Insect Mouthparts

Harald W. Krenn is an Associate Professor at the Department of Integrative Zoology at the University of Vienna (Austria), where he graduated in Zoology and Botany. His current research focuses on the evolutionary morphology of insect mouthparts, integrating new methods of functional morphology with feeding behaviour and ecology under evolutionary perspectives. He is particularly interested in interdisciplinary research on flower-visiting insects, which also involves fieldwork in the Austrian Alps, Neotropical rainforests and the Cape Floristic Region of South Africa.

Introduction: Ecological Importance of Insect Feeding.- Form and Function of Insect Mouthparts.- Fluid-Feeding Mouthparts.- Suspension and Filter Feeding in Aquatic Insects.- Theme and Variation in the Development of Insect Mouthparts.- The Early Evolution of Biting-Chewing Performance in Hexapoda.- The Generalized Feeding Apparatus of Cockroaches: A Model for Biting and Chewing Insects.- Physical Determinants of Fluid-Feeding in Insects.- Hierarchical Microstructures and Functions of the Lepidopteran Proboscis Cuticle.- Comparative Functional Morphology of Ant Mouthparts and Significance for Liquid Food Intake.- From Chewing to Sucking via Phylogeny - from Sucking to Chewing via Ontogeny: Mouthparts of Neuroptera.- Structure and Evolution of Mouthparts in Coleoptera.- What´s on the Menu: Floral Tissue, Pollen or Nectar? Mouthpart Adaptations of Anthophilous Beetles to Floral Food Sources.- Evolution of the Multifunctional Mouthparts of Adult Vespidae.- Superlong Proboscises asCo-Adaptations to Flowers.- Morphogenesis of Piercing Stylets in Hemiptera.- The Fossil Record of Insect Mouthparts: Innovation, Functional Convergence and Association with Other Organisms.