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Last update:10 April 2008

Leg

Description:

An appendage used for locomotion. Ants possess three pairs of legs: 2 fore legs, 2 middle legs and 2 hind legs (also termed prothoracic legs, mesothoracic legs and metathoracic legs, respectively, in reference to the particular thoracic segment to which the leg is attached). Legs articulate directly with the pleural sclerites of the thorax and are composed of six segments: coxa, trochanter, femur, tibia, tarsus (the latter divided into five subunits called tarsomeres) and pretarsus. The prefixes pro-, meso- and meta- may apply to any of these terms (for instance, procoxa, mesofemur, metatibia, etc.) and indicate to which particular leg the segment belongs.