Dorsoventrally/laterally flattening of the body - most common among ectoparasites, facilitates movement on the host and enable them to hide in tightspaces
Body shape:
Dorsoventral flattening - e.g., bedbugs and batbugs, lice, beaverbeetles, parasitic dermapterans, louseflies, and ticks
Lateral flattening - e.g., fleas
Mouthparts:
Chewing type - feed directly on host tissues, e.g., cockroaches
Mouthparts: Chewing-type
Labium ("lowerlip") for grasping, manipulating & retaining the food
Mouthparts: Chewing-type
Mandibles and maxillae for manipulating and masticating the food
Mouthparts:
Piercing-sucking type - mouthparts adapted for piercing and feeding on internal fluids
Mouthparts: Piercing-sucking type
Solenophages - arthropods that pierce the capillaries and feed directly on host blood, with highly modified styletiform that typically leave little to no evidence of an actual wound puncture of the skin at the bite site; e.g., mosquitos, bed bugs and sucking lice
Mouthparts: Piercing-sucking type of mosquitos
Fascicle (labrum, maxillae, mandibles, hypopharynx) and labium are very elongated, forming a feeding apparatus called the proboscis
Mouthparts: Piercing-sucking type of mosquitos
Labium serves as a protective sheath and a guide for the fascicle that penetrates the host skin, delivers saliva, and transports host blood
Mouthparts: Piercing-sucking type of fleas
Epipharynx (outgrowth of the body wall) and maxillae are in the form of stylets that are used to pierce the skin
Mouthparts: Piercing-sucking type of fleas
Tip of epipharynx is inserted into a capillary during feeding
Mouthparts: Piercing-sucking type of fleas
Palps help to guide the blood-feeding stylets
Mouthparts: Piercing-sucking type of hemipterans (e.g., bedbugs)
Maxillae and mandibles are styletiform and held within a sheathlike segmented labium
Mouthparts: Piercing-sucking type of lice
Labrum forms the haustellum (snoutlike structure)
Mouthparts: Piercing-sucking type of lice
Tip of the haustellum are prestomal, or haustellar, "teeth," which are used to anchor the mouthparts to the host
Mouthparts: Piercing-sucking type of lice
Maxillae, hypopharynx, & labium are modified as stylets for piercing host tissues
Legs
Bear specialized structures to facilitate attachment/grasping and movement
Modified hind legs enable them to jump at remarkable distances to reach a host or to evade removal
Legs of fleas
Enlarged, muscular femur and an elastic protein in the Integument called resilin
Legs of fleas
Hind legs are linked to a zone where energy for jumping is stored
Legs of ticks
Forelegs have enlarged claws for grasping and holding onto host skin
Legs of mites
Have sucker-like empodia securing them to their hosts, and facilitating movement and holding onto the smooth surfaces of the body scales
Legs of mites
Hindlegs for clasping
Legs of mites
Legs with elongated apoteles with terminal suckers
Sensory structures
Antennae have receptors that detect chemicals emanating from the skin and exhaledbreath of potential hosts
Sensory structures of mosquitoes
Attracted to carbondioxide, lacticacid, octenol, estrogen, fattyacids, and aminoacids
Sensory structures of mosquitoes
Basal segment forms the Johnston's organ (for detecting airborne vibrations)
Sensory structures of fleas
Antenna is short, flattened, and fits into a protective groove on the side of the head allowing it to be retracted so as not to become damaged or impede movement
Sensory structures of mosquitoes & flies
Eyes are greatly enlarged = lightperception and vision play in locating or orienting toward potential host
Sensory structures: Others
Receptors are concentrated near the tip of the proboscis or rostrum (e.g., mosquitoes and bed bugs, respectively) and are used to detect the precise location of capillaries beneath the surface of the skin
Sensory structures: Others
In fleas, the dorsal portions of the terminalabdominal segments are modified as a sensory organ, called the sensillum = specialized for detecting host-associated cues such as vibrations and temperature
Sensory structures: Others
Trichobothria is common in mites and other arachnids for detecting airborne and substrate vibrations and other tactile cues
Sensory structures: Others
In ticks, Haller'sorgan is located on the dorsal aspect of the tarsus of the first pair of legs and functions in detection of temperature, airmovements and hostidiots