You do not have permission to edit this page, for the following reasons:

This IP address has been blocked from editing Wikipedia.
This does not affect your ability to read Wikipedia pages.
Most people who see this message have done nothing wrong. Some kinds of blocks restrict editing from specific service providers or telecom companies in response to recent abuse or vandalism, and can sometimes affect other users who are unrelated to that abuse. Review the information below for assistance if you do not believe that you have done anything wrong.

The IP address or range 54.163.0.0/16 has been blocked (disabled) by ‪Blablubbs‬ for the following reason(s):

The IP address that you are currently using has been blocked because it is believed to be a web host provider or colocation provider. To prevent abuse, web hosts and colocation providers may be blocked from editing Wikipedia.
You will not be able to edit Wikipedia using a web host or colocation provider because it hides your IP address, much like a proxy or VPN.
We recommend that you attempt to use another connection to edit. For example, if you use a proxy or VPN to connect to the internet, turn it off when editing Wikipedia. If you edit using a mobile connection, try using a Wi-Fi connection, and vice versa. If you are using a corporate internet connection, switch to a different Wi-Fi network. If you have a Wikipedia account, please log in.
If you do not have any other way to edit Wikipedia, you will need to request an IP block exemption.

How to appeal if you are confident that your connection does not use a colocation provider's IP address:
If you are confident that you are not using a web host, you may appeal this block by adding the following text on your talk page: ((unblock|reason=Caught by a colocation web host block but this host or IP is not a web host. My IP address is _______. Place any further information here. ~~~~)). You must fill in the blank with your IP address for this block to be investigated. Your IP address can be determined here. Alternatively, if you wish to keep your IP address private you can use the unblock ticket request system. There are several reasons you might be editing using the IP address of a web host or colocation provider (such as if you are using VPN software or a business network); please use this method of appeal only if you think your IP address is in fact not a web host or colocation provider.

Administrators: The IP block exemption user right should only be applied to allow users to edit using web host in exceptional circumstances, and requests should usually be directed to the functionaries team via email. If you intend to give the IPBE user right, a CheckUser needs to take a look at the account. This can be requested most easily at SPI Quick Checkuser Requests. Unblocking an IP or IP range with this template is highly discouraged without at least contacting the blocking administrator.

This block will expire on 17:28, 10 March 2024.

Even when blocked, you will usually still be able to edit your user talk page, as well as email administrators and other editors.

For information on how to proceed, please read the FAQ for blocked users and the guideline on block appeals. The guide to appealing blocks may also be helpful.

Other useful links: Blocking policy · Help:I have been blocked
Your IP address is in a range that has been blocked on all Wikimedia Foundation wikis. The block was made by ‪Jon Kolbert‬. The reason given is Open proxy/Webhost: See the help page if you are affected .
- Start of block: 18:27, 12 November 2023
- Expiry of block: 18:27, 12 November 2028
Your current IP address is 54.163.179.242. The blocked range is 54.163.0.0/16. Please include all above details in any queries you make. If you believe you were blocked by mistake, you can find additional information and instructions in the No open proxies global policy. Otherwise, to discuss the block please post a request for review on Meta-Wiki. You could also send an email to the stewards VRT queue at stewards@wikimedia.org including all above details.

You can view and copy the source of this page:

((refimprove|date=December 2023))
((short description|Overview of mouthparts of insects))
[[File:Evolution insect mouthparts coloured derivate.png|400px|thumb|The development of insect mouthparts from the primitive chewing mouthparts of a grasshopper in the centre (A), to the lapping type (B) of a bee, the siphoning type (C) of a butterfly and the sucking type (D) of a female mosquito. Legend: '''a''', antennae; '''c''', compound eye; '''lb''', labium; '''lr''', labrum; '''md''', mandibles; '''mx''', maxillae; '''hp''' hypopharynx.]]

[[Insects]] have '''[[arthropod mouthparts|mouthparts]]''' that may vary greatly across insect species, as they are adapted to particular modes of feeding. The earliest insects had chewing mouthparts. Most specialisation of mouthparts are for piercing and sucking, and this mode of feeding has evolved a number of times independently. For example, [[mosquito]]es (which are true flies) and [[aphid]]s (which are [[Hemiptera|true bugs]]) both pierce and suck, though female mosquitoes feed on animal blood whereas aphids feed on plant fluids.

