Insect anatomy

thumb|right|Two different planforms are shown with a swept wing [[KC-10 Extender (top) refueling a diamond-like delta wing F-22 Raptor]]

thumb|Collection of hemolymph from a worker honeybee.

thin-walled expanded portion of the alimentary tract used for the storage of food prior to digestion

weapon of some animals, hornlike growths excluding antlers and ossicones

right|260px|thumb|The elytra of this cockchafer beetle are readily distinguished from the transparent hindwings.

thumb|Ovipositor of Tettigoniidae|long-horned grasshopper (the two cerci are also visible)

body part of an arthropod

body part used by insects to fly

excretory and osmoregulatory system

thumb|Patagia on a flying squirrel The patagium (: patagia) is a membranous body part that assists an animal in obtaining lift when gliding or flying. The structure is found in extant and extinct groups of flying and gliding animals including bats, theropod dinosaurs (including birds and some dromaeosaurs), pterosaurs, gliding mammals, some flying lizards, and flying frogs. The patagium that stretches between an animal's hind limbs is called the uropatagium (especially in bats) or the interfemoral membrane.

right|thumb|upright|Earwig with large cerci (top) Cerci (: cercus) are paired appendages usually on the rear-most segments of many arthropods, including insects and symphylans. Many forms of cerci serve as sensory organs, but some serve as pinching weapons or as organs of copulation. In many insects, they simply may be functionless vestigial structures.

thumb|right| Ommatidium: A – cornea, B – crystalline cone, C & D – pigment cells, E – rhabdom, F – photoreceptor cells, G – membrana fenestrata, H – optic nerve thumbnail|Ommatidia of a krill The compound eyes of arthropods like insects, crustaceans and millipedes are composed of units called ommatidia (: ommatidium). An ommatidium contains a cluster of photoreceptor cells surrounded by support cells and pigment cells. The outer part of the ommatidium is overlaid with a transparent cornea. Each ommatidium is innervated by one axon bundle (usually consisting of 6–9 axons, depending on the numbe

thumb|upright=1.4|8= single pair of wings and 9= halteres thumb|Crane fly haltere thumb|Halteres of a fly moving

thumb|right|The clypeus of this jumping spider is covered with red scales. The clypeus is one of the sclerites that make up the face of an arthropod. In insects, the clypeus delimits the lower margin of the face, with the labrum articulated along the ventral margin of the clypeus. The mandibles bracket the labrum, but do not touch the clypeus. The dorsal margin of the clypeus is below the antennal sockets. The clypeus is often well-defined by sulci ("grooves") along its lateral and dorsal margins, and is most commonly rectangular or trapezoidal in overall shape.

anatomical structure on insects

In biology, exuviae are the remains of an exoskeleton and related structures that are left after ecdysozoans (including insects, crustaceans and arachnids) have molted. The exuviae of an animal can be important to biologists as they can often be used to identify the species of the animal and even its sex.

part of the tibia on the hind legs of certain species of bees

thumb|Prothorax of a beetle The prothorax is the foremost of the three segments in the thorax of an insect, and bears the first pair of legs. Its principal sclerites (exoskeletal plates) are the pronotum (dorsal), the prosternum (ventral), and the propleuron (lateral) on each side. The prothorax never bears wings in extant insects (except in some cases of atavism), though some fossil groups possessed wing-like projections. All adult insects possess legs on the prothorax, though in a few groups (e.g., the butterfly family Nymphalidae) the forelegs are greatly reduced. In many groups of insects,

thumb|300px|Wing of a dragonfly, showing the pterostigma thumb|Wings of a snakefly

thumb|Anatomy of the human mouth, including the frenulum of the tongue

thumb|The claspers of a spotted wobbegong shark (Orectolobus maculatus) thumb|The claspers of a young spinner shark (Carcharhinus brevipinna) thumb|Life restoration of the extinct chimaera Ischyodus, showing the presence of a cephalic clasper on the head of males (as well as a pelvic clasper) but absent in females In biology, a clasper is a male anatomical structure found in some groups of animals, used in mating. thumb|300x300px|A close up view of a chimaera clasper (Hydrolagus collie). Note the many small tooth-like projections covering the exterior surface. thumb|Illustration of Harpagofut

thumb|The sterigmata are the slender extensions that connect the spores (green) to the basidia (red). thumb|The sterigmata remain as small projections on twigs of Picea and [[Tsuga after the leaves have fallen.]] In biology, a sterigma (: sterigmata) is a small supporting structure.

