The most visible parts of the body of an adult insect are: the head, the antennae, the mouthparts, the thorax, the wings, the legs, and the abdomen.
To learn more about the anatomy, click on the different body parts of this insect !!
The head is the anterior of the three body regions of an adult insect. It bears the eyes (usually a pair of compound eyes), the antennae and the mouthparts.
The thorax is the middle of the three body regions of an adult insect. It is composed of 3 segments. It bears 3 pairs of legs (one on each segment) and usually 2 pairs of wings. Some insects have only 1 pair of wings.
The abdomen is the posterior of the three body regions of an adult insect. It is composed of 11 segments. The abdomen bears the external genitalia of the insect. In female insects these consist of an ovipositor.
Most adult insects have 2 pairs of wings, but some (for example flies) have only 1 pair of wings. Usually the wings are membranous but in some insects they can be leathery or hard. Sometimes the wings bear hairs or small scales.
Adult insects have 6 legs. Each of the segments of the thorax bears 1 pair of legs. The legs are segmented. Often the last segment of the leg bears a small claw. In some insects, the legs are specially adapted for jumping.
The head of most adult insects bears a pair of antennae. Insects use the antennae to detect odours or they use them as tactile (touch) organs. Antennae are very variable in form and size.
The mouthparts of adult insects can be of different types. In many species they are of the chewing type, for example in grasshoppers and beetles. Others have sucking mouthparts for example shaped like stylets in bugs and aphids or shaped like a coiled tongue in butterflies and moths. The different types of mouthparts determine how the insect feeds.
