Blue-winged filly: photos and lifestyle of insects

The blue-winged filly lives in arid steppe regions. A characteristic feature of the species is the adaptation of body color to the color of the soil. Even at the larval stage, insects adapt to their environment. The body of fillies is stocky, females are much larger than males. This species is not prone to flying. Adults live in isolation, without leaving their usual habitats. Changes in natural conditions and recreational development of areas lead to the death of insects. The species is listed in the Red Book of the Moscow and Tula regions.

Description

The body length of adults is 18-25 mm. The color is a varying mixture of brown, green, gray and partly yellow depending on the environment.

The abdomen is oblong, the forelimbs are short. The hind limbs are poorly developed and do not allow large jumps. The ovipositor in females is almost invisible.

The hearing organs are located on the sides of the abdomen in the area of the first segment. The lower translucent wings are colored gray-brownish or gray-greenish. The antennas are club-shaped.

In males, the length of the elytra is 11-15 mm, and in females it is 8-14 mm. Male representatives have pear-shaped tubercles on the front legs. A “hump” is clearly visible on the brownish pronotum.

The lifespan of an adult Siberian filly is 2-3 months.

Hearing organs in fillies

Not everyone knows that many insects do not hear with their ears, as is common among mammals, birds and reptiles. For example, grasshoppers use their legs for this purpose. Their hearing organs are located on the shins of the front legs.

The fillies completely hid their “ears.” Their auditory organs are located on the sides of the abdomen, in the area of the first segment.

Description of locusts

The locust belongs to the Short-whiskered family of the Filly. They distinguish between a harmful and a harmless filly. Herbivorous insects can cause serious damage to agricultural land.

The locust has a sedentary head. The expression of the muzzle is blunt, the jaws are powerful. Outwardly, locusts radiate calm and lack of aggression. It has a long, oblong abdomen. The whiskers are shorter than those of a grasshopper. Apart from the decorative function, they do not carry any semantic load.

The front legs of a locust are not as strong as those of a grasshopper. Their primary task is to provide support when moving. The hind legs are again shorter, but they enable the insect to jump over fairly long distances.

Locusts do not have an ovipositor. Therefore, eggs are laid in the soil.

Locusts prefer to move during daylight hours. It can be seen on the ground or in. They often live in whole flocks.

Thus, the main grasshopper against locusts are as follows:

1. The grasshopper is a member of the Long-whiskered subfamily, the True Grasshopper family, and the locust is a member of the Short-whiskered subfamily, the Filly family.

2. The grasshopper is a predator, the locust is a herbivorous insect.

3. Grasshoppers are beneficial to humans, locusts are harmful.

4. Grasshoppers are most active at night, and locusts are most active during the day.

5. The locust has a more elongated abdomen than the grasshopper, but its whiskers and paws are shorter.

6. Grasshoppers have an ovipositor, with which they lay eggs in secluded places; locusts do not have one, so the eggs are laid directly in the ground.

Using these criteria, it becomes much easier to differentiate between two different insects.

Both the grasshopper and the locust belong to the class insects (invertebrate arthropods), the order Orthoptera. At the same time, the locust belongs to the true locust family, and the grasshopper belongs to the true grasshopper family.

External differences between a grasshopper and a locust

You can distinguish a grasshopper from a locust, first of all, by appearance:

The locust has short antennae, and the grasshopper has long antennae;
The locust has an elongated body, the grasshopper has a short, thick body;
The locust has large compound eyes, the grasshopper has small eyes;
in a female locust, the back of the abdomen is rounded; in a female grasshopper, an elongated saber-shaped ovipositor is located at the end of the abdomen.

Other differences between grasshopper and locust

In addition, by nature, grasshoppers are predators: they hunt and feed on insects, while locusts are peaceful vegetarians that feed on plants.

Grasshoppers lead a solitary lifestyle, do not build nests or shelters, live in the branches of bushes or among the foliage of trees, less often in the grass. Grasshoppers hunt at night.

