Hobbies And Interests
Head
An insect's head contains the brain and mouth parts, antennae and eyes. An insect has either chewing or sucking mouth parts. Chewing mouth parts cut and grind food. Sucking mouth parts include a beak, or proboscis, that the insect uses to pierce plant or animal tissue and suck out fluid. A mosquito is a familiar example of an insect with sucking mouth parts. Butterflies and moths also have sucking mouth parts, but instead of piercing tissue they sip nectar. Bees have a combination of chewing and sucking mouth parts.
The eyes and antennae are the two major sensory organs on the head. The antennae are used for touch, smell and sometimes hearing. Insects have two large compound eyes, which have several individual lenses. Each lens produces a separate picture. Although an insect's vision is not as sharp and clear as ours, it is much better at judging distances and detecting even the slightest motion.
Thorax
The middle segment of the insect body is called the thorax. It is divided further into three smaller segments, each having a pair of legs. All insects have three pairs of legs, which can take many forms. The front legs may be designed for catching prey or digging. The back legs are sometimes modified for jumping or swimming. Some insects, such as grasshoppers, use their back legs to make sounds.
Most insects have two pairs of wings attached to the thorax, although some have only one pair and others have no wings at all. A beetle's front wings are modified into a shell that covers the body, and the back wings are used for flying.
Abdomen
The abdomen usually is the largest body part. It is divided into 10 or 12 segments, and each segment has a pair of spiracles that are used for taking in air. Aquatic insects breathe through gills or they come to the surface for an air bubble which they carry under their wings or abdomen. Organs for mating and laying eggs are near the end of the abdomen. Insect also have a pair of sensory appendages called cerci at the end of the abdomen. Earwigs have large cerci that look like pincers, while many other insects have cerci so tiny that they are hard to see. Some insects also have organs for hearing on their abdomen. A few insects, such as crickets, have hearing organs on their legs.