==Evolution==
Like most external features of arthropods, the mouthparts of [[Hexapoda]] are highly derived. Insect mouthparts show a multitude of different functional mechanisms across the wide diversity of insect species. It is common for significant [[Homology (biology)|homology]] to be conserved, with matching structures forming from matching [[Primordium|primordia]], and having the same evolutionary origin. However, even if structures are almost physically and functionally identical, they may not be homologous; their analogous functions and appearance might be the product of [[convergent evolution]].

==Chewing insects==
[[File:Comparative zoology, structural and systematic - for use in schools and colleges (1883) (20661526772).jpg|thumb|The trophi, or mouthparts of a locust, a typical chewing insect: <br/>1 Labrum <br/>2 Mandibles; <br/>3 Maxillae <br/>4 Labium <br/>5 Hypopharynx]]
Examples of chewing insects include [[dragonfly|dragonflies]], [[grasshopper]]s and [[beetle]]s. Some insects do not have chewing mouthparts as adults but chew solid food in their [[larva|larval]] phase. The [[Lepidoptera|moths and butterflies]] are major examples of such adaptations.

===Mandible===
((main|Mandible (insect mouthpart)))
[[File:Bullant head detail.jpg|thumb|The mandibles of a [[Myrmecia (ant)|bull ant]]]]
[[File:European Honeybee (Apis mellifera) lapping mouthparts, showing labium and maxillae..jpg|thumb|upright|European honeybee (''[[Apis mellifera]]'') lapping mouthparts, showing labium and maxillae]]
A chewing insect has a pair of mandibles, one on each side of the head. The mandibles are [[Caudal (anatomical term)|caudal]] to the labrum and [[anterior]] to the [[Maxilla (arthropod mouthpart)|maxillae]]. Typically the mandibles are the largest and most robust mouthparts of a chewing insect, and it uses them to [[Mastication|masticate]] (cut, tear, crush, chew) food items. Two sets of muscles move the mandibles in the [[Anatomical terms of location#Planes|coronal plane]] of the mouth: [[Abduction (anatomy)|abductor muscle]]s move insects' mandibles apart ([[Lateral (anatomy)|laterally]]); [[Adduction (anatomy)|adductor muscle]]s bring them together ([[Medial (anatomy)|medially]]). They do this mainly in opening and closing their jaws in feeding, but also in using the mandibles as tools, or possibly in fighting.

In carnivorous chewing insects, the mandibles commonly are particularly serrated and knife-like, and often with piercing points. In herbivorous chewing insects mandibles tend to be broader and flatter on their opposing faces, as for example in [[caterpillar]]s.

In males of some species, such as of [[stag beetle|Lucanidae]] and some [[Longhorn beetle|Cerambycidae]], the mandibles are modified to such an extent that they do not serve any feeding function, but are instead used to defend mating sites from other males. In some [[ant]]s and [[termite]]s, the mandibles also serve a defensive function (particularly in soldier castes). In [[Myrmecia (ant)|bull ants]], the mandibles are elongate and toothed, used both as hunting and defensive appendages. In bees, that feed primarily by the use of a proboscis, the primary use of the mandibles is to manipulate and shape wax, and many [[paper wasp]]s have mandibles adapted to scraping and ingesting wood fibres.

===Maxilla===<!-- [[Galea (insects)]] redirects here. -->
Situated beneath (caudal to) the mandibles, paired [[maxilla (arthropod mouthpart)|maxillae]] manipulate and, in chewing insects, partly masticate, food. Each maxilla consists of two parts, the [[proximal]] '''cardo''' (plural ''cardines''), and [[Anatomical terms of location|distal]] '''stipes''' (plural ''stipites''). At the apex of each stipes are two lobes, the inner '''lacinia''' and outer '''galea''' (plurals ''laciniae'' and ''galeae''). At the outer margin, the typical galea is a cupped or scoop-like structure, located over the outer edge of the labium. In non-chewing insects, such as adult Lepidoptera, the maxillae may be drastically adapted to other functions.

Unlike the mandibles, but like the labium, the maxillae bear lateral palps on their stipites. These palps serve as organs of touch and taste in feeding and in the inspection of potential foods and/or prey.

In chewing insects, adductor and abductor muscles extend from inside the cranium to within the bases of the stipites and cardines much as happens with the mandibles in feeding, and also in using the maxillae as tools. To some extent the maxillae are more mobile than the mandibles, and the galeae, laciniae, and palps also can move up and down somewhat, in the [[Anatomical terms of location#Planes|sagittal plane]], both in feeding and in working, for example in nest building by mud-dauber wasps.

