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Some moths do not feed after emerging from the pupa, and have greatly reduced, vestigial mouthparts or none at all. All but a few adult Lepidoptera lack mandibles (the superfamily known as the mandibulate moths have fully developed mandibles as adults), but also have the remaining mouthparts in the form of an elongated sucking tube, the proboscis.
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 .
Head of a horse-fly showing large compound eyes and stout piercing mouthparts A head of a fly, showing the two compound eyes and three simple eyes clearly. Flies have a mobile head with a pair of large compound eyes on the sides of the head, and in most species, three small ocelli on the top. The compound eyes may be close together or widely ...
An insect uses its digestive system to extract nutrients and other substances from the food it consumes. [3]Most of this food is ingested in the form of macromolecules and other complex substances (such as proteins, polysaccharides, fats, and nucleic acids) which must be broken down by catabolic reactions into smaller molecules (i.e. amino acids, simple sugars, etc.) before being used by cells ...
After a period of one to three days, the subimago flies to a resting place where it molts one more time, becoming a sexually mature adult form, the imago. [ 5 ] Subimago and adult mayflies do not have functioning mouthparts and do not eat; the nymphs are mainly detritivores , feeding on organic particles that are moved into their burrows by the ...
A few Lepidoptera species have reduced mouthparts and do not feed in the adult state. Others, such as the basal family Micropterigidae, have chewing mouthparts. [21] The proboscis (plural – proboscises) is formed from maxillary galeae and is adapted for sucking nectar. [3] It consists of two tubes held together by hooks and separable for ...
The mouthparts are modified for sucking and adapted for feeding on flowers. The length varies considerably: for example, the Anthracinae have short mouthparts, with the labium terminating in a large fleshy labellum; in Phthiriinae, the tube is considerably longer, and in Bombyliinae more than four times the length of the head.
Many reference sources in the past century or so have repeated the assertion that the chironomidae do not feed as adults, but an increasing body of evidence contradicts this view. Adults of many species do, in fact, feed. The natural foods reported include fresh fly droppings, nectar, pollen, honeydew, and various sugar-rich materials.