What type of mouth part does a dragonfly have?
A nymph’s eyesight is almost as precise as an adult dragonfly’s and when they spot something they want to eat, they extrude this mouthpart, called a labium, to engulf, grab, or impale their next meal and draw it back to their mouth. Only dragonfly and damselfly nymphs have this special mouthpart.
What are the different parts of an insect’s mouth and what are they used for?
Labrum – a cover which may be loosely referred to as the upper lip. Mandibles – hard, powerful cutting jaws. Maxillae – ‘pincers’ which are less powerful than the mandibles. They are used to steady and manipulate the food.
Do dragonflies have chewing mouthparts?
Examples of chewing insects include dragonflies, grasshoppers and beetles. Some insects do not have chewing mouthparts as adults but do chew solid food when they feed while they still are larvae. The moths and butterflies are major examples of such adaptations.
What is an insect’s mouth called?
Insects that eat solid foods, such as grasshoppers and dragonflies, have the biting-chewing type mouth. Bees and wasps retain their mandibles for slicing and handling wax but have evolved a tongue called a glossa so that they can lap up nectar. Hence, they have a mouth referred to as the chewing-lapping type.
What type of mouthparts do insects have?
Insect mouthparts are of two main types: chewing and piercing-sucking (Figure 3). Some insects have modifications of these two basic types. Mouthparts determine how an insect feeds and therefore play a role in the type of insect control that is most effective.
What are dragonfly mandibles?
Dragonflies are in the Order Odonata. Odon is the Greek word for tooth. Dragonflies don’t have true teeth but they do have extremely large, strong mandibles with sharply-pointed tooth-like serrations. I’ve, unfortunately, experienced their mandibles first hand.
How many teeth does a dragonfly have?
Scientisits have proven that dragonflies don’t have “teeth,” but they do have strong mandibles, or jaws, that they use to crush their prey. Dragonflies have tiny antennae, extremely large eyes that cover most of the head), two pairs of transparen wings with many small veins, and a long slender abdomen.
What are the two main types of mouth in insects?
Mouthparts of insects vary to a great extend among insects of different groups depending upon their feeding habits. They are mainly of two types viz., Mandibulate (feeding mainly on solid food) and haustellate (feeding mainly on liquid food).
How many types of mouthparts do insects have?
If you have access to dissecting microscopes, allow them to look at each insect under the microscope. Explain that there are four types of mouthparts: chewing, (which is the most basic), sponging, siphoning (or sucking), and piercing-sucking.
What do mandibles do?
…a movable lower jaw (mandible) and fixed upper jaw (maxilla). Jaws function by moving in opposition to each other and are used for biting, chewing, and the handling of food.
What are mandibles made of?
2011). Insect mandibles are mainly composed of chitin and proteins; adjacent chains of chitin are cross-linked by hydrogen bonds to form chitin microfibrils.
What is a mandible in an insect?
Mandibles are the paired jaws of some insects and other arthropods. They are sometimes referred to as simply ‘jaws’. They operate in a sideways fashion and are used for gripping, biting and cutting. The head of a social wasp showing the mandibles.
What is the function of mandibles?
The mandible is the largest bone in the human skull. It holds the lower teeth in place, it assists in mastication and forms the lower jawline.
What are the body parts of a dragonfly?
Head Like all insects, the dragonfly is made up of three main body parts: head, thorax and abdomen. The head is a tough, rounded capsule, hollowed out at the back to allow efficient attachment of the neck and to increase head mobility. The mouth is a complex hodgepodge of structures that you would not want to encounter in a dark alley.
What is the function of the mandibulate mouthparts in dragonflies?
The mandibulate mouthparts are reduced in size allowing the insect to excavate a deep narrow hole that is used for feeding, and perhaps later, as a site for oviposition. In dragonfly naiads (immatures), the labium has become adapted as a prehensile tool that can be rapidly extended forward to catch prey.
What are the adaptations of a dragonfly labium?
In dragonfly naiads (immatures), the labium has become adapted as a prehensile tool that can be rapidly extended forward to catch prey. Some of today’s more “advanced” insects have mouthparts that have become adapted for ingesting liquid food.
What are the mouthparts of grasshopper?
The grasshopper has mandibulate mouthparts that are directed downward for biting and chewing the leaves of a host plant. Its labrum is a broad flap that serves as a front lip. Mandibles operate from side to side. They have overlapping edges that cut like scissors and molar surfaces for grinding or crushing.