title: Development of mouthparts in the cicada Meimuna mongolica (Distant): successive morphological patterning and sensilla differentiation from nymph to adult.
abstract: Development of the mouthparts in the cicada Meimuna mongolica (Distant) is investigated here for the first time using scanning electron microscopy in order to document changes occurring in different nymphal instars and from nymph to adult, during which a shift from subterranean root-feeding to feeding on aboveground parts of the host plant occurs. The structure and component of mouthparts is similar to those found in other hemipteran insects. Fourteen types of sensilla and five types of cuticular processes were found on the mouthparts of nymphs and adults. Significant general transformations during development include changes in: (a) the size and shape of the labrum from square to long and shovel-shaped; (b) increases in type and quantity of sensilla with the stage of development; (c) the ridges at the tips of the mandiblar stylets become more prominent in later stages of nymphal development, while odontoid protrusions more prominent in the female than in the male of the adult; and (d) the cross section of the stylets is subcircular in nymphal stages but oblong elliptical in the adult. The implications of these mouthpart transformations on the feeding ability of nymphs and adults and their possible relationship to the feeding niche are discussed.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Biology for Arid Areas, College of Plant Protection, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China.|Key Laboratory of Plant Protection Resources and Pest Integrated Management of the Ministry of Education, College of Plant Protection, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China.
authors.forename: Yanan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hao
authors.affiliation: Illinois Natural History Survey, Prairie Research Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1816 S. Oak St., Champaign, IL 61820, USA.
authors.forename: Christopher H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Dietrich
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Plant Protection Resources and Pest Integrated Management of the Ministry of Education, College of Plant Protection, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China.
authors.forename: Wu
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Dai
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D006430:Hemiptera / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D008018:Life Cycle Stages; D008297:Male; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D009055:Mouth / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D009758:Nymph / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D058618:Sensilla / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D013997:Time Factors