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Insect Order Lepidoptera
- butterflies, moths
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Lepidoptera are Holometabolous insects (insects which have larvae that
look nothing like the adults/imagos and having a complete metamorphosis with a pupal stage). They possess two pairs of membraneous wings with few
cross veins, (though these may be absent in the females of some moths). The
mandibles are present in the larvae but nearly always absent in the imagos/adults
in whom the principal mouth parts are a sucking tube or proboscis formed from
the maxillae which is held curled up in a spiral under the head when not in use
(in a number of species of Moths the mouthparts are all degenerate in the imagos
and these do not feed at all. The antennae are variable in length and may be
quite complicated in some male moths The imagos have two large compound eyes
with as many as 6 000 omatidium and two ocelli, while the larva often have
simple ocelli. The wings and body of the imagos are covered in scales and the
body of the larva are generally covered in hairs (though these may be very fine
and short). The salivary glands of the larvae have become modified to form the
silk glands. The larvae are 'eruciform' (which means they look like a
caterpillar) and in most cases have 13 body segments with three pairs of jointed
legs on the first three segments, (which are roughly equivalent to a thorax in
the imago). Segments 3 to 6 of the abdomen (6,7,8,9 counting back from the head
with the head as 0) each have a pair of unjointed pro- or false-legs, these end
in a contractile pad surrounded by a ring of minute hooks; there is also a pair
of unjointed claspers on the final segment. |
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