Thigh cover (insect)
| Thigh covers each green | |
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| Fig. 1: Underside of Eucinetus haemorrhoidalis |
Fig. 2: Abdomen from below, Calyptomerus dubius |
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Fig. 3: Lacon punctatus detail, underside, copy below, partially colored blue: outline of the rear hip; yellow: part of the thigh green: cover of the thighs red: groove to accommodate the thighs; |
 Ctenicera pectinicornis Agriotes lineatus Selatosomus aeneus   |
 Prosternon tessellatum Ampedus sanguinolentus  |
| Fig. 4: Five different forms of thigh covers in click beetles |
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Ceiling leg or leg plates is called the extensions of the insect rear hips (Metacoxa), the hind leg cover (Metafemur) completely or partially. When the thigh cover is complete, the thigh is no longer visible (Fig. 1). In this case the thigh plates are called rear hip plates .
Thigh covers are formed in many families of beetles, for example carrion beetles , jewel beetles , bacon beetles , rodent beetles and bog beetles . In the case of the click beetles in particular , the shape of the thigh covers is an important feature for determining the species (Fig. 3 and 4).
On the underside of the body, the rear hips connect to the rear chest (to the metasternum) and are often at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the body. In the click beetles, they are long and usually reach the side of the body. They bridge the difference in level between the rear chest and abdomen and are hollowed out in the shape of a channel (Fig. 2, bottom red). The thigh covers form the outer edge of the channel and connect at the same level to the rear breast (Fig. 2, bottom green). When the legs are drawn in, the front edge of the thighs is inserted into the groove and the thighs are more or less covered by the thigh covers.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Edmund Reitter (ed.): Fauna Germanica, the beetles of the German Empire, Volume II, KGLutz 'Verlag, Stuttgart 1909, pp. 6, 7
- ↑ Heinrich Karny: The insect body and its terminology . Pichler, Vienna 1921, p. 85
- ↑ Edmund Reitter (Ed.): Fauna Germanica, the beetles of the German Empire III. Volume, KGLutz 'Verlag, Stuttgart 1911, p. 247
- ^ Heinz Joy, Karl Wilhelm Harde, Gustav Adolf Lohse: Die Käfer Mitteleuropas . Volume 1 Introduction to Käferkunde, Goecke & Evers, Krefeld 1965, pp. 174, 182
- ^ Heinz Joy, Karl Wilhelm Harde, Gustav Adolf Lohse: Die Käfer Mitteleuropas . tape 6 : Diversicornia . Spectrum, Heidelberg 1979, ISBN 3-87263-027-X .