OK, since my etymological background is primarily what I’ve gleaned from watching countless documentaries, and from intelligent people such are found here, just some clarification:
Spider
I think the downward pointing appendages on the head are the pedipalps?
And slightly above and to the immediate outside of the pedipalps are the chelicerae?
There also appears to be some dark spot above the chelicerae. Is that just a darks spot, or some other mouth/head part?
Thanks in advance.!
If it matters, this was taken at National Zoo in DC, but I don’t recall whether this was an exhibit, or just some random spider that had taken up residence.
Here’s a bit clearer picture of spider mouthparts.
How it eats
Yes. The pedipalps are used for maneuvering food, and sex. The jaws, the parts tipped in fang, move sideways - that is, perpendicular to the long axis of the body. The tips of pedipalps are swollen knobs on male spiders. They weave a special little web sac on the tip of their pedipalps, put some sperm in there, and insert this in the epigynum of the female, a set of holes on the underside of her abdomen. These swollen tips on male pedipalps are very easy to see, and once you are able to recognize them you can sex spiders at quite a distance, and amaze your friends. Spiders exhibit quite a bit of sexual dimorphism too, so the male will usually be smaller and have a skinnier abdomen than the female.