Aculeata
Homology Weekly: Propodeum
Abdomen of a Manica rubida worker. Roman numerals correspond to external abdominal segments. Propodeum shown in blue (Scanning Electron Micrograph, Roberto Keller/AMNH)
The propodeum is the subversive segment of the apocritan abdomen. As explained in a previous post, at some point during the evolution of Hymenoptera this first abdominal segment decided to part ways with its serial homologues and fuse with the thorax, forming a secondary tagma we call mesosoma. It is the Texas of the body’s segments so to speak.
