ATDTDA (17): criminal palps (472.4)

[Tim Strzechowski]

" ... in each face Deuce's criminal palps could sense an imminence almost painful, unremitting, agents of a secret infiltration proceeding before the event" (p. 472).
 
 
The PynchonWiki defines "palps" as "criminal sensor," since a palp is 
 
An elongated, often segmented appendage usually found near the mouth in invertebrate organisms such as mollusks, crustaceans, and insects, the functions of which include sensation, locomotion, and feeding. Also called palpus.
 
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/palps
 
an example of which can be seen here:
 
http://www.usq.edu.au/spider/info/images/combined1.jpg
 
 
The Pynchon sentence denotes a certain level of paranoia that Deuce is experiencing.
 
[...] All sense organs (receptors) act as transducers -- converting light energy, chemical energy, or mechanical energy from the environment into electrical energy of nerve impulses in sensory neurons.   Signals generated by insect sensory receptors travel to the brain or ventral nerve cord where they stimulate appropriate behavioral responses:   finding resources (e.g. food, mate, etc.), avoiding danger, or reacting to changes in the environment.   All sensory receptors are derived from embryonic ectoderm and are integral parts of the insect's exoskeleton. [...]
 
http://www.cals.ncsu.edu/course/ent425/tutorial/senses.html