Raptorial

Common card · No. 468635

In biology (specifically the anatomy of arthropods), the term raptorial implies much the same as predatory but most often refers to modifications of an arthropod's appendages that make it function for the rapid grasping of prey before it is consumed. Raptorial appendages formed under the basis of a structure known as subchela, although not all subchelate limbs are necessarily to be raptorial. it is formed by the opposing faces of two successive podomeres (segments), as the distal podomere fold back towards the previous podomere, two gripping surfaces open and close in a jackknife-like fashion. It is distinct from the chela (pincer-like) as seen in crabs and scorpions, where the previous podomere has a terminal, similarly claw-like protrusion to interact with the distal podomere, although intermediate forms between chelate and subchelate limbs may occur. Raptorial forelegs convergently evolved at least 7 times within insect lineages, where in all cases the femur and tibia (third and fourth...

Read on Wikipedia · Image Charles Owen Waterhouse (d. 1917) at the British Museum of Natural History, Public domain