Narrow waist of some hymenopteran insects

thumb|upright|left|J: medial prolegsK: anal proleg(F, G, and H: true legs) thumb|upright=1|right|Lepidoptera: Papilio machaon caterpillar with four pairs of medial prolegs and a pair of anal prolegs thumb|upright=1|right|Hymenoptera: Craesus septentrionalis caterpillars with seven pairs of prolegs A proleg is a small, fleshy, stub structure found on the ventral surface of the abdomen of most larval forms of insects of the order Lepidoptera, though they can also be found on larvae of insects such as sawflies. In all the orders in which they appear, mainly Hymenoptera and Lepidoptera, prolegs of

part of the mouth of an insect

right|thumb|222px|Diagram showing the location of the Cephalon (arthropod head)|cephalon, [[thorax and pygidium of a trilobite.]] The pygidium (: pygidia) is the posterior body part or shield of crustaceans and some other arthropods, such as insects and the extinct trilobites. In groups other than insects, it contains the anus and, in females, the ovipositor. It is composed of fused body segments, sometimes with a tail, and separated from thoracic segments by an articulation.

thumb|Aedeagus of Pentodon idiota thumb|Photomicrograph of the aedeagus of water scavenger beetle [[Tormissus linsi (from above)|right|220px]]

thumb| The osmeterium is a defensive organ found in all papilionid larvae, in all stages. The organ is situated in the prothoracic segment and can be everted when the larva feels threatened. The everted organ resembles a fleshy forked tongue (not unlike a snake tongue), and this along with the large eye-like spots on the body might be used to startle birds and small reptiles. The osmeterial organ remains inside the body in the thoracic region in an inverted position and is everted when the larva is disturbed in any way emitting a foul, disagreeable odor which serves to repel ants, small spider

hearing organ in insects, consisting of a membrane (tympanum) stretched across a frame backed by an air sac and associated sensory neurons

The metathorax is the posterior of the three segments in the thorax of an insect, and bears the third pair of legs. Its principal sclerites (exoskeletal plates) are the metanotum (dorsal), the metasternum (ventral), and the metapleuron (lateral) on each side. The metathorax is the segment that bears the hindwings in most winged insects, though sometimes these may be reduced or modified, as in the flies (Diptera), in which they are reduced to form halteres, or flightless, as in beetles (Coleoptera), in which they may be completely absent even though forewings are still present. All adult insect

overview of mouthparts of insects

one of the parts of a holometabolous insect larva

mouthpart of insects and crustaceans

sensory organ in antennae

In biology, an indumentum (Latin, literally: "garment") is a covering of trichomes (fine "hairs") on a plant or of bristles (rarely scales) of an insect. thumb|Indumentum of Echium vulgare thumb|wikt:caducous|Caducous hairs on a developing pitcher of [[Nepenthes chaniana]] thumb|Rust-colored indumentum on the underside of a leaf of the bog Labrador tea (Rhododendron groenlandicum)

thumb|right|Mesothorax of Polistes dominula The mesothorax is the middle of the three segments of the thorax of hexapods, and bears the second pair of legs. Its principal sclerites (exoskeletal plates) are the mesonotum (dorsal), the mesosternum (ventral), and the mesopleuron (lateral) on each side. The mesothorax is the segment that bears the forewings in all winged insects, though sometimes these may be reduced or modified, as in beetles (Coleoptera) or Dermaptera, in which they are sclerotized to form the elytra ("wing covers"), and the Strepsiptera, in which they are reduced to form halter

thumb|right|Propodeum labelled within the alitrunk of an ant worker

bulbous posterior portion of the metasoma

one of two pairs of structures on arthropod heads

naming system for insect wing veins, devised by John Comstock and George Needham in 1898 and an important step in showing the homology of all insect wings

The notum (plural nota) is the dorsal portion of an insect's thoracic segment, or the dorsal surface of the body of nudibranch gastropods. The word "notum" is always applied to dorsal structures; in other words structures that are part of the back of an animal, as opposed to being part of the animal's ventral surface, or underside.

