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A chewing insect has a pair of mandibles, one on each side of the head. The mandibles are caudal to the labrum and anterior to the maxillae. Typically the mandibles are the largest and most robust mouthparts of a chewing insect, and it uses them to masticate (cut, tear, crush, chew) food items.
In general, arthropods have mouthparts for cutting, chewing, piercing, sucking, shredding, siphoning, and filtering. This article outlines the basic elements of four arthropod groups: insects, myriapods, crustaceans and chelicerates. Insects are used as the model, with the novel mouthparts of the other groups introduced in turn.
The insect mouthparts consist of the maxilla, labium, and in some species, the mandibles. [8]: 16 [23] The labrum is a simple, fused sclerite, often called the upper lip, and moves longitudinally. It is hinged to the clypeus.
The mouthparts of orthopteran insects are often used as a basic example of mandibulate (chewing) mouthparts, and the mandibles themselves are likewise generalized in structure. They are large and hardened, shaped like pinchers, with cutting surfaces on the distal portion and chewing or grinding surfaces basally .
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 often simply called jaws. Mandibles are present in the extant subphyla Myriapoda (millipedes and others), Crustacea and Hexapoda (insects etc.).
Modifications of the labrum (in red) in assorted insects. (A) grasshopper, (B) honey bee, (C) butterfly (D) mosquito. Bembix rostrata female using its labrum in sucking the blood out of a fly. The labrum is a flap-like structure that lies immediately in front of the mouth in almost all extant Euarthropoda.
The mouthparts of Arthropoda such as insects; typically labrum, mandible, maxilla, labium. trophus The singular form of trophi (rarely used). uncate hook-like, as in the mouthparts of many fly larvae. (also uncinate) uncinate hook-like, as in the mouthparts of many fly larvae. (also uncate) unguis (plural ungues) the claws at the tip of most ...
The development of insect mouthparts from the primitive chewing mouthparts of a grasshopper in the center (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