The scutum is the largest sclerite of the mesonotum. In Tephritidae most of the thorax visible in dorsal view is the scutum (the only other parts directly visible in dorsal view are the postpronotal lobes, notopleura, scutellum, and occasionally the postnotum). The scutum is more or less rectangular and includes pre- and postsutural areas incompletely divided by the transverse suture. It is bordered posteriorly by the scutellum. The vestiture, or hairlike projections of the cuticle, include macrotrichia (setae or setulae), which have an alveolus (socket), and microtrichia, which do not have an alveolus. Setulae are the small macrosetae that cover much of the scutum and various other areas of the body. This character refers to the distribution of setulae on the postsutural part of the scutum between the brown vitta aligned with the dorsocentral seta and the yellow or white sublateral vitta aligned with the intra-alar seta.