Insect mouthparts
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Insects have mouthparts that may vary greatly across insect species, as they are adapted to particular modes of feeding. The earliest insects had chewing mouthparts. Most specialisations of mouthparts
The trophi, or mouthparts of a locust, a typical chewing insect: 1 Labrum 2 Mandibles; 3 Maxillae 4 Labium 5 Hypopharynx
The mandibles of a bull ant
European honeybee (Apis mellifera) lapping mouthparts, showing labium and maxillae
Dragonfly nymph feeding on fish that it has caught with its labium and snatched back to the other mouthparts for eating. The labium is just visible from the side, between the front pairs of legs.
Mosquito
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Mosquitoes, the Culicidae, are a family of small flies consisting of 3,600 species. The word mosquito is Spanish and Portuguese for little fly. Mosquitoes have a slender, segmented body, one pair of w
Insect mouthparts
…Most specialisations of mouthparts are for piercing and sucking, and this mode of feeding has evolved a number of times independently. For example, mosquitoes (which are true flies) and aphids (which are true bugs) both pierce and suck, though female mosquitoes feed on animal blood whereas aphids feed on plant…
Aedes aegypti
Adult yellow fever mosquito Aedes aegypti, typical of subfamily Culicinae. Male (left) has bushy antennae and longer palps than female (right)
Anopheles eggs with side floats
Electron micrograph of a culicine egg