Stomatopod biomechanical data

Using 196 specimens from 36 stomatopod species we measured 3 biomechanical metrics related to the raptorial strike. These include the minimum Kinematic Transmission (KT) during strikes, the Mechanical Advantage (MA) of the propodus lever system and the Reach of the appendage defined as the distance that the distal two segments of the appendage (propodus and dactyl oriented at 90° to each other) extend beyond the body during prey capture/acquisition. In addition, we measured the length of the carapace to act as a proxy for body size. The Reach measure was divided by this size measure to create a ‘size-corrected’ Reach metric to use in figures.