Correlation Between Mandibular Morphology And Food Specificity In Grasshoppers1

Abstract

The adjustment between food and mandibles of biting insects is so definite that entomologists find little of phylogenetic value in the various mandibulate patterns (Walker, 1933, p. 325). The specialization of mouth parts for different foods is a basic fact recgonized in all entomological study (Snodgrass, 1935, p. 280). Food specificity among insects has for some time been a major problem with many experimental, economic, and field entomological investigators. Brues in a series of studies has emphasized the biological significance in insect food adaptations, especially for studies in evolution.