University of Michigan Biological Station

Biology 442 - Biology of Insects

Lecture Notes - Feeding and Movement Adaptations

1. Feeding
   1. Mouthpart position
      1. Downward directed - hypognathous
      2. Forward directed - prognathous
      3. Backward directed - opisthognathous
      4. Significance - type of feeding style and food source
         1. predators and prognathous
         2. herbivores and any of them
   2. Chewing mouthparts - mandibulate
      1. Standard is herbivore or chewing predator
      2. Modifications for prey capture
         1. Carabidae, Dragonfly nymphs, antlions
         2. raptorial front legs
      3. Modification for mating
   3. Sucking mouthparts - haustellate
      1. piercers with stylets
         1. plant feeders and predators - Hemiptera, Homoptera
         2. blood feeders - Diptera, Hemiptera
      2. siphoners
         1. Lepidoptera - nectar feeders
         2. Diptera - lappers
      3. Associated modifications to digestive tract
         1. crop or part of esophagous modified as pump
         2. crop modified as storage organ
   4. Mixed strategy - bees
   5. Non-functional - vestigial
2. Movement
   1. Legs
      1. Running/walking - cursorial
      2. Swimming - natatorial - beetles, bugs
      3. Jumping - saltatorial - orthoptera, siphonaptera, flea beetles
      4. Digging - fossorial - molecrickets, nymphal cicadas
      5. False legs - prolegs on larvae
   2. Wings
      1. Basic venation
      2. Variation
         1. Many veins - dragonfly, neuroptera
         2. Beetles - elytra
         3. Bugs - hemelytra
         4. flies - halteres
         5. reduced with fringes - thrips, moths
      3. Functional units
         1. fore and hind separate - dragonflies, mayflies, neuroptera
         2. fore and hind as a unit - most higher neoptera - reduction of hindwing
            1. hamuli
            2. frenulum and retinaculum
            3. jugum
            4. overlap
            5. loss of wing - diptera
      4. Loss of wings - Siphonaptera, Strepsiptera, Ants, Termites, Some flies, Some leps, others

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