Structural mouthpart interaction evolved already in the earliest lineages of insects
In butterflies, bees, flies and true bugs specific mouthparts are in close contact or even fused to enable piercing, sucking or sponging of particular food sources. The common phenomenon behind these mouthpart types is a com-plex composed of several consecutive mouthparts which structurally interact during food uptake. The single mouthparts are thus only functional in con-junction with other adjac
