the last of three plates into which the notum of an insect's thorax is divided
2.
one of the scales on the tarsus of a bird's leg
3.
an outgrowth from a germinating grass seed that probably represents the cotyledon
4.
any other small shield-shaped part or structure
Derived forms
scutellar (scuˈtellar)
adjective
scutellate (ˈskjuːtɪˌleɪt, -lɪt) or scutellated (ˈskjuːtɪˌleɪtɪd)
adjective
Word origin
C18: from New Latin: a little shield, from Latin scūtum a shield
Examples of 'scutella' in a sentence
scutella
The scutella of immature embryos served as the initial explants.
Klčová Lenka, Ondreičková Katarína, Mihálik Daniel, Gubišová Marcela 2019, 'The Choice of Suitable Conditions for Wheat Genetic Transformation', Agriculturehttp://www.degruyter.com/view/j/agri.2019.65.issue-1/agri-2019-0003/agri-2019-0003.xml?format=INT. Retrieved from DOAJ CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode)