Terminologies
Adults Characters
Head: The first segment of insect body
Eyes: Moths have compound eyes and simple eyes. These eyes are made up of many hexagonal lens/corneas which focus light from each part of the insects field of view onto a rhabdome (the equivalent of our retina). They have simple eyes (ocelli) which can only differentiate dark from light. They cannot form an image. They are composed of photoreceptors (light-sensitive cells) and pigments. Most caterpillars have a semi-circular ring of six ocelli on each side of the head.
Labial palpus: A paired structures found on each side of the proboscis, between which the proboscis is coiled. They serves as a sensory function.
Frons: The frontal area of an insect's head, covers the upper part of the face above the clypeus and below the antennae. It supports the pharyngeal dilator muscles and usually bears an ocellus.
Antennae: A pair of structures on an insects head sensitive to touch, taste and smell.
Clypeus: Cranial area below the frons to which labrum is attached.
Maxillary Palpi: An insects second pair of jaws which are used to guide food into their mouths.
Labrum: An insect's upper lip.
Probosis: The tube-like organ present on the head used for feeding and sucking.
Thorax: The centre segment of an insects body from which wings and legs are attached.
Prothorax: The foremost of the three sections of the thorax, carrying the pair of forelegs.
Mesothorax: The middle section of the three sections of the thorax, carrying the middle pair of legs, the pair of forewings of adult insects.
Metathorax: The hind section of the three sections of the thorax, carrying the pair of hind legs, and the pair of hindwings of adult insects with two pairs of wings.
Forewing: The pair of wings of a four-winged insect closest to the head.
Hindwing: The pair of wings of a four-winged insect farthest from the head.
Frenulum: A row of bristles used to connect the fore and hind wings in some insects.
Tympanum: The hearing system of insects.
Femur: Part of the insect leg between trochanter and tibia.
Coxa: The first segment (closest to the body) of an insect leg.
Tibia: The fourth segment of an insect's leg.
Tarsus: The final segment in the leg of an insect.
Abdomen: The third section of an insects body, behind the head and thorax.
Genitalia Characters
Uncus: The terminal hook-like structure in the male genitalia.
Valva: Two appendages at the tip of the male abdomen used to hold the female during mating also called clasper. (plural: valvae).
Juxta: Juxtra located between the valvae and below the aedeagus; usually serving as a support for the sheath of the aedeagus.
Saccus: An anteriorly projecting ventral pouch formed of the ankylosed (fused) sclerite of the vinculum or 9th abdominal segment.
Vinculum: Basal portion of the male genitalia.
Sacculus: An expanded basal portion of the valve of the male genitalia.
Harpe: Articulated clasping structure found on the inner face of the valve in most male Lepidoptera. Occasionally used synonymously with ampula.
Clavus: A structure arising from the sacculus of the male.
Aedeagus: The reproductive organ of male insects.
Vesica: The membranous, terminal part of the aedeagus. The vesica is collapsed inside the aedeagus prior to mating, and is everted inside the female during copulation. It is visible only after dissection, and must be inflated in order to observe its shape.
Ovipositor: The egg-laying tube of a female insect.
Cornutus: A slender, heavily sclerotized spine or spines on the surface of the vesica of the male aedeagus. These structures are useful for identification, but are not visible without dissection.
Papillae anales: A pair of sclerotized processes at the posterior apex of the female abdomen used to deposit eggs. This is also called as ovipositor lobes.
Apophysis posterior: Sclerotized, paired apodemes of the 8th abdominal segment, extending cephalad and serving for muscle attachment.
Apophysis anterior: The apophyses anterioires project proximally from a variably sclerotised plate of segment 9.
Ductus Bursae: A membranous tube connecting the ostium bursae to the corpus bursae.
Corpus Bursae: The membranous pouch of the female genital system. A spermatophore is deposited into the corpus bursae by the male during mating.
Ductus Seminalis: The ductus seminales is a thread-like structure attaches to the corpus bursae.