Stenopelmatidae Part 2

After my disappointment that I couldn't find a live specimen for my first Stenopelmatidae post, I found one in my pool, extremely distended but perfectly preserved, and thought it a good opportunity to show off some insect anatomy. Below, I have an unlabeled photo and a labeled photo of the "face" of one of the Stenopelmatus species.

Stenopelmatus sp.

In case any of the labels are too hard to read, here they are listed, generally from top to bottom: Frons, Pedicel, Scape, Anterior Tentorial Pit, Frontoclypeal Suture, Clypeus, Abductor Tendon, Mandible, Labrum, Stripes, Postmentum, Prementum, Lacinia, Paraglossa, Hypopharynx, Galea, Maxillary Palp, Labial Palp. Now for a few other lovely pictures - In the ventral view, you can see the soft, unsclerotized endoskeleton that connects the sclerotized shield-like segments. This is necessary for insects, because if their whole exoskeleton were fused and sclerotized they would be unable to move.

Odonata - Anatomical Discussion

Per request, I have taken some detailed photos of two of my dragonfly specimens, both members of the family Libellulidae. The name of the order is actually based on their strong, chewing, toothed mandibles - "odonto" is Greek for "teeth". The diagrams are taken from Borror and Delong's Introduction to the Study of Insects, 7th Edition.

The relevant abbreviations from above - 1st diagram: lg, ligula or median lobe; mn, mentum; p, palp or lateral lobe; plg, palpiger or squama; 2nd diagram: fr, frons; pclp, postclypeus; aclp, anteclypeus; lbr, labrum; md, mandible; mx, maxilla; lbm, labium; e, compound eye;

I should add that the characteristic which distinguishes Odonata from other insect orders is the location of the copulatory organs, which are located on the anteior end of the abdomen on males, on the underside between the second and third segments. Due to the location, when dragonflies mate their bodies form a circle, known as the "wheel position".