Take the Quiz! The Secrets of Insects' Mouths
The insects we're familiar with eat lots of different things: pollen from flowers, sap from trees, and even smaller insects! Insects have different ways of eating depending on the food they eat. They might suck up their food, lick it, or chew it. Find out how insects' mouths are shaped differently depending on the food they eat!
Insect samples provided by Hiroshi Mizuno
The butterfly unrolls its long, thin, coiled mouth and inserts it into the flower. The tip of its mouth has parts that allow the butterfly to taste, helping it to detect nectar. The butterfly sucks the nectar up through the narrow opening of its straw-like mouth.
Ants' mouths have a top and bottom jaw that allow them to chew tough foods. The upper jaw is serrated, so the ant can chew large pieces of food.
Flies' mouths are usually folded up, but when they want to eat, they extend their mouthparts, pressing them against the food and licking it. Flies have brush-like hairs around their mouths that let them taste the food.
The lace bug sticks its pointed, tube-like mouth into the leaf and sucks out the sap. The sycamore lace bug in the photo is a type of lace bug that sucks the sap from the leaves of plane trees, which include sycamores.
The larva of the swallowtail butterfly likes to eat the leaves of plants in the citrus family. They use their large, straight, sharp jaws to munch through tough leaves.
