Which of the following insects does NOT have chewing mouthparts?

Insect mouthparts can be categorized into different types based on their feeding habits, with chewing and sucking being the two primary types. Butterflies, belonging to the order Lepidoptera, have a unique feeding structure known as a proboscis, which is adapted for sipping nectar from flowers. This tubular structure allows them to obtain fluids rather than chewing solid food.

In contrast, grasshoppers and beetles have chewing mouthparts that they use to consume plant material or other insects, while caterpillars, which are the larval stage of butterflies and moths, possess chewing mouthparts suited for herbivorous feeding on leaves.

This distinction highlights how mouthpart morphology relates to an insect's diet and lifestyle, demonstrating that butterflies do not possess the typical chewing mouthparts found in many other insects, such as grasshoppers and beetles. Therefore, identifying butterflies as the insect that does not have chewing mouthparts is accurate.