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LAB SESSION 9: ARTHROPODA V

DIVERSITY OF HEXAPODS (II)
PTERYGOTE ORDERS
Order Megaloptera: Medium to large size. Soft body, prognathous head and chewing type
mouthparts. Long and filiform antennae. Walking legs with five-segmented tarsi. Two pairs of
membranous wings of similar size, with abundant venation. Aquatic larvae with abdominal gills.
Longitudinal branched veins with no marked tendency to split at the wing edge.

Order Rhaphidiopera (snakeflies): Medium size. Prognathous head and chewing type mouthparts.
Long and filiform antennae. Longer than wide prothorax. Walking legs with five-segmented tarsi.
Two pairs of membranous wings, similar in appearance, and prominently veined showing a large
number of cells, pterostigmas. Females with ovipositor.

Order Neuroptera (lacewings, antlions). Hypognathous head, usually lacking ocelli. Chewing type
mouthparts. Filiform or clavate antennae. Two pairs of membranous wings with abundant venation;
longitudinal branched veins clearly bifurcated split at the wing edge. Generally walking legs, with
five-segmented tarsi. Terrestrial insects, usually crepuscular or nocturnal (Chrysopa).

Order Coleoptera (beetles): Variable in size, color and general appearance. Chewing type
mouthparts. Two pairs of wings, the anterior ones transformed into elytra type wings, sometimes
fused, and the posterior ones membranous, which sometimes disappear. Large prothorax and
reduced mesothorax. Very diverse appearance, due to adaptations to a multitude of habitats and
lifestyles: aquatic, terrestrial, floricolous, in wood, etc. Depending on the species, they feed on
everything: predators, phytophagous, necrophagous, coprophagous, saprophagous, xylophagous,
etc. (Blaps, Carabus, Scarabaeus, Oryctes, Berberomeloe, Ocypus, Coccinella).

Order Hymenoptera (bees, wasps, bumblebees, ants): Variable in color and size. Usually
geniculate or capitate antennae. Often hypognathous head. Mouthparts are modified into chewing
type or chewing-lapping type. Walking legs. Two pairs of membranous wings with reduced
venation; hindwings are smaller than forewings, and wings on each side are joined by small hooks.
In most of them, the thorax and abdomen are very well separated (Apis, Xylocopa, Bombus, Polistes,
Vespula, Formicidae, Apidae).

Order Mecoptera (scorpionflies): Small to medium size. Long filiform antennae. Prolonged head
into a vertical rostrum with chewing mouthparts. Walking legs with five-segmented tarsi. The wings
are similar to each other, membranous, elongated and narrow. Elongated abdomen with short cerci.
Male external genitalia have a prominent thickening at its apex.

Order Trichoptera (caddisflies): Small to medium size. Moth-like appearance, with elongated and
cylindrical abdomen. Long setaceous antennae. Specially organized sucking mouthparts. Walking
legs with five-segmented tarsi. Membranous wings generally arranged in a canopy, which are hairy
like the rest of the body; hindwings larger than the anterior ones; with sparse venation. Aquatic
larvae, many of which build larval protective cases of tubular shape and variable nature, to which
they are attached by a pair of hooked caudal appendages.

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Order Lepidoptera (butterflies, moths): Variable in size (small to large), hypognathous head and
maxillar-sucking type mouthparts. Two pairs of large scaly wings. Walking legs with five-
segmented tarsi. Polypod larvae with chewing mouthparts (Pieris, Colias, Papilio, Saturnia, Hyles).

Order Diptera (flies, mosquitoes, horseflies, etc.): Small or medium size, hypognathous head and
sucking mouthparts, of several types. Small prothorax and metathorax, fused to their large
mesothorax. One pair of membranous wings with reduced venation, and another very small pair
transformed into halteres. Apodous larvae.

Order Siphonaptera (fleas): Small size (< 1 mm), apterous and laterally compressed. Head fused
to the thorax, although the boundary between the two is clear. Absent compound eyes, usually
presenting only two ocelli. Short antennae, that are hidden in canals. Piercing mouthparts of a
special type. Jumping legs with five-segmented tarsi. Ectoparasites of birds and mammals.

9.1. Megaloptera 9.2. Rhaphidiopera (snakefly)

9.3. Neuroptera, Chrysopa 9.4. Neuroptera, Nemoptera

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