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Within the Neuropterida, adults have chewing mouthparts, but the mandibles of male dobsonflies are non-functional in feeding. The larvae in many lineages are predatory, with mandibles modified with grooves along which digestive saliva flows, while the larvae of the family Sisyridae have the mouthparts developed into a sucking tube which they ...
[25] [26] These flies have complex cutting mouthparts that make a superficial wound in skin. Blood flowing into the wound is sponged up by the labella organ of the mouthparts (see photograph of Tabanus mouthparts). The flies tend to take small meals from many hosts at short intervals, to avoid the defensive actions of their hosts.
The larvae – caterpillars – have a toughened (sclerotised) head capsule, chewing mouthparts, and a soft body, that may have hair-like or other projections, three pairs of true legs, and up to five pairs of prolegs. Most caterpillars are herbivores, but a few are carnivores (some eat ants, aphids, or other caterpillars) or detritivores. [2]
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.
Housefly mouthparts, showing the pseudotracheae, semitubular grooves (dark parallel bands) used for sucking up liquid food The mouthparts are specially adapted for a liquid diet; the mandibles and maxillae are reduced and not functional, and the other mouthparts form a retractable, flexible proboscis with an enlarged, fleshy tip, the labellum.
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 ...
Piercing-sucking mouthparts have stylets and are used to penetrate solid tissue and then suck up liquid food. Sponging mouthparts are used to sponge and suck liquids, and lack stylets (e.g. most Diptera). Siphoning mouthparts lack stylets and are used to suck liquids and are commonly found among species of Lepidoptera. Mandibular mouthparts are ...
For example, the female Tisza mayfly, the largest European species with a length of 12 cm (4.7 in), flies up to 3 kilometres (2 mi) upstream before depositing eggs on the water surface. These sink to the bottom and hatch after 45 days, the nymphs burrowing their way into the sediment where they spend two or three years before hatching into ...