rhabdom Ent.
(ˈræbdəm)
Also -ome.
[ad. late Gr. ῥάβδωµα, f. ῥάβδος rod.]
One of the rods supporting the crystalline lenses in a faceted eye.
| 1878 Bell tr. Gegenbaur's Comp. Anat. 264 The rods..become united, and form a special structure, the ‘rhabdom’, in the long axis of a group of combined retinal cells. 1888 Rolleston & Jackson Anim. Life 460 Two to four rhabdomeres fuse into a rhabdome. 1977 Sci. Amer. July 108/2 A compound eye is made up of ommatidia: tiny individual eyes that point in different directions. Each ommatidium consists of a lens that focuses light on several receptor cells sharing the common light-sensitive organ known as a rhabdom. |