - and meta-thoracic terga: Diptera; upper surface of thorax, limited by the dorsopleural sutures laterally, the scutellum posteriorly and the neck anteriorly: Lepidoptera; the lower or inner margin of the wing.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘scutellum’.
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250 Cherry-Picked Words
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ocelli, compound eye, antennae, pronotum, pedipalps, femur, tibia, scutellum, forewing, hindwing, halteres, sclerites and 10 more...
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Tweets
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reesetee A small plate, scutum, or other shieldlike part, as on the thorax of insects or the feet of birds. Plural: scutella. Jul 30, 2008