Locusts are active during the daytime. These insects are capable of migrating thousands of kilometers and move in huge flocks numbering billions of individuals. By feeding on plants, locusts are thus capable of causing enormous damage to farmland.

Locusts take refuge only on the ground, among the grass. The females lay their eggs directly in the soil.

Female grasshoppers lay eggs in the stems of plants, under the bark of trees or bushes, and only sometimes in small holes in the soil.

Despite the fact that grasshoppers are considered harmless and even children are not afraid of them, these insects, which have a powerful jaw apparatus, can bite very sensitively. Locusts, some species of which reach a size of up to 20 cm, are actually harmless and do not bite.

Grasshoppers have more developed front legs, with which they capture and hold prey. The grasshopper's hind legs are weak; with their help, the insect occasionally makes small jumps, but for the most part, grasshoppers do not jump, but crawl. In locusts, on the contrary, the front legs are weak, but the hind legs are well developed.

The locust can safely be classified as a pest, since these insects are capable of destroying vegetation over vast areas, while the grasshopper can be called a friend of farmers, because by destroying insects, including harmful ones, it brings benefits to agriculture.

Life cycle of the Asian locust

The pest overwinters in the egg stage in a capsule. In May, larvae emerge from the eggs in a white film; after a couple of hours they darken and begin to feed on vegetation. In its development, the larva goes through five instars, each of which differs in the degree of development of the wing primordia and in the number of segments on the antennae. The adult locust actively feeds and 30-40 days after mating, the female migratory locust begins to lay eggs. Each female lays on average three egg capsules (up to 350 eggs). The adult dies in October.

The greatest activity of locusts occurs in the morning and evening.

As mentioned earlier, the Asian locust has gregarious and solitary phases. During the gregarious phase, the larvae unite and form clusters called bands. During the years of mass reproduction, swarms can occupy huge areas, up to a couple of thousand hectares, and fly long distances, up to 50 km, while the locusts eat everything in their path, often leaving behind empty pastures and fields. Migratory locust adults, uniting in swarms, can fly over distances of up to 300 km, and with a strong tailwind, up to 1000 km.

Outbreaks with mass reproduction of locusts last for several years. On average, the interval between population peaks is 10-15 years.

Locusts are a very dangerous pest, since both larvae and adults roughly eat leaves, stems and generative organs, which can completely destroy plants. One individual locust can eat up to 500 g of green plant matter.

The number of the pest in different years is reduced by various pathogens that infect eggs in egg capsules, and by entomophages that destroy larvae and adults.

Superfamily Cricketaceae.

Distinctive features of crickets are:

1) very long mustache,

2) three-segmented tarsi,

3) long cerci at the end of the abdomen.

Characteristic representatives of this superfamily are various types of crickets: field cricket (Gryllus campestris), house cricket (Gryllus domesticus), etc.

In areas with sparse vegetation in Europe and Asia, the field cricket (Gryllus campestris) lives in earthen burrows; it is very cautious, because at the slightest danger it climbs into its burrow; he leads a sedentary life and never moves away from his home.

In the evenings you can hear the rather pleasant singing of this insect. The eggs are laid here, in the hole, in groups of about 30; After two weeks, larvae develop, which immediately begin to burrow in the ground.

The house cricket (Gryllus domesticus) is more attractive in appearance, but reaches a length of only 17.5-19.5 mm, is found in residential areas and is more likely to resemble a cockroach in its lifestyle. In the evenings you can often hear their monotonous melancholic chirping. The female lays her eggs in various garbage or directly into the ground, and the larvae develop in 10-12 days. This insect lives for more than a year, and eggs are laid several times.

The mole cricket (Gryllotalpa gryllotalpa) belongs to the same superfamily. Read more…

Why are insects dangerous to humans?

Having heard enough horror stories, many are interested in the answer to the question of what will happen if an earwig or two-tailed duck gets into your ear. It’s worth immediately debunking the myth that an insect will not gnaw through the eardrum. A person, and especially his ear, is of no interest to him at all. Neither the earwig nor the double-tailed parasite are blood-sucking parasites. They prefer to lay eggs in the surface layers of the soil, having first dug a tunnel and built a nest. Not a single case has been recorded of an earwig or double-tailed earwig laying eggs in the ear.