Maxillae in most insects function partly like mandibles in feeding, but they are more mobile and less heavily [[sclerite|sclerotised]] than mandibles, so they are more important in manipulating soft, liquid, or particulate food rather than cutting or crushing food such as material that requires the mandibles to cut or crush.

Like the mandibles, maxillae are innervated by the [[subesophageal ganglia]].

===Labium===
The labium typically is a roughly quadrilateral structure, formed by paired, fused secondary maxillae.<ref name= "isbn0-412-61390-5">((cite book |author1=Richards, O. W. |author2=Davies, R.G. |title=Imms' General Textbook of Entomology: Volume 1: Structure, Physiology and Development |publisher=Springer |location=Berlin |year=1977 |isbn=0-412-61390-5 ))((page needed|date=June 2018))</ref> It is the major component of the floor of the mouth. Typically, together with the maxillae, the labium assists manipulation of food during [[mastication]]. 
[[File:Libellenlarve frisst Fisch.jpg|thumb|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.]]
The role of the labium in some insects, however, is adapted to special functions; perhaps the most dramatic example is in the jaws of the [[nymph (biology)|nymph]]s of the [[Odonata]], the [[dragonflies]] and [[damselflies]]. In these insects, the labium folds neatly beneath the head and thorax, but the insect can flick it out to snatch prey and bear it back to the head, where the chewing mouthparts can demolish it and swallow the particles.<ref>[http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_SO_JYKtl9A8/Rt-dP7_Z6oI/AAAAAAAABL0/Pe0EY9uxYSg/s320/dragonflyNymph.gif Head, Mandibles, and unusual Labium of Dragonfly Nymph (viewed from below)]</ref>((Unreliable source?|date=June 2018))

The labium is attached at the rear end of the structure called '''[[Insect morphology#Mandibulate|cibarium]]''', and its broad basal portion is divided into regions called the '''submentum''', which is the proximal part, the '''mentum''' in the middle, and the '''prementum''', which is the distal section, and furthest anterior.

The prementum bears a structure called the [[ligula]]; this consists of an inner pair of lobes called '''glossae''' and a lateral pair called '''paraglossae'''. These structures are [[Homology (biology)|homologous]] to the lacinia and galea of maxillae. The labial palps borne on the sides of labium are the counterparts of maxillary palps. Like the maxillary palps, the labial palps aid sensory function in eating. In many species the [[Muscle|musculature]] of the labium is much more complex than that of the other jaws, because in most, the ligula, palps and prementum all can be moved independently.

The labium is innervated by the sub-esophageal ganglia.<ref>[http://bugs.bio.usyd.edu.au/learning/resources/Entomology/externalMorphology/imagePages/mouth_master.html Insect Mouthparts]</ref><ref>[http://www.amentsoc.org/insects/fact-files/mouthparts.html Insect mouthparts - Amateur Entomologists' Society (AES)]</ref><ref>((Cite web |url=http://courses.biology.utah.edu/feener/5445/Lecture/Bio5445%20Lecture%2010.pdf |title=Structure and function of insect mouthparts |access-date=2016-01-08 |archive-date=2010-06-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100610234341/http://courses.biology.utah.edu/feener/5445/Lecture/Bio5445%20Lecture%2010.pdf |url-status=dead ))</ref>

In the [[honey bee]], the labium is elongated to form a tube and tongue, and these insects are classified as having both chewing and lapping mouthparts.
<ref>((Citation |work = CSIRO |title=Hymenoptera: ants, bees and wasps | url = http://www.ento.csiro.au/education/insects/hymenoptera.html | access-date = 8 April 2012))</ref>

