Insect feeding mechanism
There are many types of insects in the world, and their feeding mechanism varies according to the following types:
Biting and Chewing
Insects that feed using the mechanism of biting and chewing are the most primitive insects because other species possess other more modern mechanisms. [1] The first part of the upper jaw helps to hold the food, while the task of the second part of the jaw itself is to push the food into the mouth to complete the chewing process. 1]
Chewing and Lapping
The mouth of this type of insect contains parts that can collect nectar and pollen from flowers and form wax, and the most famous species capable of this are honey bees and wasps, and their mouth parts consist of the lips, pharynx, lower jaw, and two parts of the upper jaw.[1] There is also a fleshy pharynx located there. Under the lip, it serves as the organ of taste. The lower jaw is smooth and ribbed and is used in shaping and wrapping wax to make a honeycomb, while the lips and lower jaw help chew food.[1]
Piercing and sucking
This type of insect has a mouth consisting of parts capable of penetrating the tissues of animals and plants to suck blood or plant juice, and this mouth has some insects, such as mosquitoes, and hemi-winged insects, such as bugs, aphids, and others, and their mouth parts usually consist of two blades, lips, pharynx, lower jaw, and upper jaw. [1] The labia contain a long and straight tube, while the lower and upper jaw and pharynx all contain needle-like parts with saw-like edges, and these parts can pierce tissues to suck blood or squeeze plants. [1]
Siphoning
This type of mouth is the type that can absorb the nectar of flowers and fruit juice, and the most famous insects that have this mouth are butterflies and moths, and their mouth parts consist of small lips, a coiled proboscis, a small jaw, and only two labia. For the head, the proboscis consists of a developed and elongated skin from the jaw that contains inside the food channel, through which food is drawn to the mouth.[1]
Sponging
This type of mouth contains parts that enable the insect to absorb liquid or semi-liquid food. The most famous insects that have such a mouth are houseflies and some other types of flies. Their mouth parts consist of lips, pharynx, upper jaws, and labia, and they do not have a lower jaw. [1] The lower lip can form a long, fleshy, retractable proboscis for absorption, and this proboscis is divided into three distinct parts; A wide lower part is conical in shape, and a middle part forms something like a groove in the mouth.[1] While the third part consists of two spongy cushions, broad, flat, and oval, that contain a series of channels called the false trachea, which in turn contains a row of small holes. through which liquid food is introduced. [1]
Insect food
We include the following types of insect food:
Plant and animal food
Practically speaking, insects feed on just about everything; Although most of them feed on plants, others feed on insects other than themselves, and certain other species feed on plant nectar or blood,[2] while some insects, such as cockroaches and ants, search for leftovers that fall on the ground.[3] ] And the insects that are classified as vegetarian feed on leaves, roots, seeds, nectar, or wood, and insects that feed on other insects, such as the mantis that feeds on small organisms, such as moths, larvae, flies, beetles, and spiders, while insects such as fleas and lice eat the flesh or blood of large animals without killing them. [2] On the other hand, the cigarette beetle is one of the common household pests that affect spices, especially pepper, and paprika, in addition to grains and pet foods, and is famous for its consumption of tobacco. Which is in cigarettes, and there are a few monophagous insects that feed on one type of food, such as the silkworm moth that feeds on berries only.[4]
other foods
There are some extreme examples of insects eating strange types of food. For example, carpet beetles eat wool, feathers, and hair, and cause damage to carpets, upholstery, and clothing. Clothes moths and biting lice also eat hair, wool, and feathers, which all contain indigestible keratin.[4]