Insects’ bodies are divided into three main parts
– the head
- the thorax
and the abdomen.
On the head of the butterfly or moth are the mouthparts and main sense organs.
Can you see the antennae, the eyes and the long pale yellow proboscis on this Purple Emperor?
On the thorax are the six legs and the two pairs of wings.
The abdomen contains the parts of the body concerned with breeding, breathing, digestion and excretion. Look at the size of this female Privet Hawk-moth's abdomen - it's full of eggs!
This female Belted Beauty moth has no wings but an abdomen full of eggs.
Insects’ skeletons are on the outside of their bodies – they are called exoskeletons.
In some insects the exoskeleton is very tough, hard and rigid as in the beetles, like this Greater Stag Beetle.
In others like caterpillars, it is much softer and more flexible, but it is still present and is important for the muscles to attach to. This Scarce Swallowtail larva looks more like a bag of liquid than an animal!
The insect exoskeleton has a very important effect on how they grow.