sclerite

American  

[skleer-ahyt, skler-] / ˈsklɪər aɪt, ˈsklɛr- /

noun

Zoology.

1. any chitinous, calcareous, or similar hard part, plate, spicule, or the like.

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sclerite British  

/ sklɪəˈrɪtɪk, ˈsklɪəraɪt /

noun

1. any of the hard chitinous plates that make up the exoskeleton of an arthropod

2. any calcareous or chitinous part, such as a spicule or plate

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Other Word Forms

• scleritic adjective

Etymology

Origin of sclerite

First recorded in 1860–65; scler- + -ite ¹

Example Sentences

Its body was covered in external, hardened structures called sclerites, which are not found on modern entoprocts.

From BBC

Also unlike modern-day entoprocts, C. tylodes was covered with distinctive, scalelike features called sclerites—a hint, the scientists say, that such armor may have been more common among ancestral entoprocts than has been previously recognized.

From Science Magazine

At the base of the wing, i.e. its attachment to the trunk, we find a highly complex series of small sclerites adapted for the varied movements necessary for flight.

From Project Gutenberg

There is also a pair of narrow tergal sclerites interposed between the anterior and posterior shields.

From Project Gutenberg

The female can protrude a long flexible tube in connexion with the eighth segment, carrying the sclerites of the ninth at its extremity, and these sclerites may carry short hairy processes—the stylets.

From Project Gutenberg