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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.
This section provides an overview of the individual mouthparts of chewing insects. The diversification of insects' food sources led to the evolution of their mouthparts. This process was facilitated by natural selection. [1] Figure 1: Chewing mouthparts of a grasshopper. Legend: lr, labrum; md, mandibles; mx, maxillae; hp hypopharynx; lb, labium.
Insect mandibles are a pair of appendages near the insect's mouth, and the most anterior of the three pairs of oral appendages (the labrum is more anterior, but is a single fused structure). Their function is typically to grasp, crush, or cut the insect's food, or to defend against predators or rivals.
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Mandibles are often simply called jaws. Mandibles are present in the extant subphyla Myriapoda (millipedes and others), Crustacea and Hexapoda (insects etc.). These groups make up the clade Mandibulata, which is currently believed to be the sister group to the rest of arthropods, the clade Arachnomorpha (Chelicerata and Trilobita).
The jumping spider Phidippus audax.The basal parts of the chelicerae are the two iridescent green mouthparts. The chelicerae (/ k ə ˈ l ɪ s ər iː /) are the mouthparts of the subphylum Chelicerata, an arthropod group that includes arachnids, horseshoe crabs, and sea spiders.
It consists of a basal submentum, which connects with the prementum through a narrow sclerite, the mentum. The labium forms the lower portion of the buccal cavity in insects. The prementum has a pair of labial palps laterally, and two broad soft lobes called the paraglossae medially.
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.