Grasshopper Dissection
The Main Steps in Grasshopper Dissection
Grasshopper dissection will reveal the inner workings of a complex insect. Grasshoppers have an advantage over other invertebrates that live on land, because they can find new feeding areas if food becomes scarce, and they can use flight as a means of escape from predators.
Grasshoppers' exoskeletons are made of chitin. This will be the part you will cut through when proceeding with your grasshopper dissection.
Part A of your grasshopper dissection includes an observation of the outside of the insect.
Locate the abdomen, the thorax and the head. You need to be able to identify them before you start the dissection.
Observe the head. Locate the three simple eyes and the two compound eyes.
Use a magnifying glass to identify the parts of the mouth. They are:
Labium: holds food while it is being chewed; Maxillae: chews and tastes food; Mandibles: has jaws for crushing food; Labrum: hinged upper lip to hold food.
Locate the eardrums (typamum) on the thorax.
Locate the three pairs of legs: front, middle and back.
Locate the 2 pairs of wings.
Locate the spiracles, the breathing openings along the abdomen. This is where the grasshopper takes in oxygen and gives off carbon dioxide.
Check the length of the abdomen and genitalia to determine the sex of the grasshopper. The female has a longer abdomen and ends in a tip through which she lays eggs. It is called the ovipositor.
The grasshopper dissection then proceeds to the internal structures of the insect.
Remove the right three legs.
Insert your scissor point under the uppermost surface of the last abdomen segment and cut on the right of the mid-dorsal line all the way to the head. Cut carefully so that you don't slice into the organs inside.
Next, insert your scissor points in front of the thorax, and cut down and to the side, to the bottom of the grasshopper. Cut neatly between the last two abdominal segments.
The next step of grasshopper dissection is to remove the exoskeleton from the right side of the grasshopper, and find the blood vessel that runs the entire length of the grasshopper's body.
If your grasshopper is a female, remove the ovaries. They resemble brown rice. This is where eggs are produced.
Remove the abdomen muscles, and carefully cut away tissue and muscle in order to expose the grasshopper's digestive system.
Lastly, locate the digestive system's parts. They include, from back to front, the anus, rectum, intestines, stomach, gizzard, crop, esophagus and mouth.
Now you have opened up the inner workings, through your grasshopper dissection. The grasshopper's digestive system works especially to eat and process tissue from plants. The parts of the mouth crush and chew the food, and then it passes through the mouth into the crop, where it is stored. Then it moves into the gizzard, where teeth grind it more fully. Then the food moves into the intestines where glands digest it and other structures work to absorb the food. Any undigested food is stored in the rectum until it is eliminated from the anus.