The mesosoma is the middle part of the body, or tagma, of arthropods whose body is composed of three parts, the other two being the prosoma and the metasoma. It bears the legs, and, in the case of winged insects, the wings.

thumb|Four trichobothria on the second leg of the spider Paratropis tuxtlensis Trichobothria (singular trichobothrium) are elongate setae ("hairs") present in arachnids, various orders of insects, and myriapods that function in the detection of airborne vibrations and currents, and electrical charge. In 1883, Friedrich Dahl observed that they were deflected by the sound waves from a violin and labelled them 'hearing hairs'.

thumb|Left tegmen of male Blatta orientalis thumb|Lithoblatta lithophila, a Jurassic fossil, some 200 million years more recent than the emergence of cockroaches in the [[Carboniferous. Even the earliest cockroaches had tegmina that fossilised well.]] A tegmen (: tegmina) designates the modified leathery front wing on an insect particularly in the orders Dermaptera (earwigs), Orthoptera (grasshoppers, crickets and similar families), Mantodea (praying mantis), Phasmatodea (stick and leaf insects) and Blattodea (cockroaches).

thumb|right|The most common brochosomes thumb|right|A female :en:Glassy-winged sharpshooter|Homalodisca vitripennis carries on her wings masses of specialized brochosomes (the white spot) to be used during egg-laying. thumb|right|A model of a typical brochosome from leafhopper integument (on the right dissected to show the interior).

thumb|230px|A Tachina sp. fly showing white calypters at the base of the wings thumb|Calypter of a Tachinidae|Tachinid

pair of structures in the brain of arthropods and some annelids

insect anatomy term; simple or variously modified apical or subapical bristle, arising from the third antennal segment

in insect physiology, an endocrine gland that generates juvenile hormones, ganglion-like body in the head

A bacteriome is a specialized organ, found mainly in some insects, that hosts endosymbiotic bacteria. Bacteriomes contain specialized cells, called bacteriocytes, that provide nutrients and shelter to the bacteria while protecting the host animal. In exchange, the bacteria provide essentials like vitamins and amino acids to the host insect. Bacteriomes also protect the bacteria from the host's immune system, with insects secreting antimicrobial peptides such as the coleoptericin secreted by weevils to keep bacteria within the bacteriome.

lateral portion of a segment of an insect thorax

insect abdominal gland

thumb|right|200px|Aphid excreting defensive fluid from the cornicles thumb|Cornicles The cornicle (or siphuncule) is one of a pair of small upright backward-pointing tubes found on the dorsal side of the fifth or sixth abdominal segments of aphids. They are sometimes mistaken for cerci. They are no more than pores in some species.

thumb|262x262px|Pronotal mycangia of ambrosia beetle Xylosandruscrassiusculus The term mycangium (pl., mycangia) is used in biology for special structures on the body of an animal that are adapted for the transport of symbiotic fungi (usually in spore form). This is seen in many xylophagous insects (e.g. horntails and bark beetles), which apparently derive much of their nutrition from the digestion of various fungi that are growing amidst the wood fibers. In some cases, as in ambrosia beetles (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae and Platypodinae), the fungi are the sole food, and the excavat

thumb|right|Tracheal system of the mite Stigmaeus humilis (C. L. Koch). [[Anthonie Cornelis Oudemans, 1913.]] Tracheole (trā'kē-ōl') is a fine respiratory tube of the trachea of an insect or a spider, part of the respiratory system.

stretch receptor organs

thumb|Cicada tymbals: sound-producing organs and musculature.

covering of an insect's wing