mesothorax

American  

[mez-uh-thawr-aks, -thohr-, mes-, mee-zuh-, -suh-] / ˌmɛz əˈθɔr æks, -ˈθoʊr-, ˌmɛs-, ˌmi zə-, -sə- /

noun

plural

mesothoraxes, mesothoraces

1. the middle segment of the three divisions of the thorax of an insect, bearing the second pair of legs and the first pair of wings.

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mesothorax British  

/ ˌmɛsəʊˈθɔːræks, ˌmɛsəʊθɔːˈræsɪk /

noun

1. the middle segment of the thorax of an insect, bearing the second pair of walking legs and the first pair of wings See also prothorax metathorax

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Other Word Forms

• mesothoracic adjective

Etymology

Origin of mesothorax

First recorded in 1820–30; meso- + thorax

Example Sentences

The body is long and cylindrical, consisting of thirteen segments; the head is armed with powerful jaws; the three following segments, the future prothorax, mesothorax, and metathorax, each bears a pair of simple articulated legs.

From On the Origin and Metamorphoses of Insects by Lubbock, John, Sir

The old metathorax is replaced by another mesothorax thrust in between the normal mesothorax and the abdomen.

From A Critique of the Theory of Evolution by Morgan, Thomas Hunt

On either side we count nine stigmata, set as before on the mesothorax and the first eight abdominal segments.

From The Glow-Worm and Other Beetles by Teixeira de Mattos, Alexander

Thorax: a black stripe on each side of the mesothorax over the tegulæ; the wings subhyaline, the nervures ferruginous, the superior pair fuscous at their apex.

From Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society - Vol. 3 Zoology by Various

Mutant race of fruit fly with intercalated duplicate mesothorax on dorsal side.

From A Critique of the Theory of Evolution by Morgan, Thomas Hunt