metasoma

views updated

metasoma
1. In invertebrates whose body is divided into sections (e.g. Lophophorata and Hemichordata), the ‘trunk’ that lies behind the protosoma and mesosoma.

2. In Hymenoptera, those segments that lie behind the petiole (i.e. the abdomen from the second segment). See also GASTER; MESOSOMA; SCORPIONES.