Definition of "metathorax" [met•a•tho•rax]

• The hindmost of the three divisions of the thorax of an insect, bearing the third pair of legs and the second pair of wings. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Black; the antennæ and legs ferruginous; the head and thorax rugose; the prothorax transverse, its anterior margin slightly curved, with the lateral angles produced forwards and very acute; the thorax narrowed to the metathorax, which is armed with two divergent acute spines."
• "_ The specimens from Aru differ from the typical ones in wanting the two longitudinal yellow lines on the metathorax, which is entirely black."
• "Head, antennæ, thorax, and legs honey-yellow and very smooth and shining; thorax strangulated at the base of the metathorax, which is not spined; the first node of the abdomen is oblique anteriorly, and vertical behind, the second node subglobose."