combining form repr. L. tergum the back, used instead of the regular tergi- in a few rare scientific terms. Tergolateral a. Zool., pertaining to the tergum and the lateral plates of the shell in cirripeds. Tergorhabdite, Entom., one of the pieces forming the tergum or upper surface of the abdomen in an insect, esp. when modified to form part of the ovipositor (cf. RHABDITE 2).
1851. Darwin, Cirripedia, Introd. (Palæont. Soc.), 10. In Pollicipes the margin of the Scutum adjoining the Tergum and Upper Latus, is not divided … into two distinct lines, as in Scalpellum, and is therefore called the tergolateral margin.
