Palpi

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A pair of elongated sensory appendages found on certain arthropods used for tasting and feeling their environment
2. Movable, sensory projections that serve as taste or touch organs in insects and some other invertebrates
3. Anatomical structures often present in the mouthparts of crustaceans and insects, acting as tactile and gustatory organs

Etymology: "Palpi" is the plural of "palpus," a term for the jointed sensory appendages that arise beside the mouthparts of insects, spiders and crustaceans. The singular form is the older-looking one in the scientific literature, so "palpi" is the form you meet when a biologist is describing more than one such organ on a single animal. The Latin root behind "palpus" means "touch" or "to stroke gently," and it is related to the English "palpate," meaning to examine by touch, which is why the same root turns up in medicine. The organs were named for what they do: a moth or beetle uses them to feel and taste food before it eats.

Synonyms: feelers, antennae