Dorsal shield of sclerotized cuticle in ixodid or “hard” ticks. The scutum is present in all stages and occupies about one-third of the anterior dorsal surface of females, nymphs, and larvae and the entire dorsal surface in males (Ticks, Figs. 4, 5, and 6A). In female and immature ixodid ticks, the remaining, extensible dorsal surface is called the alloscutum (Fig. 1).
Diagrammatic representation of the scutum of different tick genera. A area porosae, CH chelicerae, E eyes, P pedipalps. Note that the species of the genera Ixodes and Haemaphysalis have no eyes
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© 2016 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Mehlhorn, H. (2016). Scutum. In: Mehlhorn, H. (eds) Encyclopedia of Parasitology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-43978-4_2845
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-43978-4_2845
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