Cockroach Mouthparts Under the Microscope
Cockroach Mouthparts (Whole Mount), Periplaneta americana
This slide shows the separated mouthparts of an American cockroach, mounted whole. Cockroach mouthparts are the standard example of chewing mouthparts, the basic type other insect mouthparts are compared against.
This is a whole mount of cockroach mouthparts (Periplaneta americana). The main piece shown is a maxilla, one of a pair of mouthparts that sit behind the jaws and help hold and cut food. Its tip ends in dark, hooked teeth, hardened like armor to tear food apart. Next to the teeth is a softer, rounded lobe, and a long feeler called the maxillary palp, made of several segments, sticks up to one side. The palp is used to touch and taste food. Cockroaches have simple chewing mouthparts, so they are a good model to compare with insects that suck or lap their food.
What to look for
- Mandibles: A pair of hard, dark-tipped jaws with teeth for biting and grinding.
- Maxillae: A pair of jointed mouthparts behind the mandibles that help handle food.
- Maxillary palps: Long, segmented feelers on the maxillae used to touch and taste food.
- Labium: The lower lip, a fused structure that closes the mouth from behind.
- Labial palps: Shorter segmented feelers attached to the labium.
Questions and answers
What are cockroach mouthparts called?
Cockroaches have chewing mouthparts: an upper lip (labrum), a pair of jaws (mandibles), a pair of maxillae, and a lower lip (labium). The maxillae and labium carry palps, small feelers used to sense food.
Why are cockroach mouthparts studied in biology?
Cockroach mouthparts are a simple, unspecialized chewing type. Comparing them with the sucking mouthparts of mosquitoes or the sponging mouthparts of flies shows how insect mouthparts have changed to fit different diets.
Compare it
- Category
- Invertebrates
- Scan magnification
- 20x
Viewing this slide in class
This is a scan of a real prepared slide, not a simulation or a drawing. On StudyScope you can pan from the whole slide down to individual structures, always in focus, and measure them in real micrometers with the calibrated ruler. Present it live and every student screen follows your view and annotations. Students join with a room code on Chromebooks, iPads, or any browser, with no accounts.