What does scutellum mean?
Scutellum is a zoological and botanical term for a small shield-shaped plate or scale. Its best-known use is in entomology, where it names the triangular or rounded plate on the thorax of many insects. A beetle's scutellum lies at the base of the wings and helps protect them and the abdomen when the wings are folded. Comparable structures in other animals may also be called scutella, while botanists use the word for small, flat scales on plants, including the exposed scales of pine cones. More broadly, anatomy employs it for small shield-shaped bones or plates. Although a scutellum is not necessarily the outermost covering of an animal—it may instead protect the base of a wing—it is always understood as a relatively rigid, plate-like structure. Outside specialist writing, the general terms plate, scale, and shield are more familiar and usually more suitable.
nounA small, usually shield-shaped plate or scale, especially the triangular plate on the thorax of many insects. The term is also used for comparable scales in other animals and for protective scales on plants.
- The shield-shaped plate on the thorax of many insects.
- A comparable scale on the body of certain other animals, especially snakes.
- A small, flat, protective scale on the surface of a plant.
- Anatomically, any small shield-shaped bone or plate.
"The beetle's brightly coloured scutellum covers the base of its wings when they are folded."
"The scarab beetle has a rounded scutellum marked with small punctures."
"Each woody cone scale bears a single scutellum near its exposed tip."
The plural changes the final -um to -a.
"The scutella of the scales are arranged in overlapping rows."
The small shield at the base of a beetle's wings has its own name: scutellum, literally a diminutive of the Latin word for shield.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does scutellum come from?
Scutellum was borrowed from Latin, where it is the diminutive of scutum, meaning “shield,” and therefore literally means “little shield.” Its development into English followed the same broad sense of a small plate or scale. Related English words include scute, another small plate or scale, and escutcheon, a shield-shaped ornament or badge.
Related word forms
How scutellum is actually used
This is primarily a technical term used in entomology, herpetology, botany, and comparative anatomy. In everyday English, shield or plate is normally more appropriate.
Easily confused with scutellum
A scute is any small plate or scale, especially a bony one, whereas a scutellum is a particular shield-shaped plate, such as the one on an insect's thorax.