pygidium

American  

[pahy-jid-ee-uhm] / paɪˈdʒɪd i əm /

noun

Zoology.

pygidia plural

1. any of various structures or regions at the caudal end of the body in certain invertebrates.

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pygidium British  

/ -ˈɡɪd-, paɪˈdʒɪdɪəm /

noun

1. the terminal segment, division, or other structure in certain annelids, arthropods, and other invertebrates

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• pygidial
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• pygidia
  plural

Etymology

Origin of pygidium

1840–50; < New Latin < Greek pȳg ( ḗ ) rump + -idion diminutive suffix

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

pygidium

The trilobite spans 146 meters from cephalon to pygidium, or head to tail, and is carved into the shape of a spiny Ceraurus trilobite instead of the plainer state fossil, Calymene.

From Science Magazine ● Sep. 22, 2017

Squames: the flattened, fimbriated or spine-like marginal processes of the pygidium in Diaspinae, other than the lobes and true spines: = "plates," of Comst.; or "scaly hairs" of Maskell.

From Explanation of Terms Used in Entomology by Smith, John. B.

The relation in size between the flea and its pygidium.

From Scientific American Supplement, No. 470, January 3, 1885 by Various

Abdomen beneath yellow, each segment margined with brown, the pygidium yellow, with two largish oblique black spots.

From Discoveries in Australia, Volume 1. With an Account of the Coasts and Rivers Explored and Surveyed During The Voyage of H.M.S. Beagle, in the Years 1837-38-39-40-41-42-43. By Command of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty. Also a Narrative Of Captain Owen Stanley's Visits to the Islands in the Arafura Sea. by Stokes, John Lort

Lobe: any prominent rounded process or excrescence on a margin: specifically, the rounded, tooth-like processes on the margin of the pygidium of the Diaspinae: also applied to lateral expansions of the abdominal segments.

From Explanation of Terms Used in Entomology by Smith, John. B.