The chances of insects penetrating the human hearing organs are exactly the same as those of an ant or any other small representative of the fauna. The scenario is possible that, while relaxing in nature, a pickerel or forktail will accidentally crawl into the ear of a sleeping person, but it will not be able to climb beyond its limits. Therefore, the answer to the question whether a double-tail can get into the ear may be positive, but there is no particular reason to worry. According to statistics, cockroaches end up in the ear much more often than stingers. But if they appear in the house, it is advisable to get rid of earwigs.

FEATURES OF THE DEVICE

All types of locusts produce a characteristic “chirping” sound. This peculiar “singing” of insects brings to mind for many people the image of a flowering meadow on a hot summer day. The sound apparatus of locusts is located on the thighs of the hind legs and elytra. Tubercles stretch along the inner surface of the thigh, and one of the veins of the elytra is thicker than the others. Locusts make sounds by quickly moving their hips, with the tubercles touching the vein. Because the tubercles are uneven, the result is a staccato chirping sound. In most locust species, both males and females chirp.

There are many tropical locust species that do not chirp.
Some species of locusts cover a distance of 200 times their body length in one jump.
The bodies of true locusts can have a wide variety of colors and color variations. In addition, there are striped, spotted and speckled insects.
Among locusts living in Europe, the chirping of individual species is so different that the females “recognize” the male of their species by their “voice”.
One of the largest locust species is Tropidacris cristatus, which is native to Costa Rica. One ornithologist mistook this locust for an outlandish bird and caught it for display in a zoological museum.

Sound production organs in fillies

On a hot afternoon, loud chirping can be heard in the fields and meadows. Usually people smile when they hear these sounds and say: “That’s how the grasshoppers started chattering!” But this is a wrong judgment!

Grasshoppers by nature sit quietly during the day. Therefore it is impossible to hear them. Either locusts or grasshoppers chirp in broad daylight. Moreover, only males do this. In this “musical” way they attract females. There is a second explanation for the loud chirping of male fillies. With their sounds they warn other males that the given territory is already occupied.

The fillies produce their sounds by rubbing the tubercles located on the thighs of their hind legs against the vein under the elytra.

WHAT DOES IT EAT?

Locusts usually live on the leaves and flowers of green plants. They use their strong upper mandibles to gnaw leaves, and use their smaller, weaker mandibles to crush them.

Since the locusts' mandibles move from side to side, the insects usually sit in the center of the leaf, on its longitudinal axis, and gnaw the leaf from edge to edge. Only a few species of true locusts feed exclusively on grass. The food for most locust species is the leaves of perennial plants, shrubs and trees. Some species of locusts can even feed on poisonous plants that other insects and animals do not eat.

Concentrating in their body, the poison provides insects with protection from enemies, since they themselves become poisonous. These locusts have bright colors, which warns of their inedibility.

Installation of cornices without using fillies

A box or wooden frame under the eaves allows you to hide the protruding elements of rafters and sheathing that are not so pleasing to the eye. The method of hemming the cornice elements directly depends on the type of box. The simplest way to make it is to install a frame from a wind plank and so-called hemming slats installed on the inside of the rafters (about “Wind plank - what is it”). Using this method, it is possible to trim the ends of the rafters both plumb (the end will be parallel to the wall) and perpendicular to the axis of the rafters. It all depends on the preferences of the developer.

