protarsusn.
/prəʊˈtɑːsəs/, U.S. /proʊˈtɑrsəs/ Entomology.
The tarsus of the foreleg of an insect.
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the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > parts of insects > [noun] > leg(s) > tarsus
manus1826
protarsus1890
1890 Cent. Dict. Protarsus, the whole tarsus of the first or fore leg of a six-footed insect.
1901 Proc. Zool. Soc. 1 212 Both tarsi and protarsi scarcely scopulate in the middle.
1945 Amer. Midland Naturalist 33 761 Four times the cricket caught up with the wasp, and laid his protarsi on her, and four times she eluded him.
1985 Evolution 39 794 (table) Characters used in this study... Length of the protarsus from proximal end to base of claws.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1890