Housefly Mouth Parts Under the Microscope
Housefly Mouth Parts (Whole Mount), Musca domestica
This slide shows the mouthparts of a house fly, mounted whole and unstained. Flies have sponging mouthparts that soak up liquid food instead of chewing or piercing.
This is a whole mount of the mouthparts of a housefly (Musca domestica), left unstained. A housefly cannot bite; instead, it has a proboscis, a tube that hangs below the head. The wide, rounded pad at the end is the labellum, lined with tiny grooves called pseudotracheae that soak up liquid food like a sponge. The fly spits saliva on solid food to dissolve it, then sponges up the liquid. Compare this with the piercing mouthparts of a mosquito.
What to look for
- Proboscis: The whole mouthpart structure hanging below the head.
- Rostrum: The base section of the proboscis, attached to the head.
- Haustellum: The middle, tube-like section.
- Labellum: The wide, sponge-like pad at the tip.
- Pseudotracheae: Fine grooves across the labellum that channel liquid toward the mouth.
Questions and answers
What type of mouthparts does a house fly have?
House flies have sponging (sponging-lapping) mouthparts. They press the spongy labellum onto food, soak up liquid through tiny grooves, and draw it up the proboscis. They cannot bite or pierce.
How do house flies eat solid food?
House flies spit saliva onto solid food to start dissolving it, then sponge up the liquid with their labellum.
Compare it
- Category
- Invertebrates
- Scan magnification
- 20x
- Stain
- Unstained
Viewing this slide in class
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