Let's look in a little more detail at the option of parallel cutting the ends of the rafter boards:

To perform this work, you must have scaffolding and a retractable ladder. Fastening will be carried out with a screwdriver and wood screws.
First, the wind board is secured, then the outer lining of the roof with soffit, and finally the inner lining. The cross-section of all boards is equal and is 150 * 20 mm.
To make a box, it is necessary to select smooth boards without knots and bark residues. If the box is planned to be created as a so-called “liner”, that is, without the use of various finishing materials, then calibrated boards with a cross section of 50 * 20 mm are used.
After closing the rafters and front sheathing, the box must be treated with a special protective agent. If desired, the wood can be coated with stain and varnish. This will extend the service life of the box and will also significantly improve its aesthetics.
To close the box, gray or white corrugated sheeting, grade C10, is often used. Vinyl siding is also popular, which is very easy to install and lightweight.
The hemming of the cornice parts is carried out using a special material - soffits, which are perforated plastic or aluminum plates. The considerable cost of this material is fully compensated by its attractiveness and very high functionality, so the installation of spotlights is justified.
Regardless of the material chosen for hemming the cornice strips, it is necessary to use external corners, the color of which is selected in accordance with the color of the box itself. The size of these elements is 5 cm. The flange should fit the size of the width of the front board.
To improve the appearance of the sides, special covers cut from smooth sheets are used. Their shape is selected according to the shape of the end part of the box.
The front roof lining is much simpler. Two boards with a cross section of 150*20 mm are attached to the protruding sheathing. After this, they are sutured with suitable material.

Installation of roofing fillies, detailed video:

Description

Blue-winged filly with spread wings

The body is naked, medium in size. Body length of a male is 16-22, females - 22-32 mm; male elytra - 17-22.5, female - 25-30 mm. The color varies greatly: earthy, gray, brown, blackish, red, brownish yellow or brick red. The head is short. The eyes are vertical, located in the middle of the head. The antennae are thread-like, slightly thick, in the male they are somewhat longer than the length of the head with pronotum, and in the female they are barely equal to it; the length of the median segments is twice their width.

The pronotum is rough. The elytra are well developed, with two light transverse wide bands, between them with a dark or black band, with a dark base and in front of the transparent apex with a vague large spot, always extending far beyond the apex of the hind femora, almost reaching the middle of the hind tibia.

The wings are slightly shorter than the elytra, bluish at the base, with a greenish tint and a dark median band in contact with the outer edge; the top is colorless.

Hind thighs slender; the inside is black; the outer side is one color; the upper side in front of the notch of the upper carina with a dark spot and in front of the apex with a light band. Hind tibia bluish-yellowish, often black, with a light ring in front of the base, with sparse hairs and along the outer and inner margins with 9-11 spines; spines with black tip.

The female's ovipositor is short; the upper valves are notched, with a sharp black apex curved upward; the lower valves have a black sharp apex and one tooth.

Features of the use of fillies in the roof truss system

During periods of mass reproduction, it most severely damages crops of grain crops, especially wheat and barley, haylands and pastures.

An adult insect is 17-25 mm long, brown, olive or greenish in color; elytra extend beyond apex of hind femora; lower legs yellow, often with dark spots; the pronotum of the male is swollen; tibia of the front legs are pear-shaped; the antennae are club-shaped, in females they are thread-like. The egg is slightly curved, 4.5-5.8 mm long.

The eggs overwinter in capsules in the soil. The hatching of larvae begins in early May. The larvae are imago-like, go through four instars in their development, and after 24-28 days adult insects appear. After 10-15 days, females begin laying eggs. Females lay up to 250 eggs, placing them in 9-18 egg capsules, preferring dry areas with sparse vegetation cover on old fallow lands and natural pastures heavily overrun by livestock. Each egg capsule contains 7-15 eggs, arranged in 3 rows at an angle of 45° to the walls. Unlike previous species, the Siberian filly does not have a gregarious form, and the larvae and adults do not form dense clusters and predominantly lead a solitary lifestyle. Adult insects die off by mid-August. One generation develops per year.

The Siberian grasshopper mainly damages young plants, completely eating leaves and partly stems; In winter cereals, it eats up the grains in the ears. Damaged plants often die, which leads to a decrease in the density of natural grass in pastures and haylands.