The wild silk moth (''[[Bombyx mandarina]]'') is an example of an insect that has small labial palpi and no maxillary palpi.<ref>((cite book |doi=10.1007/978-1-4020-6359-6_4198 |chapter=Silkworm Moths (Lepidoptera: Bombycidae) |title=Encyclopedia of Entomology |pages=3375–6 |year=2008 |last1=Heppner |first1=John B |last2=Richman |first2=David B |last3=Naranjo |first3=Steven E |last4=Habeck |first4=Dale |last5=Asaro |first5=Christopher |last6=Boevé |first6=Jean-Luc |last7=Baumgärtner |first7=Johann |last8=Schneider |first8=David C |last9=Lambdin |first9=Paris |last10=Cave |first10=Ronald D |last11=Ratcliffe |first11=Brett C |last12=Heppner |first12=John B |last13=Baldwin |first13=Rebecca W |last14=Scherer |first14=Clay W |last15=Frank |first15=J. Howard |last16=Dunford |first16=James C |last17=Somma |first17=Louis A |last18=Richman |first18=David. B |last19=Krafsur |first19=E. S |last20=Crooker |first20=Allen |last21=Heppner |first21=John B |last22=Capinera |first22=John L |last23=Menalled |first23=Fabián D |last24=Liebman |first24=Matt |last25=Capinera |first25=John L |last26=Teal |first26=Peter E. A |last27=Hoy |first27=Marjorie A |last28=Lloyd |first28=James E |last29=Sivinski |first29=John |last30=Cranshaw |first30=Whitney |display-authors=29 |isbn=978-1-4020-6242-1 ))</ref>

===Hypopharynx===
The hypopharynx is a somewhat globular structure, located medially to the mandibles and the maxillae. In many species it is membranous and associated with salivary glands. It assists in swallowing the food. The hypopharynx divides the oral cavity into two parts: the '''cibarium''' or dorsal food pouch and ventral '''salivarium''' into which the salivary duct opens.

==Siphoning insects==

[[File:Proboscis DSC 0250.jpg|thumb|Butterflies coil the proboscis when not feeding.]]

This section deals only with insects that feed by sucking fluids, as a rule without piercing their food first, and without sponging or licking. Typical examples are adult [[Lepidoptera|moths and butterflies]]. As is usually the case with insects, there are variations: some moths, such as species of ''[[Serrodes]]'' and ''[[Achaea (moth)|Achaea]]'' do pierce fruit to the extent that they are regarded as serious orchard pests.<ref name="Reuther1989">((cite book|author=Walter Reuther|title=The Citrus Industry: Crop protection, postharvest technology, and early history of citrus research in California|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lrhOoeLJ1CkC&pg=PA64|year=1989|publisher=UCANR Publications|isbn=978-0-931876-87-5|pages=64–))</ref> Some moths do not feed after emerging from the pupa, and have greatly reduced, [[Vestigiality|vestigial]] mouthparts or none at all. All but a few adult Lepidoptera lack mandibles (the [[superfamily (zoology)|superfamily]] known as the [[Micropterigoidea|mandibulate moths]] have fully developed mandibles as adults), but also have the remaining mouthparts in the form of an elongated sucking tube, the proboscis.

===Proboscis===

The proboscis, as seen in adult Lepidoptera, is one of the defining characteristics of the [[Morphology (biology)|morphology]] of the order; it is a long tube formed by the paired galeae of the maxillae. Unlike sucking organs in other orders of insects, the Lepidopteran proboscis can coil up so completely that it can fit under the head when not in use. During feeding, however, it extends to reach the nectar of flowers or other fluids. In certain specialist pollinators, the proboscis may be several times the body length of the moth.

==Piercing and sucking insects==
A number of insect orders (or more precisely [[Family (biology)|families]] within them) have mouthparts that pierce food items to enable sucking of internal fluids. Some are herbivorous, like [[aphid]]s and [[leafhopper]]s, while others are carnivorous, like [[assassin bug]]s and female [[mosquito]]es.

=== Stylets ===

[[File:Feeding mosquito, mouthparts labelled.svg|thumb|Mouthparts of a female mosquito feeding on blood. The flexible  [[Labium (insect)|labium]] supports the bundle of stylets which penetrates the host's skin.]]

In female mosquitoes, all mouthparts are elongated. The labium encloses all other mouthparts, the stylets, like a sheath. The labrum forms the main feeding tube, through which blood is sucked. The sharp tips of the labrum and maxillae pierce the host's skin. During piercing, the labium remains outside the food item's skin, folding away from the stylets.<ref name="Zahran Sawires Hamza 2022">((cite journal |last1=Zahran |first1=Nagwan |last2=Sawires |first2=Sameh |last3=Hamza |first3=Ali |title=Piercing and sucking mouth parts sensilla of irradiated mosquito, Culex pipiens (Diptera: Culicidae) with gamma radiation |journal=Scientific Reports |volume=12 |issue=1 |date=2022-10-25 |page=17833 |pmid=36284127 |pmc=9596698 |doi=10.1038/s41598-022-22348-0 ))</ref> [[Saliva]] containing [[anticoagulant]]s, is injected into the food item and blood sucked out, each through different tubes.

