The notopleuron (plural notopleura) is a region on an insect thorax. Notopleura are useful in characterizing species, particularly, though not uniquely, in the Order Diptera (the "true flies"). The notopleuron is a thoracic pleurite (a sclerite on the pleuron) situated at the end of the transverse suture of Diptera.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b0/Thorax-diptera-lateral.jpg/220px-Thorax-diptera-lateral.jpg)
Apart from in the Diptera, visible notopleural structures occur in the beetle suborder Adephaga and in certain Hemiptera, but this list is not exhaustive.
References
edit- Zombori, L. & Henrik Steinmann (1999) Dictionary of Insect Morphology. Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 3-11-014898-6