Insect mouthparts

Insects have mouthparts that may vary greatly across insect species, as they are adapted to particular modes of feeding. The earliest insects had chewing mouthparts. Most specialisations of mouthparts are for piercing and sucking, and this mode of feeding has evolved a number of times independently.

For example, mosquitoes and aphids both pierce and suck, though female mosquitoes feed on animal blood whereas aphids feed on plant fluids.

Back to Spider & Insect Anatomy →

Source: Wikipedia · Image: Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0

BUGSPOTTER

Know what's crawling — household bug & insect identification.

Get new guides by emailOccasional emails. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.

InformationAbout Contact Privacy Policy Terms of Service Disclaimer Affiliate Disclosure Cookie Policy

Museum entries, images, and facts are drawn from Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons, used under public-domain and Creative Commons licenses.