===Proboscis===

The defining feature of the order [[Hemiptera]] is the possession of mouthparts where the mandibles and maxillae are modified into a proboscis, sheathed within a modified labium, which is capable of piercing tissues and sucking out the liquids. For example, true bugs, such as [[shield bug]]s, feed on the fluids of plants. Predatory bugs such as [[assassin bug]]s have the same mouthparts, but they are used to pierce the cuticles of captured prey.

==Sponging insects==

[[File:Tachina fly Gonia capitata feeding honey.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Proboscis]] of the fly (''[[Gonia capitata]]''): note also the protruding [[Arthropod mouthparts|labial palp]]s.]]

===Labellum===
The [[housefly]] is a typical sponging insect. The [[Labellum (insect anatomy)|labellum]]'s surface is covered by minute food channels, formed by the interlocking elongate hypopharynx and epipharynx, forming a proboscis used to channel liquid food to the oesophagus. The food channel draws liquid and liquified food to the oesophagus by [[capillary action]]. The housefly is able to eat solid food by secreting saliva and dabbing it over the food item. As the saliva dissolves the food, the solution is then drawn up into the mouth as a liquid.<ref>((cite book|author=Mehlhorn, Heinz|title=Encyclopedic Reference of Parasitology: Biology, Structure, Function |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9uGQnKdxhyUC&pg=PA310 |year=2001 |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |isbn=978-3-540-66819-0 |page=310))</ref>

==References==
((Reflist|2))

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20081207111424/http://www.ndsu.nodak.edu/entomology/topics/heads.htm Form & Function: the Insect Head]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20081029080139/http://salinella.bio.uottawa.ca/BIO3323/InteractiveWeb/DigitalZoology/bio3323_lab_Flash_Mouth.asp Labelled photos]

[[Category:Insect anatomy]]

Pages transcluded onto the current version of this page (help):

Insect mouthparts (edit)
Template:Ambox (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Category handler (view source) (protected)
Template:Citation (view source) (protected)
Template:Cite book (view source) (protected)
Template:Cite journal (view source) (protected)
Template:Cite web (view source) (protected)
Template:Delink (view source) (protected)
Template:Find sources mainspace (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Fix (view source) (protected)
Template:Fix/category (view source) (protected)
Template:Main (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Main other (view source) (protected)
Template:More citations needed (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Page needed (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Pagetype (view source) (protected)
Template:Refimprove (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Reflist (view source) (protected)
Template:Reflist/styles.css (view source) (protected)
Template:SDcat (view source) (protected)
Template:Short description (view source) (protected)
Template:Short description/lowercasecheck (view source) (protected)
Template:Unreliable source? (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Yesno (view source) (protected)
Module:Arguments (view source) (protected)
Module:Category handler (view source) (protected)
Module:Category handler/blacklist (view source) (protected)
Module:Category handler/config (view source) (protected)
Module:Category handler/data (view source) (protected)
Module:Category handler/shared (view source) (protected)
Module:Check for unknown parameters (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1 (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/COinS (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Date validation (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Identifiers (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Utilities (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Whitelist (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css (view source) (protected)
Module:Delink (view source) (protected)
Module:Disambiguation/templates (view source) (protected)
Module:Find sources (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Find sources/config (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Find sources/links (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Find sources/templates/Find sources mainspace (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Format link (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Hatnote (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Hatnote/styles.css (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Hatnote list (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Labelled list hatnote (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Message box (view source) (protected)
Module:Message box/ambox.css (view source) (protected)
Module:Message box/configuration (view source) (protected)
Module:Namespace detect/config (view source) (protected)
Module:Namespace detect/data (view source) (protected)
Module:Pagetype (view source) (protected)
Module:Pagetype/config (view source) (protected)
Module:Pagetype/disambiguation (view source) (protected)
Module:Pagetype/setindex (view source) (protected)
Module:Pagetype/softredirect (view source) (protected)
Module:SDcat (view source) (protected)
Module:String (view source) (protected)
Module:Unsubst (view source) (protected)
Module:Wikitext Parsing (view source) (protected)
Module:Yesno (view source) (protected)

Return to Insect mouthparts.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insect_mouthparts"