Elytron
WordNet
noun
(1) Either of the horny front wings in beetles and some other insects which cover and protect the functional hind wings
WiktionaryText
Noun
- A sheath or outer covering, especially around the spinal cord or over the hindwings of certain insects.
- 1997, Thomas Pynchon, Mason & Dixon,
- In a corner, the Darkling Beetle rustles in its Cage, its Elytra the same unforgiving white as the great sand-waste call’d ‘Kalahari’ lying north of here
- 1997, Thomas Pynchon, Mason & Dixon,