propodeum
{{short description|Body part of certain invertebrates}}
file:scheme ant worker anatomy-en.svg
The propodeum{{efn|zooanatomical jargon derived from {{langx|grc|πρωπόδιον}} "forefoot", also as 'propodeon'{{cite Merriam-Webster|propodeum|access-date=2024-08-22}}{{cite book
| first = Mary Ann
| last = Maggenti
| isbn = 9781609620011
| pages = 291
| publisher = Lulu.com
| title = Dictionary of Invertebrate Zoology
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=uCLbAgAAQBAJ&dq=propodeum%EF%BC%8Cpropodeon&pg=PA291
| year = 2010
}} or 'propodium'{{attribution needed|date=March 2024}}; plurals 'propodea', 'propodia', or by appending -s to the singular}} is a term that can refer to unrelated structures in insects or in mollusks.
Insects
The first abdominal segment in Apocrita Hymenoptera (wasps, bees and ants) is known as the propodeum. It is fused with the thorax to form the mesosoma. It is a single large sclerite, not subdivided, and bears a pair of spiracles. It is strongly constricted posteriorly to form the articulation of the petiole, and gives apocritans their distinctive shape. There may be a suture between the propodeum and the thorax, like in Symphyta{{cite journal
| access-date = 16 November 2020
| date = September 1980
| doi = 10.2307/3494624
| first1 = Malkiat
| first2 = Surjit
| issue = 3
| journal = The Florida Entomologist
| jstor = 3494624
| last1 = Saini
| last2 = Dhillion
| pages = 286–292
| title = Metapleural Transformations with Respect to Propodeum and Metapostnotum in Hymenoptera
| url = https://jstor.org/stable/3494624
| volume = 63
| url-access= subscription
}} or not, and the presence or absence of such suture can aid in identifying specimens.
Mollusks
file:hypothetical Ancestral Mollusc by Huxley.jpg's diagram of a hypothetical stem mollusk labels the propodeum shown at lower left as 'p.p.']]
Propodeum is the anterior (frontal) part of the foot of a mollusk.{{Cite Merriam-Webster|propodium|access-date=2024-08-22}}
Notes
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