In some years, pastures and grain crops can be locally damaged by other species of non-gregarious locusts: dark-winged (Stauroderus scalaris F.-W.), slender (Chorthippus albotnarginatus Deg.) and cross (Pararciptera microptera F.-W.) grasshopper (Dociostaurus kraussii Ing.) and other species.

The same as from the Italian Prussian. In addition, improvement of hayfields and pasture lands by sowing forage grasses, streamlining grazing of livestock, which leads to a reduction in places suitable for laying eggs by the Siberian filly.

During the period of germination - tillering of grain crops, when the number of non-gregarious locusts exceeds 5-10 larvae per 1 m2, crops are sprayed with preparations indicated for migratory locusts.

This can be done, like in the good old days, with nails. You can also use modern self-tapping screws, wood screws, screws and other metal or wooden dowels. But further we will consider the calculation of the nail connection of the filly with the rafter leg for the reason that neither screws nor self-tapping screws themselves increase the strength of the connection under the action of the forces under consideration, but only increase the strength of the overall assembly of the roofing structure.

For example, we continue the roof calculation discussed in a separate example:

Figure 228.2. Determining the length of the rafter leg - beam.

As we have already found out, the bending moment on the support - Mauerlat - is M = 14500 kgf cm. In this case, the support reaction for the console with a load q = 326.1 kg/m and the accepted length of the console k = 1 m will be

A = qk = 326.1 1 = 326.1 kg

Further calculations will be made based on the calculation assumptions set out separately.

If a filly (width c = 5 cm) with a rafter leg (width c = 5 cm) is knocked down with 2 nails with a diameter of 0.5 cm (5 mm), a length of 10 cm and the distance between the nails is taken s = 20 cm (to reduce the load on the nails when moment decomposition), then the maximum shear force will act on only one of the nails and will be:

Ttr = A/2 + M/s = 326.1/2 + 14500/20 = 888.05 kg

Meanwhile, according to Table 17, paragraph 2.a) and Figure 8.b).

Lifestyle

Typical habitats are forest-steppe, pine forests on dry sandy soils, wastelands, meadows dominated by wormwood, river banks, railway embankments. Insects choose areas with low, sparse vegetation. They are found on rocky, gravelly soil with mosses and lichens. They rarely fly up to plants; they prefer to stay on the ground. They live alone. The peak summer of adults occurs in July. They are active until September-October. The fillies feed during the day, in sunny weather. They wait out bad weather in shelters.

The species Oedipodacaerulescens has many natural enemies. The body color, which fully matches the color of the soil, allows for excellent camouflage against the background of the substrate. At the moment of danger, insects press themselves to the ground and freeze. Only when the enemy approaches closely do they jump up and fly away. Blue wings disorient the attacker.

Reproduction and development

Orthoptera are an order of insects with incomplete metamorphosis. Blue-winged fillies go through 3 stages of development - egg, larva, imago. After fertilization of the female, the ovipositor makes holes in the soil to a depth of 5-7 mm. The eggs are placed in a capsule formed by the female's foamy secretion. At this stage they hibernate. The larvae appear on the surface in May-June of the following year.

Locust behavior and reproduction

This type of insect has two phases in its life cycle: gregarious and solitary. Both phases have the same development period. First the egg appears, then the larva, the last cycle is the adult.

The females of this insect species lay their eggs in the ground. After some time, larvae emerge from the eggs. The larvae molt several times and after the final molt they develop wings. The imago stage begins. Experts distinguish 5 transformations of the larva.

The solitary phase of locust life occurs during periods when there is an abundance of food around. The single-stage filly has protective coloration and sexual dimorphism can be observed. At times when food is scarce, usually in dry and hot years, the female lays a large number of eggs. From them emerge larvae that are already programmed for the gregarious phase of life. From such larvae, it is not fillies that are born, but real locusts. It differs from fillies in its brighter and more contrasting coloring and the larger size of its wings and body.

At this stage, the locusts gather in huge swarms and move, as if on command, in one direction. The weight of insects in such clusters can reach several thousand tons. The locusts destroy all vegetation that is encountered along the way. In this regard, agricultural land may be severely damaged, which can lead to famine. Since ancient times, regions such as the African continent, Australia, southern Asia, America, where the largest locust invasion occurred, have been subject to locust invasions.

