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Beak of hemipteron

Beak of hemipteron.jpg Simulium venustumThumbnailsAuchmeromyia luteolaSimulium venustumThumbnailsAuchmeromyia luteolaSimulium venustumThumbnailsAuchmeromyia luteolaSimulium venustumThumbnailsAuchmeromyia luteolaSimulium venustumThumbnailsAuchmeromyia luteola

Several families of the true bugs include forms which, while normally inoffensive, are capable of inflicting painful wounds on man. In these, as in all of the Hemiptera, the mouth-parts are modified to form an organ for piercing and sucking.

The upper lip, or labrum, is much reduced and immovable, the lower lip, or labium, is elongated to form a jointed sheath, within which the lance-like mandibles and maxillæ are enclosed. The mandibles are more or less deeply serrated, depending on the species concerned.