suupäitä

Suupäitä (singular suupää) is a Finnish term used in zoology to refer to the mouthparts of arthropods. These structures are specialized for acquiring, manipulating, and processing food, and their form varies widely across groups.

In insects, the mouthparts typically include mandibles for biting or cutting, two maxillae with palps for handling food, and a labium with palps that forms a lower lip, together with a labrum at the front. In crustaceans, mouthparts include mandibles and a series of maxillae and maxillipeds that handle, crush, or filter food. In arachnids, the principal feeding structures are chelicerae (often used for piercing or grasping) and pedipalps, with variations among families.

Function and variation: Suupäät are adapted to feeding strategies such as predation, herbivory, detritivory, or filter feeding. Their composition and complexity reflect diet, habitat, and life history.

Development and evolution: Mouthparts arise from modified appendages; diversification has occurred repeatedly, leading to convergent forms in unrelated groups.

See also: Arthropod anatomy; Insect mouthparts; Chelicerata.

References: introductory texts on arthropod morphology.