Crossword clues for prothorax
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Prothorax \Pro*tho"rax\, n. [Pref. pro- + thorax.] (Zo["o]l.) The first or anterior segment of the thorax in insects. See Illusts. of Butterfly and Coleoptera.
Wiktionary
n. (context entomology English) The anterior part of the insect thorax; it carries the first pair of legs
WordNet
n. the anterior part of an insect's thorax; bears the first pair of legs
[also: prothoraces (pl)]
Wikipedia
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) on each side. The prothorax never bears wings in extant insects, though some fossil groups possessed wing-like projections. All adult insects possess legs on the prothorax, though in a few groups (e.g., the butterfly family Nymphalidae) the forelegs are greatly reduced. In many groups of insects, the pronotum is reduced in size, but in a few it is hypertrophied, such as in all beetles ( Coleoptera), in which the pronotum is expanded to form the entire dorsal surface of the thorax, and most treehoppers (family Membracidae, order Hemiptera), in which the pronotum is expanded into often fantastic shapes that enhance their camouflage or mimicry. Similarly, in the Tetrigidae, the pronotum is extended backward to cover the flight wings, supplanting the function of the tegmina.
Usage examples of "prothorax".
As soon as we started hiking up the glacier, his head came down and forward, that V between his main body section and prothorax widened, those mantis-arms stretched far forward like a human extending two poles ahead of him, and he fell into a seemingly effortless four-legged motion.
The smaller mantispid had some sort of clear, bubbly backpack along his dorsal ridge, nestled in the V where its main body section joined the prothorax.