• (n.) The sternum of an arthropod somite.
(from the article `skeleton`) ...substantial endoskeletal units in arthropods. The fibres are not united to the cuticle and are not shed during molting; rather, they grow with the ...
The plate or sclerite on the underside of a body segment.
Main ventral sclerite of a somite of an arthropod.
Ster'nite noun [ From Sternum .] (Zoology) The sternum of an arthropod somite. 
the ventral piece in a ring or segment
a sclerite of the sternum of an insect, esp. a ventral sclerite of an abdominal segment.