Mandible (arthropod mouthpart)

The mandible (from Latin: mandibula or mandĭbŭ-lum, a jaw) [1] of an arthropod is a pair of mouthparts used either for biting or cutting and holding food.

Mandibles are present in the extant subphyla Myriapoda (millipedes and others), Crustacea and Hexapoda (insects etc.).

Army ants have sharp mandibles that are better adapted for fighting than obtaining food or nursing the larvae.

Carpenter ants make their nests in various wooden structures, which they hollow out with their sharp mandibles.

Diving beetle and firefly larvae have hollow mandibles, which can inject digestive fluid to liquefy the tissues of the prey.

The most notable example are members of the family Micropterigidae, small moths with toothed mandibles used for chewing pollen grains, lacking even the most rudimentary proboscis.

Millipedes have small mandibles, their only functioning mouthparts, as the maxillae are fused to the lower lip (labium).