one of a pair of appendages on the head of spiders and other arachnids: often modified as food-catching claws
Derived forms
cheliceral (cheˈliceral)
adjective
Word origin
C19: from New Latin, from French chélicère, from chél- see chela1 + -cère from Greek keras horn
Examples of 'chelicerae' in a sentence
chelicerae
Lamellar organs were seen at the basis of the digits of the chelicerae.
M. Ansel, M. Thibaut 1975, 'Study of chelicerae in the tick Amblyomma cajennense (Fabricius1787) by scanning electron microscopy', <span class="hi rend-i">Revista da Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical</span>http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0037-86821975000400003. Retrieved from DOAJ CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode)
The protuberances present on the holotype's chelicerae are here considered a morphologicalanomaly.
Roberto H. Nagahama, Caroline S. Fukushima, Rogério Bertani 2009, 'Nhandu tripepii is a senior synonym of Nhandu vulpinus (Araneae: Theraphosidae)',Zoologia (Curitiba)http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1984-46702009000300025. Retrieved from DOAJ CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode)
The chelicerae and claws of the tarsi are structures that contribute significantly towards producing primary lesions.
Fernando R.A. Ferry, João L.H. Faccini, Tetsuo Inada 2011, 'The role of ear mites of the genus Raillietia (Acari: Raillietiidae) in otitis ofdomestic ruminants', Pesquisa Veterinária Brasileirahttp://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0100-736X2011001100007&lng=en&tlng=en. Retrieved from DOAJ CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode)
Similar to the conspecific female, this male has characteristic blue iridescent setae covering the carapace, chelicerae, legs, and palps.
Rogério Bertani, Fernando Leal 2016, 'A new species of Pterinopelma (Araneae: Theraphosidae) from the highlands of the stateof Minas Gerais, Brazil and description of the male of P. sazimai', Zoologia (Curitiba)http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1984-46702016000203002&lng=en&tlng=en. Retrieved from DOAJ CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode)