昆虫形态学是一门研究和描述昆虫身体结构的学科,由于昆虫和其他节肢动物共享部分演化史,昆虫形态学的术语会和节肢动物形态学类似。昆虫的特征包括:体分三节(头部、胸部及腹部)、三对足和位于头壳外的口器,以上三个特征是区别昆虫及其他节肢动物重要特征。六足亚门包含原尾目双尾目弹尾目及昆虫,前三者与昆虫的区别特征就是口器的位置。

Thumb
昆虫形态学
身体各部位图解
体躯分节:A - 头部,B - 胸部, C - 腹部
1、触角;2、单眼(下);3、单眼(上);4、复眼;5. brain (cerebral ganglia)6、前胸;7. dorsal blood vessel8、气管与气孔;9、中胸;10、后胸;11、前翅;12、后翅;13、中肠;14. dorsal tube (heart)15、卵巢;16、后肠;17、肛门;18、输卵管;19. nerve cord (abdominal ganglia)20、马氏管;21、爪间体;22、爪;23、跗节;24、胫节;25、腿节;26、转节;27、前肠;28. thoracic ganglion29、基节;30、唾腺;31. subesophageal ganglion32、口器。s
.

昆虫种类众多,其身体结构变异多端,体型小至 0.3 mm(缨小蜂),大至 30 cm(长喙天蛾[1]:7复眼有或无;翅膀发达或无翅;足特化成奔跑用、跳跃用、游泳用及挖掘用,昆虫借着这些特化的构造占据了深海与南极洲之外所有的生态区位。本文将会描述昆虫身体的基本结构和几种常见的特化,本文也将会定义数个用以描述昆虫形态的术语。

解剖学总述

昆虫和其他节肢动物一样没有内骨骼,它们只有由几丁质组成的外骨骼,用来保护并支撑整个身体。昆虫的身体可以区分成三个区块:头部、胸部和腹部[2],头部负责感知外界和摄取食物;胸部是足和翅膀(若有翅)的着生点,特化成适合运动的结构;腹部则负责消化、呼吸、分泌,和繁殖[1]:22–48。虽然这三个区块的功能大致上相同,但基础结构却形态各形态各异,翅膀、足、触角和口器在不同类群中差异甚大[3]

External

外骨骼

昆虫的外骨骼,也就是“表皮(cuticle)”,由两层构成:上表皮(epicuticle)及原表皮(procuticle),上表皮位于最外侧,是一层薄薄的含蜡防水层,不含几丁质(chitin),上表皮的下方是原表皮,原表皮含有几丁质,比上表皮厚,可再下分为两层:靠外层的外表皮(exocuticle)及靠内层的内表皮(endocuticle),外表皮骨化(sclerotized),质地坚硬不易变形,内表皮则由几丁质纤维及蛋白质纵横交错编织,一层一层如三明治般堆叠而成,质地韧,弹性十足[1]:22–24。很多身体较软的昆虫外表皮含量较少,尤其是幼虫期(如毛毛虫)。几丁质是N-乙酰葡糖胺的长链聚合物,一种葡萄糖的衍生物。未修饰的几丁质颜色透明,坚韧、易弯曲、富含弹性,在节肢动物上出现的几丁质多数是经修饰的,它们被镶入硬化的蛋白质矩阵,形成了所谓的外骨骼,单纯的外骨骼质地类似皮革,但在表面加上碳酸钙之后,质地会变得更加坚硬[4]。毛毛虫的外骨骼未经修饰,质地较为柔软,甲虫则经过修饰,质地坚硬,未修饰及修饰后的差异可以从两者比较。

外部的表皮及内部的基底膜由一层柱状的上皮细胞组成,昆虫大部分的身体构造皆被内表皮所包覆,表皮能够支持并保护虫体,然而,表皮没办法随着虫体长大,因此昆虫每隔一段时间就必须把外部骨化的表皮蜕下,在快要脱皮的时候,大部分的外表皮会被溶解并吸收。脱皮的过程中,首先旧表皮从真皮层脱落(apolysis),旧表皮和真皮层间会充满含有分解酶的液体,液体会分解内表皮并将其合成为新的表皮,外表皮不会被分解,当新表皮生长到足够的程度,上表皮及残余的外表皮会一起脱落,此过程称为“蜕皮(ecdysis)”[5]:16–20

昆虫的身体可以大致分成四个区域,背面(dorsal)、腹面(ventral)及两个侧面(laterals),也可称为背侧(tergum)、腹侧(sternum)及侧边(pleura)。外骨骼上硬化的板状结构称之为骨片(sclerites),分别为背板(tergites)、腹板(sternites)及侧板(pleurites)[6]

头部

Thumb
直翅目蝗科的头部。 a: 触角; b: 单眼; c: 头顶; d: 复眼; e: occiput; f: 颊部; g: pleurostoma; h: 大颚; i: 下唇须; j: 小颚须; k: 小颚; l: 上唇; m: 头楯部; n: 额部。
Thumb
Larva of beetle, family Cerambycidae, showing sclerotised epicranium; rest of body hardly sclerotised
Thumb
Larva of Syrphid fly, member of Cyclorrhapha, without epicranium, almost without sclerotisation apart from its jaws.

大部分昆虫的头部由高度骨化的坚硬外骨骼包住,也就是“头壳(head capsule)”。多数的例外为未完全骨化的幼虫,特别是完全变态的昆虫,但就算是身体未骨化或骨化程度弱的幼虫都生有发达的骨化头壳,如甲虫和膜翅目的幼虫。环裂群(Cyclorrhapha)的幼虫则几乎不具头壳。

大部分的感官皆生于头壳上,如触角(antenna)、单眼(ocellus)、复眼(compound eyes)及口器(mouthparts),成虫的头壳没有分节,这点是无庸置疑的,但是经过胚胎学的研究后发现,头壳分成六节,分别生有成对的副肢,如口器,口器的每个部分都生在特定的头壳分节上,一个分节上只会有一对副肢,但在现生的昆虫中,不是每个分节都一定生有副肢。

在所有的昆虫中,直翅目的头部变异最为多元,其缝线(suture)和骨片(sclerite)变化多端[6]。下口式(hypognathous)及后口式(opisthognathous)昆虫的头顶(vertex)位于复眼之间,在头的背侧,而前口式(prognathous)昆虫的头顶则在单眼的位置,这是因为前口式昆虫的头部旋转了 90°,变得和体轴平行。某些昆虫的头顶会特化,学者因此给予它们不同的名字[7]:13

蜕皮线(ecdsial suture)又称头缝线(epicranial suture),由冠缝线 (coronal suture) 及前额缝线(frontal suture)组成,蜕皮线变异极大,在不同的昆虫中形态相异。蜕皮线始于头顶,垂直地向下延伸并分叉,将前额上方的区域划分为两块。蜕皮线的形状随物种而异,可以是Y型、U型,甚至是V型。蜕皮线中分叉的线条称之为前额缝线或额颊缝线(frontogenal suture),不是每种昆虫都具有前额缝线,在蜕皮时,前额缝线会裂开,形成能让昆虫离开旧皮的开口。

头顶下方的区域为前额(frons),前额的大小因物种而异,在很多昆虫中,前额的界线往往是模糊不清的,连某些头壳发达的物种也不例外。在大部分的物种中,前额的下方的界线为额楯沟或口上沟,侧边的界线为额颊沟,上方的界线则为蜕皮线。如果昆虫生有中央单眼,十之八九都位于前额上,但在某些昆虫中,如膜翅目昆虫,三颗单眼都位于头顶。前额比较明确的定义为:咽扩张肌着生的骨片,但在大部分情况下,这个定义往往派不上用场[8]。在某些类群中,如蝉形下目(Cicadomorpha),前额宽大且近乎垂直,因而易于辨认,头部的中央区域及为前额[9]


Thumb

头楯是介于前额和上唇之间的骨片,在原始昆虫中,头楯的上缘和前额由额楯沟(frontoclypeal suture)区隔。头楯侧缘的边界由楯颊沟(clypeogenal suture)界定,下缘则由楯上唇沟(clypeolabral suture)界定。头楯的形状因物种而异,如鳞翅目拥有很大的头楯部和很长的口器。颊部 (gena) 为头部两侧的骨化区域,位于复眼下方,复眼下方延伸出一条颊缝线 (gular suture)。颊部的形状因物种而异,因此其界限难以定义,例如:在蜻蛉目中,颊部位于复眼、头楯部和口器之间。后颊部 (postgena) 位于颊部的正后方,在有翅亚纲中,后颊部位于颊部的后方或下方。后头弓 (occipital arch) 是头壳后侧一个狭窄的区块,呈弯曲状,盖住后头孔 (foramen)。下颊部 (subgenal) 通常很狭窄,位于口器之上,下唇板 (hypostoma) 和侧唇板 (pleurostoma) 也位于下颊部[7]:13–14。头顶 (vertex) 向后延伸,越过触角基部,形状类似倒T形。头壳后方生有后头孔,内部组织透过后头孔将头部与身体连结,如神经节、食道、唾腺、肌肉组织等[10]

On the posterior aspect of the head are the occiput, postgena, occipital foramen, posterior tentorial pit, gula, postgenal bridge, hypostomal suture and bridge, and the mandibles, labium, and maxilla. The occipital suture is well founded in species of Orthoptera, but not so much in other orders. Where found, the occipital suture is the arched, horseshoe-shaped groove on the back of the head, ending at the posterior of each mandible. The postoccipital suture is a landmark on the posterior surface of the head, and is typically near the occipital foremen. In pterygotes, the postocciput forms the extreme posterior, often U-shaped, which forms the rim of the head extending to the postoccipital suture. In pterygotes, such as those of Orthoptera, the occipital foramen and the mouth are not separated. The three types of occipital closures, or points under the occipital foramen that separate the two lower halves of the postgena, are: the hypostomal bridge, the postgenal bridge, and the gula. The hypostomal bridge is usually found in insects with hypognathous orientation. The postgenal bridge is found in the adults of species of higher Diptera and aculeate Hymenoptera, while the gula is found on some Coleoptera, Neuroptera, and Isoptera, which typically display prognathous-oriented mouthparts.[7]:15

复眼和单眼

大多数的昆虫都具有复眼 (compound eyes),复眼由小眼 (ommatidia,单数形为 ommatidium) 组成,小眼的数量因物种而异,例如蜻蜓的复眼由高达三万个小眼组成。复眼的分辨率比脊椎动物的眼睛低,但复眼能精准的感知动作,且通常能接收紫外光和绿光,有些物种还能接受其他光谱的光。通常还能够感知偏振光[11]。通常还会有两至三颗外凸的单眼 (ocelli),每颗单眼面向的方向不同。复眼能看见的角度的角度比单眼广,分辨率也较高,但有些幼虫的单眼功能与复眼不相上下,如 Tenthredinidae 科的幼虫单眼敏锐度为4度,且对于偏振光的感知度极高[12][13]

Thumb
Ocellus cross-section
Thumb
Compound eye cross-section

Because the individual lenses are so small, the effects of diffraction impose a limit on the possible resolution that can be obtained (assuming they do not function as phased arrays). This can only be countered by increasing lens size and number. To see with a resolution comparable to our simple eyes, humans would require compound eyes that would each reach the size of their heads. Compound eyes fall into two groups: apposition eyes, which form multiple inverted images, and superposition eyes, which form a single erect image.[14][15] Compound eyes grow at their margins by the addition of new ommatidia.[16]

触角

Thumb
Closeup of a fire ant, showing fine sensory hairs on antennae

触角是一对灵活的副肢,位于昆虫的头部,用来感知环境。触角上面布满了细致的刚毛 (setae),昆虫利用这些刚毛来感知环境[17]:8–11。除了触觉以外,昆虫还能透过触角上微小的感觉结构来接受气味、感觉气温、湿度、压力,甚至是本体感觉[17]:8–11[18][19]。有些昆虫还能透过触角感知声波,如蜜蜂和某些蝇类[20]

触角的节数因昆虫种类而异,高等蝇类 (higher flies) 仅有3-6节[21],而蟑螂成虫可超过140节[22]。触角形状的种类也族繁不及备载,触角的第一节(连结在头部的那节)称作柄节 (scape),第二节称作梗节 (pedicel),其他的节称作鞭节 (flagellum)[17]:8–11

以下为几种常见的触角形状:

昆虫触角的种类[1][17]:8–11
Thumb芒状 (Aristate) ThumbCapitate Thumb棒状 (Clavate) Thumb丝状 (Filiform) ThumbFlabellate Thumb膝状 (Geniculate) ThumbSetaceous
Thumb扇形 (Lamellate) Thumb念珠状 (Moniliform) Thumb梳状 (Pectinate) Thumb羽状 (Plumose) Thumb锯齿状 (Serrate) ThumbStylate

Mouthparts

昆虫的口器由数个部分组成,分别为上唇 (labrum)、下唇 (labium)、大颚 (mandibles)、小颚 (maxillae,单数型为 maxilla)[7]:16[23]。上唇为一构造简单的骨片,可上下移动,上唇与头楯相连,上唇移动时可带动头楯 (clypeus)。大颚为一对高度骨化的构造,运动方向与体轴垂直,用以啃咬、咀嚼或切断食物。小颚成对,运动方向亦与体轴垂直,小颚生有分节的附肢,为小颚须 (maxillary palps)。下唇为纵向运动的构造,生有一对分节的附肢,为下唇须 (labial palps)[24]

Thumb
昆虫口器的特化,中央 (A) 为蝗虫的咀嚼式口器,为最原始的口器。 (B)蜜蜂的舐吮式口器,(C) 蝴蝶的虹吸式口器,(D) 雌蚊的刺吸式口器。图标:a - 触角,c - 复眼,lb - 下唇,lr - 上唇,md - 大颚,mx - 小颚。

口器依照与身体的相对位置能分成三种类型,分别为:前口式 (prognathous)、下口式 (hypognathous) 和后口式 (opisthognathous)。前口式的昆虫口器与体轴平行,如黑艳虫 (Passalidae),下口式的昆虫口器与体轴垂直,如蚂蚁 (Formicidae),后口式的昆虫口器与体轴平行,但口器向身体后方延伸,如蜚蠊目 (Blattodea)[25]。口器的形态与功能因物种而异,共可粗分为两种,具颚式 (mandibulate) 与吸吮式 (haustellate)。吸吮式口器可用于吸取液体,可依照口针 (stylet) 有无进一步区分,有口针的可再分成刺吸式 (piercing-sucking)、吸吮式 (sponging) 和虹吸式 (siphoning) 等。口针为一针状构造,用以刺穿植物或动物组织。口针和摄食道 (feeding tube) 由大颚、小颚及下咽特化而来[24]

  • 咀嚼式(或具颚式,Mandibulate ):最常见的类型,用以钳咬敌人和咬碎食物。
  • 刺吸式 (Piercing-sucking):具有口针,能刺穿固体并吸取液体食物。
  • 吸吮式 (Sponging):用以舔取液体食物,无口针(大多数双翅目口器为此类)
  • 虹吸式 (Siphoning):用以吸取液体食物,无口针(大多数鳞翅目口器为此类)

拥有咀嚼式口器的昆虫包括:蜻蛉目脉翅目成虫、鞘翅目膜翅目蜚蠊目直翅目鳞翅目幼虫。

咀嚼式

上唇连接于头楯的下方,为盖住口腔的宽叶[1]:22–24。上唇的内侧为膜质,有些物种中央会生有上咽 (epipharynx),上咽生有感觉器 (sensilla),感觉器可分为物理感觉器 (mechanosensilla) 与化学感觉器 (chemosensilla)[26][27]。上唇依靠两束肌肉支撑,这两束肌肉始于头部内,并渐渐朝中央靠拢,最后伸入上唇前缘侧后方两个骨片,舌侧片 (tormae),在某些昆虫中,负责连结头楯带动上唇的表皮含有弹性蛋白,使头楯移动更为灵活[28]。以前认为上唇与第一头节相关,然而,近期的胚胎发育学、基因表现与神经的研究显示,上唇是由第三头节的第三脑 (tritocerebrum) 控制,显示上唇是由第三头节的附肢演化而来[1]:22–24

Chewing insects have two mandibles, one on each side of the head. The mandibles are positioned between the labrum and maxillae. The mandibles cut and crush food, and may be used for defense; generally, they have an apical cutting edge, and the more basal molar area grinds the food. They can be extremely hard (around 3 on Mohs, or an indentation hardness of about 30 kg/mm2); thus, many termites and beetles have no physical difficulty in boring through foils made from such common metals as copper, lead, tin, and zinc.[1]:22–24 The cutting edges are typically strengthened by the addition of zinc, manganese, or rarely, iron, in amounts up to about 4% of the dry weight.[26] They are typically the largest mouthparts of chewing insects, being used to masticate (cut, tear, crush, chew) food items. They open outwards (to the sides of the head) and come together medially. In carnivorous, chewing insects, the mandibles can be modified to be more knife-like, whereas in herbivorous chewing insects, they are more typically broad and flat on their opposing faces (e.g., caterpillars). In male stag beetles, the mandibles are modified to such an extent as to not serve any feeding function, but are instead are used to defend mating sites from other males. In ants, the mandibles also serve a defensive function (particularly in soldier castes). In bull ants, the mandibles are elongated and toothed, used as hunting (and defensive) appendages.

Situated beneath the mandibles, paired maxillae manipulate food during mastication. Maxillae can have hairs and "teeth" along their inner margins. At the outer margin, the galea is a cupped or scoop-like structure, which sits over the outer edge of the labium. They also have palps, which are used to sense the characteristics of potential foods. The maxillae occupy a lateral position, one on each side of the head behind the mandibles. The proximal part of the maxilla consists of a basal cardo, which has a single articulation with the head, and a flat plate, the stipes, hinged to the cardo. Both cardo and stipes are loosely joined to the head by membrane so they are capable of movement. Distally on the stipes are two lobes, an inner lacinea and an outer galea, one or both of which may be absent. More laterally on the stipes is a jointed, leglike palp made up of a number of segments; in Orthoptera there are five. Anterior and posterior rotator muscles are inserted on the cardo, and ventral adductor muscles arising on the tentorium are inserted on both cardo and stipes. Arising in the stipes are flexor muscles of lacinea and galea and another lacineal flexor arises in the cranium, but neither the lacinea nor the galea has an extensor muscle. The palp has levator and depressor muscles arising in the stipes, and each segment of the palp has a single muscle causing flexion of the next segment.[28]

In mandibulate mouthparts, the labium is a quadrupedal structure, although it is formed from two fused secondary maxillae. It can be described as the floor of the mouth. With the maxillae, it assists with manipulation of food during mastication or chewing or, in the unusual case of the dragonfly nymph, extends out to snatch prey back to the head, where the mandibles can eat it. The labium is similar in structure to the maxilla, but with the appendages of the two sides fused by the midline, so they come to form a median plate. The basal part of the labium, equivalent to the maxillary cardines and possibly including a part of the sternum of the labial segment, is called the postmentum. This may be subdivided into a proximal submentum and a distal mentum. Distal to the postmentum, and equivalent to the fused maxillary stipites, is the prementum. The prementum closes the preoral cavity from behind. Terminally, it bears four lobes, two inner glossae, and two outer paraglossae, which are collectively known as the ligula. One or both pairs of lobes may be absent or they may be fused to form a single median process. A palp arises from each side of the prementum, often being three-segmented.[28]

The hypopharynx is a median lobe immediately behind the mouth, projecting forwards from the back of the preoral cavity; it is a lobe of uncertain origin, but perhaps associated with the mandibular segment;[28] in apterygotes, earwigs, and nymphal mayflies, the hypopharynx bears a pair of lateral lobes, the superlinguae (singular: superlingua). It divides the cavity into a dorsal food pouch, or cibarium, and a ventral salivarium into which the salivary duct opens.[1]:22–24 It is commonly found fused to the libium.[26] Most of the hypopharynx is membranous, but the adoral face is sclerotized distally, and proximally contains a pair of suspensory sclerites extending upwards to end in the lateral wall of the stomodeum. Muscles arising on the frons are inserted into these sclerites, which distally are hinged to a pair of lingual sclerites. These, in turn, have inserted into them antagonistic pairs of muscles arising on the tentorium and labium. The various muscles serve to swing the hypopharynx forwards and back, and in the cockroach, two more muscles run across the hypopharynx and dilate the salivary orifice and expand the salivarium.[28]

刺吸式

口器有很多种功能,有些昆虫的口器结合穿刺和汲取,刺穿生物组织再吸取液体。雌蚊取食血液,为血食性 (hemophagous),此习性使它们为病媒。蚊子口气由喙 (proboscis)、大颚及小颚组成。小颚特化为口针,口针被包裹在下唇内,蚊子取食时,小颚能刺穿皮肤和固定口器。包裹口器的下唇向后滑动,其余的口器露出并进入皮肤,接着蚊子透过下咽注射包含抗凝血剂的唾液,最后,蚊子用上唇吸取血液。疟蚊属的小颚须很长,几乎等同于上唇[29]


Siphoning

The proboscis is formed from maxillary galeae and is adaption found in some insects for sucking.[30] The muscles of the cibarium or pharynx are strongly developed and form the pump. In Hemiptera and many Diptera, which feed on fluids within plants or animals, some components of the mouthparts are modified for piercing, and the elongated structures are called stylets. The combined tubular structures are referred to as the proboscis, although specialized terminology is used in some groups.

In species of Lepidoptera, it consists of two tubes held together by hooks and separable for cleaning. Each tube is inwardly concave, thus forming a central tube through which moisture is sucked. Suction is effected through the contraction and expansion of a sac in the head.[31] The proboscis is coiled under the head when the insect is at rest, and is extended only when feeding.[30] The maxillary palpi are reduced or even vestigial.[32] They are conspicuous and five-segmented in some of the more basal families, and are often folded.[7] The shape and dimensions of the proboscis have evolved to give different species wider and therefore more advantageous diets.[30] There is an allometric scaling relationship between body mass of Lepidoptera and length of proboscis[33] from which an interesting adaptive departure is the unusually long-tongued hawk moth Xanthopan morganii praedicta. Charles Darwin predicted the existence and proboscis length of this moth before its discovery based on his knowledge of the long-spurred Madagascan star orchid Angraecum sesquipedale.[34]

Sponging

The mouthparts of insects that feed on fluids are modified in various ways to form a tube through which liquid can be drawn into the mouth and usually another through which saliva passes. The muscles of the cibarium or pharynx are strongly developed to form a pump.[28] In nonbiting flies, the mandibles are absent and other structures are reduced; the labial palps have become modified to form the labellum, and the maxillary palps are present, although sometimes short. In Brachycera, the labellum is especially prominent and used for sponging liquid or semiliquid food.[35] The labella are a complex structure consisting of many grooves, called pseudotracheae, which sop up liquids. Salivary secretions from the labella assist in dissolving and collecting food particles so they can be more easily taken up by the pseudotracheae; this is thought to occur by capillary action. The liquid food is then drawn up from the pseudotracheae through the food channel into the esophagus.[36]

The mouthparts of bees are of a chewing and lapping-sucking type. Lapping is a mode of feeding in which liquid or semiliquid food adhering to a protrusible organ, or "tongue", is transferred from substrate to mouth. In the honey bee (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Apis mellifera), the elongated and fused labial glossae form a hairy tongue, which is surrounded by the maxillary galeae and the labial palps to form a tubular proboscis containing a food canal. In feeding, the tongue is dipped into the nectar or honey, which adheres to the hairs, and then is retracted so the adhering liquid is carried into the space between the galeae and labial palps. This back-and-forth glossal movement occurs repeatedly. Movement of liquid to the mouth apparently results from the action of the cibarial pump, facilitated by each retraction of the tongue pushing liquid up the food canal.[1]:22–24

Thorax

The insect thorax has three segments: the prothorax, mesothorax, and metathorax. The anterior segment, closest to the head, is the prothorax; its major features are the first pair of legs and the pronotum. The middle segment is the mesothorax; its major features are the second pair of legs and the anterior wings, if any. The third, the posterior, thoracic segment, abutting the abdomen, is the metathorax, which bears the third pair of legs and the posterior wings. Each segment is dilineated by an intersegmental suture. Each segment has four basic regions. The dorsal surface is called the tergum (or notum, to distinguish it from the abdominal terga).[1]:22–24 The two lateral regions are called the pleura (singular: pleuron), and the ventral aspect is called the sternum. In turn, the notum of the prothorax is called the pronotum, the notum for the mesothorax is called the mesonotum and the notum for the metathorax is called the metanotum. Continuing with this logic, there is also the mesopleura and metapleura, as well as the mesosternum and metasternum.[7]

The tergal plates of the thorax are simple structures in apterygotes and in many immature insects, but are variously modified in winged adults. The pterothoracic nota each have two main divisions: the anterior, wing-bearing alinotum and the posterior, phragma-bearing postnotum. Phragmata (singular: phragma) are plate-like apodemes that extend inwards below the antecostal sutures, marking the primary intersegmental folds between segments; phragmata provide attachment for the longitudinal flight muscles. Each alinotum (sometimes confusingly referred to as a "notum") may be traversed by sutures that mark the position of internal strengthening ridges, and commonly divides the plate into three areas: the anterior prescutum, the scutum, and the smaller posterior scutellum. The lateral pleural sclerites are believed to be derived from the subcoxal segment of the ancestral insect leg. These sclerites may be separate, as in silverfish, or fused into an almost continuous sclerotic area, as in most winged insects.[1]:22–24

前胸

相较于其他胸版,前胸较小,构造也较为简单,但某些类群的前胸发达(如甲虫、螳螂、椿象和某些直翅目),甚至在蜚蠊目中,前胸极为发达且盖住部分的头部和中胸[7][1]:22–24

Pterothorax

Because the mesothorax and metathorax hold the wings, they have a combined name called the pterothorax (pteron = wing). The forewing, which goes by different names in different orders (e.g., the tegmina in Orthoptera and elytra in Coleoptera), arises between the mesonotum and the mesopleuron, and the hindwing articulates between the metanotum and metapleuron. The legs arise from the mesopleuron and metapleura. The mesothorax and metathorax each have a pleural suture (mesopleural and metapleural sutures) that runs from the wing base to the coxa of the leg. The sclerite anterior to the pleural suture is called the episternum (serially, the mesepisternum and metepisternum). The sclerite posterior to the suture is called the epimiron (serially, the mesepimiron and metepimiron). Spiracles, the external organs of the respiratory system, are found on the pterothorax, usually one between the pro- and mesopleoron, as well as one between the meso- and metapleuron.[7]

The ventral view or sternum follows the same convention, with the prosternum under the prothorax, the mesosternum under the mesothorax and the metasternum under the metathorax. The notum, pleura, and sternum of each segment have a variety of different sclerites and sutures, varying greatly from order to order, and they will not be discussed in detail in this section.[7]

Wings

Most phylogenetically advanced insects have two pairs of wings located on the second and third thoracic segments.[1]:22–24 Insects are the only invertebrates to have developed flight capability, and this has played an important part in their success. Insect flight is not very well understood, relying heavily on turbulent aerodynamic effects. The primitive insect groups use muscles that act directly on the wing structure. The more advanced groups making up the Neoptera have foldable wings, and their muscles act on the thorax wall and power the wings indirectly.[1]:22–24 These muscles are able to contract multiple times for each single nerve impulse, allowing the wings to beat faster than would ordinarily be possible.

Insect flight can be extremely fast, maneuverable, and versatile, possibly due to the changing shape, extraordinary control, and variable motion of the insect wing. Insect orders use different flight mechanisms; for example, the flight of a butterfly can be explained using steady-state, nontransitory aerodynamics, and thin airfoil theory.

Thumb
Internal

Each of the wings consists of a thin membrane supported by a system of veins. The membrane is formed by two layers of integument closely apposed, while the veins are formed where the two layers remain separate and the cuticle may be thicker and more heavily sclerotized. Within each of the major veins is a nerve and a trachea, and, since the cavities of the veins are connected with the hemocoel, hemolymph can flow into the wings.[28] Also, the wing lumen, being an extension of the hemocoel, contains the tracheae, nerves, and hemolymph. As the wing develops, the dorsal and ventral integumental layers become closely apposed over most of their area, forming the wing membrane. The remaining areas form channels, the future veins, in which the nerves and tracheae may occur. The cuticle surrounding the veins becomes thickened and more heavily sclerotized to provide strength and rigidity to the wing. Hairs of two types may occur on the wings: microtrichia, which are small and irregularly scattered, and macrotrichia, which are larger, socketed, and may be restricted to veins. The scales of Lepidoptera and Trichoptera are highly modified macrotrichia.[26]

Veins
Thumb
Venation of insect wings, based on the Comstock-Needham system

In some very small insects, the venation may be greatly reduced. In chalcid wasps, for instance, only the subcosta and part of the radius are present. Conversely, an increase in venation may occur by the branching of existing veins to produce accessory veins or by the development of additional, intercalary veins between the original ones, as in the wings of Orthoptera (grasshoppers and crickets). Large numbers of cross-veins are present in some insects, and they may form a reticulum as in the wings of Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies) and at the base of the forewings of Tettigonioidea and Acridoidea (katydids and grasshoppers, respectively).[28]

The archedictyon is the name given to a hypothetical scheme of wing venation proposed for the very first winged insect. It is based on a combination of speculation and fossil data. Since all winged insects are believed to have evolved from a common ancestor, the archediction represents the "template" that has been modified (and streamlined) by natural selection for 200 million years. According to current dogma, the archedictyon contained six to eight longitudinal veins. These veins (and their branches) are named according to a system devised by John Comstock and George Needham—the Comstock-Needham system:[37]

  • Costa (C) - the leading edge of the wing
  • Subcosta (Sc) - second longitudinal vein (behind the costa), typically unbranched
  • Radius (R) - third longitudinal vein, one to five branches reach the wing margin
  • Media (M) - fourth longitudinal vein, one to four branches reach the wing margin
  • Cubitus (Cu) - fifth longitudinal vein, one to three branches reach the wing margin
  • Anal veins (A1, A2, A3) - unbranched veins behind the cubitus

The costa (C) is the leading marginal vein on most insects, although a small vein, the precosta, is sometimes found above the costa. In almost all extant insects,[1]:41–42 the precosta is fused with the costa; the costa rarely ever branches because it is at the leading edge, which is associated at its base with the humeral plate. The trachea of the costal vein is perhaps a branch of the subcostal trachea. Located after the costa is the third vein, the subcosta, which branches into two separate veins: the anterior and posterior. The base of the subcosta is associated with the distal end of the neck of the first axillary. The fourth vein is the radius, which is branched into five separate veins. The radius is generally the strongest vein of the wing. Toward the middle of the wing, it forks into a first undivided branch (R1) and a second branch, called the radial sector (Ra), which subdivides dichotomously into four distal branches (R2, R3, R4, R5). Basally, the radius is flexibly united with the anterior end of the second axillary (2Ax).[38]

The fifth vein of the wing is the media. In the archetype pattern (A), the media forks into two main branches, a media anterior (MA), which divides into two distal branches (MA1, MA2), and a median sector, or media posterior (MP), which has four terminal branches (M1, M2, M3, M4). In most modern insects, the media anterior has been lost, and the usual "media" is the four-branched media posterior with the common basal stem. In the Ephemerida, according to present interpretations of the wing venation, both branches of the media are retained, while in Odonata, the persisting media is the primitive anterior branch. The stem of the media is often united with the radius, but when it occurs as a distinct vein, its base is associated with the distal median plate (m') or is continuously sclerotized with the latter. The cubitus, the sixth vein of the wing, is primarily two-branched. The primary forking takes place near the base of the wing, forming the two principal branches (Cu1, Cu2). The anterior branch may break up into a number of secondary branches, but commonly it forks into two distal branches. The second branch of the cubitus (Cu2) in Hymenoptera, Trichoptera, and Lepidoptera, was mistaken by Comstock and Needham for the first anal. Proximally, the main stem of the cubitus is associated with the distal median plate (m') of the wing base.[38]

The postcubitus (Pcu) is the first anal of the Comstock and Needham system. The postcubitus, however, has the status of an independent wing vein and should be recognized as such. In nymphal wings, its trachea arises between the cubital trachea and the group of vannal tracheae. In the mature wings of more generalized insects, the postcubitus is always associated proximally with the cubitus, and is never intimately connected with the flexor sclerite (3Ax) of the wing base. In Neuroptera, Mecoptera, and Trichoptera, the postcubitus may be more closely associated with the vannal veins, but its base is always free from the latter. The postcubitus is usually unbranched; primitively, it is two-branched. The vannal veins (lV to nV) are the anal veins immediately associated with the third axillary, and which are directly affected by the movement of this sclerite that brings about the flexion of the wings. In number, the vannal veins vary from one to 12, according to the expansion of the vannal area of the wing. The vannal tracheae usually arise from a common tracheal stem in nymphal insects, and the veins are regarded as branches of a single anal vein. Distally, the vannal veins are either simple or branched. The jugal vein (J) of the jugal lobe of the wing is often occupied by a network of irregular veins, or it may be entirely membranous; sometimes it contains one or two distinct, small veins, the first jugal vein, or vena arcuata, and the second jugal vein, or vena cardinalis (2J).[38]

  • C-Sc cross-veins - run between the costa and subcosta
  • R cross-veins - run between adjacent branches of the radius
  • R-M cross-veins - run between the radius and media
  • M-Cu cross-veins - run between the media and cubitus

All the veins of the wing are subject to secondary forking and to union by cross-veins. In some orders of insects, the cross-veins are so numerous, the whole venational pattern becomes a close network of branching veins and cross-veins. Ordinarily, however, a definite number of cross-veins having specific locations occurs. The more constant cross-veins are the humeral cross-vein (h) between the costa and subcosta, the radial cross-vein (r) between R and the first fork of Rs, the sectorial cross-vein (s) between the two forks of R8, the median cross-vein (m-m) between M2 and M3, and the mediocubital cross-vein (m-cu) between the media and the cubitus.[38]

The veins of insect wings are characterized by a convex-concave placement, such as those seen in mayflies (i.e., concave is "down" and convex is "up"), which alternate regularly and by their branching; whenever a vein forks there is always an interpolated vein of the opposite position between the two branches. The concave vein will fork into two concave veins (with the interpolated vein being convex) and the regular alteration of the veins is preserved.[39] The veins of the wing appear to fall into an undulating pattern according to whether they have a tendency to fold up or down when the wing is relaxed. The basal shafts of the veins are convex, but each vein forks distally into an anterior convex branch and a posterior concave branch. Thus, the costa and subcosta are regarded as convex and concave branches of a primary first vein, Rs is the concave branch of the radius, posterior media the concave branch of the media, Cu1 and Cu2 are respectively convex and concave, while the primitive postcubitus and the first vannal have each an anterior convex branch and a posterior concave branch. The convex or concave nature of the veins has been used as evidence in determining the identities of the persisting distal branches of the veins of modern insects, but it has not been demonstrated to be consistent for all wings.[28][38]

Fields
Thumb

Wing areas are delimited and subdivided by fold lines, along which the wings can fold, and flexion lines, which flex during flight. Between the flexion and the fold lines, the fundamental distinction is often blurred, as fold lines may permit some flexibility or vice versa. Two constants, found in nearly all insect wings, are the claval (a flexion line) and jugal folds (or fold line), forming variable and unsatisfactory boundaries. Wing foldings can very complicated, with transverse folding occurring in the hindwings of Dermaptera and Coleoptera, and in some insects, the anal area can be folded like a fan.[1]:41–42 The four different fields found on insect wings are:

  • Remigium
  • Anal area (vannus)
  • Jugal area
  • Axillary area
  • Alula

Most veins and cross-veins occur in the anterior area of the remigium, which is responsible for most of the flight, powered by the thoracic muscles. The posterior portion of the remigium is sometimes called the clavus[需要消歧义]; the two other posterior fields are the anal and jugal areas.[1]:41–42 When the vannal fold has the usual position anterior to the group of anal veins, the remigium contains the costal, subcostal, radial, medial, cubital, and postcubital veins. In the flexed wing, the remigium turns posteriorly on the flexible basal connection of the radius with the second axillary, and the base of the mediocubital field is folded medially on the axillary region along the plica basalis (bf) between the median plates (m, m') of the wing base.[38]

The vannus is bordered by the vannal fold, which typically occurs between the postcubitus and the first vannal vein. In Orthoptera, it usually has this position. In the forewing of Blattidae, however, the only fold in this part of the wing lies immediately before the postcubitus. In Plecoptera, the vannal fold is posterior to the postcubitus, but proximally it crosses the base of the first vannal vein. In the cicada, the vannal fold lies immediately behind the first vannal vein (lV). These small variations in the actual position of the vannal fold, however, do not affect the unity of action of the vannal veins, controlled by the flexor sclerite (3Ax), in the flexion of the wing. In the hindwings of most Orthoptera, a secondary vena dividens forms a rib in the vannal fold. The vannus is usually triangular in shape, and its veins typically spread out from the third axillary like the ribs of a fan. Some of the vannal veins may be branched, and secondary veins may alternate with the primary veins. The vannal region is usually best developed in the hindwing, in which it may be enlarged to form a sustaining surface, as in Plecoptera and Orthoptera. The great fan-like expansions of the hindwings of Acrididae are clearly the vannal regions, since their veins are all supported on the third axillary sclerites on the wing bases, though Martynov (1925) ascribes most of the fan areas in Acrididae to the jugal regions of the wings. The true jugum of the acridid wing is represented only by the small membrane (Ju) mesad of the last vannal vein. The jugum is more highly developed in some other Orthoptera, as in the Mantidae. In most of the higher insects with narrow wings, the vannus becomes reduced, and the vannal fold is lost, but even in such cases, the flexed wing may bend along a line between the postcubitus and the first vannal vein.[38]

The jugal region, or neala, is a region of the wing that is usually a small membranous area proximal to the base of the vannus strengthened by a few small, irregular vein-like thickenings; but when well developed, it is a distinct section of the wing and may contain one or two jugal veins. When the jugal area of the forewing is developed as a free lobe, it projects beneath the humeral angle of the hindwing and thus serves to yoke the two wings together. In the Jugatae group of Lepidoptera, it bears a long finger-like lobe. The jugal region was termed the neala ("new wing") because it is evidently a secondary and recently developed part of the wing.[38]

The auxiliary region containing the axillary sclerites has, in general, the form of a scalene triangle. The base of the triangle (a-b) is the hinge of the wing with the body; the apex (c) is the distal end of the third axillary sclerite; the longer side is anterior to the apex. The point d on the anterior side of the triangle marks the articulation of the radial vein with the second axillary sclerite. The line between d and c is the plica basalis (bf), or fold of the wing at the base of the mediocubital field.[38]

At the posterior angle of the wing base in some Diptera there is a pair of membranous lobes (squamae, or calypteres) known as the alula. The alula is well developed in the house fly. The outer squama (c) arises from the wing base behind the third axillary sclerite (3Ax) and evidently represents the jugal lobe of other insects (A, D); the larger inner squama (d) arises from the posterior scutellar margin of the tergum of the wing-bearing segment and forms a protective, hood-like canopy over the halter. In the flexed wing, the outer squama of the alula is turned upside down above the inner squama, the latter not being affected by the movement of the wing. In many Diptera, a deep incision of the anal area of the wing membrane behind the single vannal vein sets off a proximal alar lobe distal to the outer squama of the alula.[38]

Joints
Thumb

The various movements of the wings, especially in insects that flex their wings horizontally over their backs when at rest, demand a more complicated articular structure at the wing base than a mere hinge of the wing with the body. Each wing is attached to the body by a membranous basal area, but the articular membrane contains a number of small articular sclerites, collectively known as the pteralia. The pteralia include an anterior humeral plate at the base of the costal vein, a group of axillaries (Ax) associated with the subcostal, radial, and vannal veins, and two less definite median plates (m, m') at the base of the mediocubital area. The axillaries are specifically developed only in the wing-flexing insects, where they constitute the flexor mechanism of the wing operated by the flexor muscle arising on the pleuron. Characteristic of the wing base is also a small lobe on the anterior margin of the articular area proximal to the humeral plate, which, in the forewing of some insects, is developed into a large, flat, scale-like flap, the tegula, overlapping the base of the wing. Posteriorly, the articular membrane often forms an ample lobe between the wing and the body, and its margin is generally thickened and corrugated, giving the appearance of a ligament, the so-called axillary cord, continuous mesally with the posterior marginal scutellar fold of the tergal plate bearing the wing.[38]

The articular sclerites, or pteralia, of the wing base of the wing-flexing insects and their relations to the body and the wing veins, shown diagrammatically, are as follows:

  • Humeral plates
  • First Axillary
  • Second Axillary
  • Third Axillary
  • Fourth Axillary
  • Median plates (m, m')

The humeral plate is usually a small sclerite on the anterior margin of the wing base, movable and articulated with the base of the costal vein. Odonata have their humeral plates greatly enlargened,[38] with two muscles arising from the episternum inserted into the humeral plates and two from the edge of the epimeron inserted into the axillary plate.[28]

The first axillary sclerite (lAx) is the anterior hinge plate of the wing base. Its anterior part is supported on the anterior notal wing process of the tergum (ANP); its posterior part articulates with the tergal margin. The anterior end of the sclerite is generally produced as a slender arm, the apex of which (e) is always associated with the base of the subcostal vein (Sc), though it is not united with the latter. The body of the sclerite articulates laterally with the second axillary. The second axillary sclerite (2Ax) is more variable in form than the first axillary, but its mechanical relations are no less definite. It is obliquely hinged to the outer margin of the body of the first axillary, and the radial vein (R) is always flexibly attached to its anterior end (d). The second axillary presents both a dorsal and a ventral sclerotization in the wing base; its ventral surface rests upon the fulcral wing process of the pleuron. The second axillary, therefore, is the pivotal sclerite of the wing base, and it specifically manipulates the radial vein.[38]

The third axillary sclerite (3Ax) lies in the posterior part of the articular region of the wing. Its form is highly variable and often irregular, but the third axillary is the sclerite on which is inserted the flexor muscle of the wing (D). Mesally, it articulates anteriorly (f) with the posterior end of the second axillary, and posteriorly (b) with the posterior wing process of the tergum (PNP), or with a small fourth axillary when the latter is present. Distally, the third axillary is prolonged in a process always associated with the bases of the group of veins in the anal region of the wing, here termed the vannal veins (V). The third axillary, therefore, is usually the posterior hinge plate of the wing base and is the active sclerite of the flexor mechanism, which directly manipulates the vannal veins. The contraction of the flexor muscle (D) revolves the third axillary on its mesal articulations (b, f), and thereby lifts its distal arm; this movement produces the flexion of the wing. The fourth axillary sclerite is not a constant element of the wing base. When present, it is usually a small plate intervening between the third axillary and the posterior notal wing process, and is probably a detached piece of the latter.[38]

The median plates (m, m') are also sclerites that are not so definitely differentiated as specific plates as are the three principal axillaries, but they are important elements of the flexor apparatus. They lie in the median area of the wing base distal to the second and third axillaries, and are separated from each other by an oblique line (bf), which forms a prominent convex fold during flexion of the wing. The proximal plate (m) is usually attached to the distal arm of the third axillary and perhaps should be regarded as a part of the latter. The distal plate (m') is less constantly present as a distinct sclerite, and may be represented by a general sclerotization of the base of the mediocubital field of the wing. When the veins of this region are distinct at their bases, they are associated with the outer median plate.[38]

Coupling, folding, and other features

In many insect species, the forewing and hindwing are coupled together, which improves the aerodynamic efficiency of flight. The most common coupling mechanism (e.g., Hymenoptera and Trichoptera) is a row of small hooks on the forward margin of the hindwing, or "hamuli", which lock onto the forewing, keeping them held together (hamulate coupling). In some other insect species (e.g., Mecoptera, Lepidoptera, and some Trichoptera) the jugal lobe of the forewing covers a portion of the hindwing (jugal coupling), or the margins of the forewing and hindwing overlap broadly (amplexiform coupling), or the hindwing bristles, or frenulum, hook under the retaining structure or retinalucum on the forewing.[1]:43

When at rest, the wings are held over the back in most insects, which may involve longitudinal folding of the wing membrane and sometimes also transverse folding. Folding may sometimes occur along the flexion lines. Though fold lines may be transverse, as in the hindwings of beetles and earwigs, they are normally radial to the base of the wing, allowing adjacent sections of a wing to be folded over or under each other. The commonest fold line is the jugal fold, situated just behind the third anal vein,[26] although, most Neoptera have a jugal fold just behind vein 3A on the forewings. It is sometimes also present on the hindwings. Where the anal area of the hindwing is large, as in Orthoptera and Blattodea, the whole of this part may be folded under the anterior part of the wing along a vannal fold a little posterior to the claval furrow. In addition, in Orthoptera and Blattodea, the anal area is folded like a fan along the veins, the anal veins being convex, at the crests of the folds, and the accessory veins concave. Whereas the claval furrow and jugal fold are probably homologous in different species, the vannal fold varies in position in different taxa. Folding is produced by a muscle arising on the pleuron and inserted into the third axillary sclerite in such a waythat, when it contracts, the sclerite pivots about its points of articulation with the posterior notal process and the second axillary sclerite.[28]

As a result, the distal arm of the third axillary sclerite rotates upwards and inwards, so that finally its position is completely reversed. The anal veins are articulated with this sclerite in such a way that when it moves they are carried with it and become flexed over the back of the insect. Activity of the same muscle in flight affects the power output of the wing and so it is also important in flight control. In orthopteroid insects, the elasticity of the cuticle causes the vannal area of the wing to fold along the veins. Consequently, energy is expended in unfolding this region when the wings are moved to the flight position. In general, wing extension probably results from the contraction of muscles attached to the basalar sclerite or, in some insects, to the subalar sclerite.[28]

Legs

The typical and usual segments of the insect leg are divided into the coxa, one trochanter, the femur, the tibia, the tarsus, and the pretarsus. The coxa in its more symmetrical form, has the shape of a short cylinder or truncate cone, though commonly it is ovate and may be almost spherical. The proximal end of the coxa is girdled by a submarginal basicostal suture that forms internally a ridge, or basicosta, and sets off a marginal flange, the coxomarginale, or basicoxite. The basicosta strengthens the base of the coxa and is commonly enlarged on the outer wall to give insertion to muscles; on the mesal half of the coxa, however, it is usually weak and often confluent with the coxal margin. The trochanteral muscles that take their origin in the coxa are always attached distal to the basicosta. The coxa is attached to the body by an articular membrane, the coxal corium, which surrounds its base. These two articulations are perhaps the primary dorsal and ventral articular points of the subcoxo-coxal hinge. In addition, the insect coxa has often an anterior articulation with the anterior, ventral end of the trochantin, but the trochantinal articulation does not coexist with a sternal articulation. The pleural articular surface of the coxa is borne on a mesal inflection of the coxal wall. If the coxa is movable on the pleural articulation alone, the coxal articular surface is usually inflected to a sufficient depth to give a leverage to the abductor muscles inserted on the outer rim of the coxal base. Distally the coxa bears an anterior and a posterior articulation with the trochanter. The outer wall of the coxa is often marked by a suture extending from the base to the anterior trochanteral articulation. In some insects the coxal suture falls in line with the pleural suture, and in such cases the coxa appears to be divided into two parts corresponding to the episternum and epimeron of the pleuron. The coxal suture is absent in many insects.[38]:163–164

The inflection of the coxal wall bearing the pleural articular surface divides the lateral wall of the basicoxite into a prearticular part and a postarticular part, and the two areas often appear as two marginal lobes on the base of the coxa. The posterior lobe is usually the larger and is termed the meron. The meron may be greatly enlarged by an extension distally in the posterior wall of the coxa; in the Neuroptera, Mecoptera, Trichoptera, and Lepidoptera, the meron is so large that the coxa appears to be divided into an anterior piece, the so-called "coxa genuina," and the meron, but the meron never includes the region of the posterior trochanteral articulation, and the groove delimiting it is always a part of the basicostal suture. A coxa with an enlarged meron has an appearance similar to one divided by a coxal suture falling in line with the pleural suture, but the two conditions are fundamentally quite different and should not be confused. The meron reaches the extreme of its departure from the usual condition in the Diptera. In some of the more generalized flies, as in the Tipulidae, the meron of the middle leg appears as a large lobe of the coxa projecting upward and posteriorly from the coxal base; in higher members of the order it becomes completely separated from the coxa and forms a plate of the lateral wall of the mesothorax.[38]:164

The trochanter is the basal segment of the telopodite; it is always a small segment in the insect leg, freely movable by a horizontal hinge on the coxa, but more or less fixed to the base of the femur. When movable on the femur the trochantero femoral hinge is usually vertical or oblique in a vertical plane, giving a slight movement of production and reduction at the joint, though only a reductor muscle is present. In the Odonata, both nymphs and adults, there are two trochanteral segments, but they are not movable on each other; the second contains the reductor muscle of the femur. The usual single trochanteral segment of insects, therefore, probably represents the two trochanters of other arthropods fused into one apparent segment, since it is not likely that the primary coxotrochanteral hinge has been lost from the leg. In some of the Hymenoptera a basal subdivision of the femur simulates a second trochanter, but the insertion of the reductor muscle on its base attests that it belongs to the femoral segment, since as shown in the odonate leg, the reductor has its origin in the true second trochanter.[38]:165

The femur is the third segment of the insect leg, is usually the longest and strongest part of the limb, but it varies in size from the huge hind femur of leaping Orthoptera to a very small segment such as is present in many larval forms. The volume of the femur is generally correlated with the size of the tibial muscles contained within it, but it is sometimes enlarged and modified in shape for other purposes than that of accommodating the tibial muscles. The tibia is characteristically a slender segment in adult insects, only a little shorter than the femur or the combined femur and trochanter. Its proximal end forms a more or less distinct head bent toward the femur, a device allowing the tibia to be flexed close against the under surface of the femur.[38]:165

The terms profemur, mesofemur and metafemur refer to the femora of the front, middle and hind legs of an insect, respectively.[40] Similarly protibia, mesotibia and metatibia refer to the tibiae of the front, middle and hind legs.[41]

The tarsus of insects corresponds to the penultimate segment of a generalized arthropod limb, which is the segment called the propodite in Crustacea. adult insects it is commonly subdivided into from two to five subsegments, or tarsomeres, but in the Protura, some Collembola, and most holometabolous insect larvae it preserves the primitive form of a simple segment. The subsegments of the adult insect tarsus are usually freely movable on one another by inflected connecting membranes, but the tarsus never has intrinsic muscles. The tarsus of adult pterygote insects having fewer than five subsegments is probably specialized by the loss of one or more subsegments or by a fusion of adjoining subsegments. In the tarsi of Acrididae the long basal piece is evidently composed of three united tarsomeres, leaving the fourth and the fifth. The basal tarsomere is sometimes conspicuously enlarged and is distinguished as the basitarsus. On the under surfaces of the tarsal subsegments in certain Orthoptera there are small pads, the tarsal pulvilli, or euplantulae. The tarsus is occasionally fused with the tibia in larval insects, forming a tibiotarsal segment; in some cases it appears to be eliminated or reduced to a rudiment between the tibia and the pretarsus.[38]:165–166

For the most part the femur and tibia are the longest leg segments but variations in the lengths and robustness of each segment relate to their functions. For example, gressorial and cursorial, or walking and running type insects respectively, usually have well-developed femora and tibiae on all legs, whereas jumping (saltatorial) insects such as grasshoppers have disproportionately developed metafemora and metatibiae. In aquatic beetles (Coleoptera) and bugs (Hemiptera), the tibiae and/or tarsi of one or more pairs of legs usually are modified for swimming (natatorial) with fringes of long, slender hairs. Many ground-dwelling insects, such as mole crickets (Orthoptera: Gryllotalpidae), nymphal cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae), and scarab beetles (Scarabaeidae), have the tibiae of the forelegs (protibiae) enlarged and modified for digging (fossorial), whereas the forelegs of some predatory insects, such as mantispid lacewings (Neuroptera) and mantids (Mantodea), are specialized for seizing prey, or raptorial. The tibia and basal tarsomere of each hindleg of honey bees are modified for the collection and carriage of pollen.[28]:45

Abdomen

The ground plan of the abdomen of an adult insect typically consists of 11–12 segments and is less strongly sclerotized than the head or thorax. Each segment of the abdomen is represented by a sclerotized tergum, sternum, and perhaps a pleurite. Terga are separated from each other and from the adjacent sterna or pleura by a membrane. Spiracles are located in the pleural area. Variation of this ground plan includes the fusion of terga or terga and sterna to form continuous dorsal or ventral shields or a conical tube. Some insects bear a sclerite in the pleural area called a laterotergite. Ventral sclerites are sometimes called laterosternites. During the embryonic stage of many insects and the postembryonic stage of primitive insects, 11 abdominal segments are present. In modern insects there is a tendency toward reduction in the number of the abdominal segments, but the primitive number of 11 is maintained during embryogenesis.Variation in abdominal segment number is considerable. If the Apterygota are considered to be indicative of the ground plan for pterygotes, confusion reigns: adult Protura have 12 segments, Collembola have 6. The orthopteran family Acrididae has 11 segments, and a fossil specimen of Zoraptera has a 10-segmented abdomen.[7]

Generally, the first seven abdominal segments of adults (the pregenital segments) are similar in structure and lack appendages. However, apterygotes (bristletails and silverfish) and many immature aquatic insects have abdominal appendages. Apterygotes possess a pair of styles; rudimentary appendages that are serially homologous with the distal part of the thoracic legs. And, mesally, one or two pairs of protrusible (or exsertile) vesicles on at least some abdominal segments. These vesicles are derived from the coxal and trochanteral endites (inner annulated lobes) of the ancestral abdominal appendages. Aquatic larvae and nymphs may have gills laterally on some to most abdominal segments.[1]:49 Of the rest of the abdominal segments consist of the reproductive and anal parts.

The anal-genital part of the abdomen, known as the terminalia, consists generally of segments 8 or 9 to the abdominal apex. Segments 8 and 9 bear the genitalia; segment 10 is visible as a complete segment in many "lower" insects but always lacks appendages; and the small segment 11 is represented by a dorsal epiproct and pair of ventral paraprocts derived from the sternum. A pair of appendages, the cerci, articulates laterally on segment 11; typically these are annulated and filamentous but have been modified (e.g. the forceps of earwigs) or reduced in different insect orders. An annulated caudal filament, the median appendix dorsalis, arises from the tip of the epiproct in apterygotes, most mayflies (Ephemeroptera), and a few fossil insects. A similar structure in nymphal stoneflies (Plecoptera) is of uncertain homology. These terminal abdominal segments have excretory and sensory functions in all insects, but in adults there is an additional reproductive function.[1]:49

External genitalia

Thumb
The abdominal terminus of male scorpionflies is enlarged into a "genital bulb", as seen in Panorpa communis

The organs concerned specifically with mating and the deposition of eggs are known collectively as the external genitalia, although they may be largely internal. The components of the external genitalia of insects are very diverse in form and often have considerable taxonomic value, particularly among species that appear structurally similar in other respects. The male external genitalia have been used widely to aid in distinguishing species, whereas the female external genitalia may be simpler and less varied.

The terminalia of adult female insects include internal structures for receiving the male copulatory organ and his spermatozoa and external structures used for oviposition (egg-laying; section 5.8). Most female insects have an egg-laying tube, or ovipositor; it is absent in termites, parasitic lice, many Plecoptera, and most Ephemeroptera. Ovipositors take two forms:

  1. true, or appendicular, formed from appendages of abdominal segments 8 and 9;
  1. substitutional, composed of extensible posterior abdominal segments.

Other appendages

Internal

Nervous system

The nervous system of an insect can be divided into a brain and a ventral nerve cord. The head capsule is made up of six fused segments, each with a pair of ganglia, or a cluster of nerve cells outside of the brain. The first three pairs of ganglia are fused into the brain, while the three following pairs are fused into a structure of three pairs of ganglia under the insect's esophagus, called the subesophageal ganglion.[1]:57

The thoracic segments have one ganglion on each side, which are connected into a pair, one pair per segment. This arrangement is also seen in the abdomen but only in the first eight segments. Many species of insects have reduced numbers of ganglia due to fusion or reduction.[42] Some cockroaches have just six ganglia in the abdomen, whereas the wasp Vespa crabro has only two in the thorax and three in the abdomen. Some insects, like the house fly Musca domestica, have all the body ganglia fused into a single large thoracic ganglion.

At least a few insects have nociceptors, cells that detect and transmit sensations of pain.[43] This was discovered in 2003 by studying the variation in reactions of larvae of the common fruitfly Drosophila to the touch of a heated probe and an unheated one. The larvae reacted to the touch of the heated probe with a stereotypical rolling behavior that was not exhibited when the larvae were touched by the unheated probe.[44] Although nociception has been demonstrated in insects, there is not a consensus that insects feel pain consciously.[45]

Digestive system

An insect uses its digestive system to extract nutrients and other substances from the food it consumes.[46] Most of this food is ingested in the form of macromolecules and other complex substances like proteins, polysaccharides, fats, and nucleic acids. These macromolecules must be broken down by catabolic reactions into smaller molecules like amino acids and simple sugars before being used by cells of the body for energy, growth, or reproduction. This break-down process is known as digestion. The main structure of an insect's digestive system is a long enclosed tube called the alimentary canal, which runs lengthwise through the body. The alimentary canal directs food in one direction: from the mouth to the anus. It has three sections, each of which performs a different process of digestion. In addition to the alimentary canal, insects also have paired salivary glands and salivary reservoirs. These structures usually reside in the thorax, adjacent to the foregut.[1]:70–77 The gut is where almost all of insects' digestion takes place. It can be divided into the foregut, midgut and hindgut.

Foregut

Thumb
Stylized diagram of insect digestive tract showing malpighian tubule, from an insect of the order Orthoptera.

The first section of the alimentary canal is the foregut (element 27 in numbered diagram), or stomodaeum. The foregut is lined with a cuticular lining made of chitin and proteins as protection from tough food. The foregut includes the buccal cavity (mouth), pharynx, esophagus, and Crop and proventriculus (any part may be highly modified), which both store food and signify when to continue passing onward to the midgut.[1]:70 Here, digestion starts as partially chewed food is broken down by saliva from the salivary glands. As the salivary glands produce fluid and carbohydrate-digesting enzymes (mostly amylases), strong muscles in the pharynx pump fluid into the buccal cavity, lubricating the food like the salivarium does, and helping blood feeders, and xylem and phloem feeders.

From there, the pharynx passes food to the esophagus, which could be just a simple tube passing it on to the crop and proventriculus, and then on ward to the midgut, as in most insects. Alternately, the foregut may expand into a very enlarged crop and proventriculus, or the crop could just be a diverticulum, or fluid filled structure, as in some Diptera species.[47]:30–31

Thumb
Bumblebee defecating. Note the contraction of the anus, which provides internal pressure.

The salivary glands (element 30 in numbered diagram) in an insect's mouth produce saliva. The salivary ducts lead from the glands to the reservoirs and then forward through the head to an opening called the salivarium, located behind the hypopharynx. By moving its mouthparts (element 32 in numbered diagram) the insect can mix its food with saliva. The mixture of saliva and food then travels through the salivary tubes into the mouth, where it begins to break down.[46][48] Some insects, like flies, have extra-oral digestion. Insects using extra-oral digestion expel digestive enzymes onto their food to break it down. This strategy allows insects to extract a significant proportion of the available nutrients from the food source.[47]:31

中肠

食物通过嗉囊后会进入中肠 (Midgut 或 mesenteron)(页首图中的13号),大部分的食物在中肠被消化。中肠的肠壁上有微小的突起,称作微绒毛 (microvilli) ,微绒毛能增加表面积以吸收养分,微绒毛通常生于中肠的前端。微绒毛的位置与功能因物种而异,例如能分泌消化酶的特化微绒毛生于中肠的末端,而负责吸收养分的则生于中肠前端[47]:32

Hindgut

In the hindgut (element 16 in numbered diagram), or proctodaeum, undigested food particles are joined by uric acid to form fecal pellets. The rectum absorbs 90% of the water in these fecal pellets, and the dry pellet is then eliminated through the anus (element 17), completing the process of digestion. The uric acid is formed using hemolymph waste products diffused from the Malpighian tubules (element 20). It is then emptied directly into the alimentary canal, at the junction between the midgut and hindgut. The number of Malpighian tubules possessed by a given insect varies between species, ranging from only two tubules in some insects to over 100 tubules in others.[1]:71–72, 78–80

Respiratory systems

Insect respiration is accomplished without lungs. Instead, the insect respiratory system uses a system of internal tubes and sacs through which gases either diffuse or are actively pumped, delivering oxygen directly to tissues that need it via their trachea (element 8 in numbered diagram). Since oxygen is delivered directly, the circulatory system is not used to carry oxygen, and is therefore greatly reduced. The insect circulatory system has no veins or arteries, and instead consists of little more than a single, perforated dorsal tube that pulses peristaltically. Toward the thorax, the dorsal tube (element 14) divides into chambers and acts like the insect's heart. The opposite end of the dorsal tube is like the aorta of the insect circulating the hemolymph, arthropods' fluid analog of blood, inside the body cavity.[1]:61–65[49] Air is taken in through openings on the sides of the abdomen called spiracles.

There are many different patterns of gas exchange demonstrated by different groups of insects. Gas exchange patterns in insects can range from continuous and diffusive ventilation, to discontinuous gas exchange.[1]:65–68 During continuous gas exchange, oxygen is taken in and carbon dioxide is released in a continuous cycle. In discontinuous gas exchange, however, the insect takes in oxygen while it is active and small amounts of carbon dioxide are released when the insect is at rest.[50] Diffusive ventilation is simply a form of continuous gas exchange that occurs by diffusion rather than physically taking in the oxygen. Some species of insect that are submerged also have adaptations to aid in respiration. As larvae, many insects have gills that can extract oxygen dissolved in water, while others need to rise to the water surface to replenish air supplies, which may be held or trapped in special structures.[51][52]

Circulatory system

Insect blood or haemolymph's main function is that of transport and it bathes the insect's body organs. Making up usually less than 25% of an insect's body weight, it transports hormones, nutrients and wastes and has a role in, osmoregulation, temperature control, immunity, storage (water, carbohydrates and fats) and skeletal function. It also plays an essential part in the moulting process.[53][54] An additional role of the haemolymph in some orders, can be that of predatory defence. It can contain unpalatable and malodourous chemicals that will act as a deterrent to predators.[1] Haemolymph contains molecules, ions and cells;[1] regulating chemical exchanges between tissues, haemolymph is encased in the insect body cavity or haemocoel.[1][55] It is transported around the body by combined heart (posterior) and aorta (anterior) pulsations, which are located dorsally just under the surface of the body.[1][53][54] It differs from vertebrate blood in that it doesn't contain any red blood cells and therefore is without high oxygen carrying capacity, and is more similar to lymph found in vertebrates.[1][55]

Body fluids enter through one-way valved ostia, which are openings situated along the length of the combined aorta and heart organ. Pumping of the haemolymph occurs by waves of peristaltic contraction, originating at the body's posterior end, pumping forwards into the dorsal vessel, out via the aorta and then into the head where it flows out into the haemocoel.[1][55] The haemolymph is circulated to the appendages unidirectionally with the aid of muscular pumps or accessory pulsatile organs usually found at the base of the antennae or wings and sometimes in the legs,[1] with pumping rates accelerating with periods of increased activity.[54] Movement of haemolymph is particularly important for thermoregulation in orders such as Odonata, Lepidoptera, Hymenoptera and Diptera.[1]

内分泌系统

内分泌系统包括:

1. 神经分泌细胞 (Neurosecretory cells)

2. 心侧腺 (Corpora cardiaca)

3. 前胸腺 (Prothoracic glands)

4. 咽侧线 (Corpora allata)[56][57]

Reproductive system

Female

Female insects are able make eggs, receive and store sperm, manipulate sperm from different males, and lay eggs. Their reproductive systems are made up of a pair of ovaries, accessory glands, one or more spermathecae, and ducts connecting these parts. The ovaries make eggs and accessory glands produce the substances to help package and lay the eggs. Spermathecae store sperm for varying periods of time and, along with portions of the oviducts, can control sperm use. The ducts and spermathecae are lined with a cuticle.[7]:880

The ovaries are made up of a number of egg tubes, called ovarioles, which vary in size and number by species. The number of eggs that the insect is able to make vary by the number of ovarioles with the rate that eggs can be developed being also influenced by ovariole design. In meroistic ovaries, the eggs-to-be divide repeatedly and most of the daughter cells become helper cells for a single oocyte in the cluster. In panoistic ovaries, each egg-to-be produced by stem germ cells develops into an oocyte; there are no helper cells from the germ line. Production of eggs by panoistic ovaries tends to be slower than that by meroistic ovaries.[7]:880

Accessory glands or glandular parts of the oviducts produce a variety of substances for sperm maintenance, transport, and fertilization, as well as for protection of eggs. They can produce glue and protective substances for coating eggs or tough coverings for a batch of eggs called oothecae. Spermathecae are tubes or sacs in which sperm can be stored between the time of mating and the time an egg is fertilized. Paternity testing of insects has revealed that some, and probably many, female insects use the spermatheca and various ducts to control or bias sperm used in favor of some males over others.[7]:880

Male

The main component of the male reproductive system is the testis, suspended in the body cavity by tracheae and the fat body. The more primitive apterygote insects have a single testis, and in some lepidopterans the two maturing testes are secondarily fused into one structure during the later stages of larval development, although the ducts leading from them remain separate. However, most male insects have a pair of testes, inside of which are sperm tubes or follicles that are enclosed within a membranous sac. The follicles connect to the vas deferens by the vas efferens, and the two tubular vasa deferentia connect to a median ejaculatory duct that leads to the outside. A portion of the vas deferens is often enlarged to form the seminal vesicle, which stores the sperm before they are discharged into the female. The seminal vesicles have glandular linings that secrete nutrients for nourishment and maintenance of the sperm. The ejaculatory duct is derived from an invagination of the epidermal cells during development and, as a result, has a cuticular lining. The terminal portion of the ejaculatory duct may be sclerotized to form the intromittent organ, the aedeagus. The remainder of the male reproductive system is derived from embryonic mesoderm, except for the germ cells, or spermatogonia, which descend from the primordial pole cells very early during embryogenesis.[7]:885 The aedeagus can be quite pronounced or de minimis. The base of the aedeagus may be the partially sclerotized phallotheca, also called the phallosoma or theca. In some species the phallotheca contains a space, called the endosoma (internal holding pouch), into which the tip end of the aedeagus may be withdrawn (retracted). The vas deferens is sometimes drawn into (folded into) the phallotheca together with a seminal vesicle.[58][59]

不同类群的内部形态

Blattodea

Cockroaches are most common in tropical and subtropical climates. Some species are in close association with human dwellings and widely found around garbage or in the kitchen. Cockroaches are generally omnivorous with the exception of the wood-eating species such as Cryptocercus; these roaches are incapable of digesting cellulose themselves, but have symbiotic relationships with various protozoans and bacteria that digest the cellulose, allowing them to extract the nutrients. The similarity of these symbionts in the genus Cryptocercus to those in termites are such that it has been suggested that they are more closely related to termites than to other cockroaches,[60] and current research strongly supports this hypothesis of relationships.[61] All species studied so far carry the obligate mutualistic endosymbiont bacterium Blattabacterium, with the exception of Nocticola australiensis, an Australian cave dwelling species without eyes, pigment or wings, and which recent genetic studies indicates are very primitive cockroaches.[62][63]

Cockroaches, like all insects, breathe through a system of tubes called tracheae. The tracheae of insects are attached to the spiracles, excluding the head. Thus cockroaches, like all insects, are not dependent on the mouth and windpipe to breathe. The valves open when the CO2 level in the insect rises to a high level; then the CO2 diffuses out of the tracheae to the outside and fresh O2 diffuses in. Unlike in vertebrates that depend on blood for transporting O2 and CO2, the tracheal system brings the air directly to cells, the tracheal tubes branching continually like a tree until their finest divisions, tracheoles, are associated with each cell, allowing gaseous oxygen to dissolve in the cytoplasm lying across the fine cuticle lining of the tracheole. CO2 diffuses out of the cell into the tracheole. While cockroaches do not have lungs and thus do not actively breathe in the vertebrate lung manner, in some very large species the body musculature may contract rhythmically to forcibly move air out and in the spiracles; this may be considered a form of breathing.[64]

Coleoptera

The digestive system of beetles is primarily based on plants, which they for the most part feed upon, with mostly the anterior midgut performing digestion. However, in predatory species (e.g., Carabidae) most digestion occurs in the crop by means of midgut enzymes. In Elateridae species, the predatory larvae defecate enzymes on their prey, with digestion being extraorally.[7] The alimentary canal basically comprises a short narrow pharynx, a widened expansion, the crop and a poorly developed gizzard. After there is a midgut, that varies in dimensions between species, with a large amount of cecum, with a hingut, with varying lengths. There are typically four to six Malpighian tubules.[65]

The nervous system in beetles contains all the types found in insects, varying between different species. With three thoracic and seven or eight abdominal ganglia can be distinguished to that in which all the thoracic and abdominal ganglia are fused to form a composite structure. Oxygen is obtained via a tracheal system. Air enters a series of tubes along the body through openings called spiracles, and is then taken into increasingly finer fibers.[7] Pumping movements of the body force the air through the system. Some species of diving beetles (Dytiscidae) carry a bubble of air with them whenever they dive beneath the water surface. This bubble may be held under the elytra or it may be trapped against the body using specialized hairs. The bubble usually covers one or more spiracles so the insect can breathe air from the bubble while submerged. An air bubble provides an insect with only a short-term supply of oxygen, but thanks to its unique physical properties, oxygen will diffuse into the bubble and displacing the nitrogen, called passive diffusion, however the volume of the bubble eventually diminishes and the beetle will have to return to the surface.[66]

Like other insect species, beetles have hemolymph instead of blood. The open circulatory system of the beetle is driven by a tube-like heart attached to the top inside of the thorax.

Different glands specialize for different pheromones produced for finding mates. Pheromones from species of Rutelinea are produced from epithelial cells lining the inner surface of the apical abdominal segments or amino acid based pheromones of Melolonthinae from eversible glands on the abdominal apex. Other species produce different types of pheromones. Dermestids produce esters, and species of Elateridae produce fatty-acid-derived aldehydes and acetates.[7] For means of finding a mate also, fireflies (Lampyridae) utilized modified fat body cells with transparent surfaces backed with reflective uric acid crystals to biosynthetically produce light, or bioluminescence. The light produce is highly efficient, as it is produced by oxidation of luciferin by the enzymes luciferase in the presence of ATP (adenosine triphospate) and oxygen, producing oxyluciferin, carbon dioxide, and light.[7]

A notable number of species have developed special glands that produce chemicals for deterring predators (see Defense and predation). The Ground beetle's (of Carabidae) defensive glands, located at the posterior, produce a variety of hydrocarbons, aldehydes, phenols, quinones, esters, and acids released from an opening at the end of the abdomen. While African carabid beetles (e.g., Anthia some of which used to comprise the genus Thermophilum) employ the same chemicals as ants: formic acid.[31] While Bombardier beetles have well developed, like other carabid beetles, pygidial glands that empty from the lateral edges of the intersegment membranes between the seventh and eighth abdominal segments. The gland is made of two containing chambers. The first holds hydroquinones and hydrogen peroxide, with the second holding just hydrogen peroxide plus catalases. These chemicals mix and result in an explosive ejection, forming temperatures of around 100 C, with the breakdown of hydroquinone to H2 + O2 + quinone, with the O2 propelling the excretion.[7]

Tympanal organs are hearing organs. Such an organ is generally a membrane (tympanum) stretched across a frame backed by an air sac and associated sensory neurons. In the order Coleoptera, tympanal organs have been described in at least two families.[30] Several species of the genus Cicindela in the family Cicindelidae have ears on the dorsal surface of the first abdominal segment beneath the wing; two tribes in the family Dynastinae (Scarabaeidae) have ears just beneath the pronotal shield or neck membrane. The ears of both families are to ultrasonic frequencies, with strong evidence that they function to detect the presence of bats via their ultrasonic echolocation. Even though beetles constitute a large order and live in a variety of niches, examples of hearing is surprisingly lacking in species, though it is likely that most are just undiscovered.[7]

Dermaptera

The neuroendocrine system is typical of insects. There is a brain, a subesophageal ganglion, three thoracic ganglia, and six abdominal ganglia. Strong neuron connections connect the neurohemal corpora cardiaca to the brain and frontal ganglion, where the closely related median corpus allatum produces juvenile hormone III in close proximity to the neurohemal dorsal aorta. The digestive system of earwigs is like all other insects, consisting of a fore-, mid-, and hindgut, but earwigs lack gastric caecae which are specialized for digestion in many species of insect. Long, slender (extratory) malpighian tubules can be found between the junction of the mid- and hind gut.[7]

The reproductive system of females consist of paired ovaries, lateral oviducts, spermatheca, and a genital chamber. The lateral ducts are where the eggs leave the body, while the spermatheca is where sperm is stored. Unlike other insects, the gonopore, or genital opening is behind the seventh abdominal segment. The ovaries are primitive in that they are polytrophic (the nurse cells and oocytes alternate along the length of the ovariole). In some species these long ovarioles branch off the lateral duct, while in others, short ovarioles appear around the duct.[7]

Diptera

The genitalia of female flies are rotated to a varying degree from the position found in other insects. In some flies this is a temporary rotation during mating, but in others it is a permanent torsion of the organs that occurs during the pupal stage. This torsion may lead to the anus being located below the genitals, or, in the case of 360° torsion, to the sperm duct being wrapped around the gut, despite the external organs being in their usual position. When flies mate, the male initially flies on top of the female, facing in the same direction, but then turns round to face in the opposite direction. This forces the male to lie on its back in order for its genitalia to remain engaged with those of the female, or the torsion of the male genitals allows the male to mate while remaining upright. This leads to flies having more reproduction abilities than most insects and at a much quicker rate. Flies come in great populations due to their ability to mate effectively and in a short period of time especially during the mating season.[67]

The female lays her eggs as close to the food source as possible, and development is very rapid, allowing the larva to consume as much food as possible in a short period of time before transforming into the adult. The eggs hatch immediately after being laid, or the flies are ovoviviparous, with the larva hatching inside the mother.[67] Larval flies, or maggots, have no true legs, and little demarcation between the thorax and abdomen; in the more derived species, the head is not clearly distinguishable from the rest of the body. Maggots are limbless, or else have small prolegs. The eyes and antennae are reduced or absent, and the abdomen also lacks appendages such as cerci. This lack of features is an adaptation to a food-rich environment, such as within rotting organic matter, or as an endoparasite.[67] The pupae take various forms, and in some cases develop inside a silk cocoon. After emerging from the pupa, the adult fly rarely lives more than a few days, and serves mainly to reproduce and to disperse in search of new food sources.

Lepidoptera

In reproductive system of butterflies and moths, the male genitalia are complex and unclear. In females there are three types of genitalia based on the relating taxa: monotrysian, exoporian, and dytresian. In the monotrysian type there is an opening on the fused segments of the sterna 9 and 10, which act as insemination and oviposition. In the exoporian type (in Hepaloidae and Mnesarchaeoidea) there are two separate places for insemination and oviposition, both occurring on the same sterna as the monotrysian type, 9/10. In most species the genitalia are flanked by two soft lobes, although they may be specialized and sclerotized in some species for ovipositing in area such as crevices and inside plant tissue.[65] Hormones and the glands that produce them run the development of butterflies and moths as they go through their life cycle, called the endocrine system. The first insect hormone PTTH (Prothoracicotropic hormone) operates the species life cycle and diapause (see the relates section).[68] This hormone is produced by corpora allata and corpora cardiaca, where it is also stored. Some glands are specialized to perform certain task such as producing silk or producing saliva in the palpi.[1]:65, 75 While the corpora cardiaca produce PTTH, the corpora allata also produces jeuvanile hormones, and the prothorocic glands produce moulting hormones.

In the digestive system, the anterior region of the foregut has been modified to form a pharyngial sucking pump as they need it for the food they eat, which are for the most part liquids. An esophagus follows and leads to the posterior of the pharynx and in some species forms a form of crop. The midgut is short and straight, with the hindgut being longer and coiled.[65] Ancestors of lepidopteran species, stemming from Hymenoptera, had midgut ceca, although this is lost in current butterflies and moths. Instead, all the digestive enzymes other than initial digestion, are immobilized at the surface of the midgut cells. In larvae, long-necked and stalked goblet cells are found in the anterior and posterior midgut regions, respectively. In insects, the goblet cells excrete positive potassium ions, which are absorbed from leaves ingested by the larvae. Most butterflies and moths display the usual digestive cycle, however species that have a different diet require adaptations to meet these new demands.[7]:279

In the circulatory system, hemolymph, or insect blood, is used to circulate heat in a form of thermoregulation, where muscles contraction produces heat, which is transferred to the rest of the body when conditions are unfavorable.[69] In lepidopteran species, hemolymph is circulated through the veins in the wings by some form of pulsating organ, either by the heart or by the intake of air into the trachea.[1]:69 Air is taken in through spiracles along the sides of the abdomen and thorax supplying the trachea with oxygen as it goes through the lepidopteran's respiratory system. There are three different tracheae supplying oxygen diffusing oxygen throughout the species body: The dorsal, ventral, and visceral. The dorsal tracheae supply oxygen to the dorsal musculature and vessels, while the ventral tracheae supply the ventral musculature and nerve cord, and the visceral tracheae supply the guts, fat bodies, and gonads.[1]:71, 72

延伸阅读

  • Morphology (biology)
  • Insect physiology
  • External morphology of Lepidoptera
  • External morphology of Odonata
  • Insect ecology
  • Insect flight
  • Invertebrate
  • Insect
  • Entomology
  • Prehistoric insect

References

Wikiwand in your browser!

Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.

Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.

Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.