‖ prostheca Entom.
(prɒsˈθiːkə)
[mod.L., ad. Gr. προσθήκη an addition, appendage, f. προστιθέναι to put to, add. Cf. F. prosthèque.]
A process on the mandibles in certain coleopterous insects. Hence prosˈthecal a., pertaining to the prostheca.
| 1826 Kirby & Sp. Entomol. III. xxxiii. 356 Prostheca.., a subcartilaginous process attached to the inner side, near the base, of the Mandibulæ of some Staphylinidæ. 1879 J. Wood-Mason in Trans. Entomol. Soc. Lond. 152, I refer to the prostheca of Kirby and Spence, and to the structures homologous with it in beetles other than Staphylinidæ. |