According to some reports, these voracious insects were able to cross the Atlantic. It turns out that even the waters of the ocean cannot be a barrier to hordes of locusts. If the wind is fair, insects can cover 500 km in a day. The largest swarm of locusts that could be counted contained 12.5 trillion individuals. This huge swarm covered an area of the earth of 513 thousand km. Such an incredible amount of insects weighed 27.5 million tons.

The order Orthoptera is a widespread order of large or medium-sized insects with incomplete metamorphosis. This order includes grasshoppers, crickets and locusts. All representatives of the series have two pairs of wings. The transparent lower wings are hidden under the hardened upper wings. Most orthoptera are capable of producing chirping sounds, thus communicating with each other.

The order Orthoptera is divided into two large suborders: short-whiskered Orthoptera (Caelifera) and long-whiskered Orthoptera (Ensifera).

Morphological description

The blue-winged filly (Oedipodacaerulescens) belongs to the order Orthoptera, a family of true locusts. The color of insects is yellow-brown, light and dark gray. The transverse bands on the elytra are black or brown. The head is large and wide. The eyes are large, well developed, located in the middle of the head. Insects have short, strong antennae, the length of which does not exceed half of the body. Antennas are thickened, filament-shaped.

Blue-winged filly

The carina of the pronotum is interrupted by a transverse groove. The surface of the pronotum is rough. The size of the female is 22-28 mm, the males are smaller - 15-18 mm. A distinctive feature of the species is the hind wings, painted bright blue. Their length is somewhat shorter than the elytra. The apex is transparent, sometimes with several dark spots. A wide dark stripe runs along the outer edge of the wings. You can see beautiful wings during short flights of insects.

The hind limbs are significantly longer than the front and middle legs. Their lower legs are blue with a white area. The leg segment is covered with a large number of spines. The inner thighs are black. Females have a short ovipositor, the upper valves of which are notched, and the lower valves have a sharp apex and a tooth. The sound apparatus of fillies is created from the thighs of the hind limbs and elytra. Due to the special structure of their wings, male and female individuals of the species Oedipodacaerulescens produce a crackling sound during flight.

Literature

Gusev V. I., Ermolenko V. M., Svishchuk V. V., Shmigovsky K. A. Atlas of mosquitoes of Ukraine. - K.: State Educational and Pedagogical Institute "Radyansk School", 1962. - P. 27 (Ukrainian)
Fauna of the Armenian SSR. Orthoptera insects. Locusts (Acrididae) / ed. G. D. Avakyan. - Yerevan: Publishing House of the Academy of Sciences of the Armenian SSR, 1968. - P. 215-217

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Limiting factors and threats

A stenotopic species, represented by very local and dense coenopopulations, but not inhabiting many apparently suitable stations, especially in the north of the region. Fillies are not at all inclined to fly away, so most coenopopulations find themselves in increased isolation. The Priokskaya metapopulation is practically isolated from the main range of the species, going north to the southern forest-steppe in the Lipetsk region. At all stages of development, the species is most vulnerable to severe soil disturbances, fires, trampling of meadows and overgrazing, however, after limited impacts of this kind, it can more actively colonize disturbed areas than other locusts. In the long term, overgrowing of stations with shrubs and mesophilic weeds is unfavorable.

Character and lifestyle of the steppe dyba

Orthoptera grasshopper

begins active life at dusk, continuing its activity at night. The most convenient way to observe such living creatures is to take early walks in the summer. At the mentioned time of day, the belated grasshoppers have not yet managed to climb into their daytime shelters, in which by noon they are trying to reliably hide from the rays of the scorching sun.

These giants among insects are not very peaceful in nature. When danger arises, especially the warlike ones, as they say, rear up and open their terrifying mandibles with gaping red spots located on their powerful jaws.

In their habits, these insects are very similar, being phytophilous ambushers. This means that when they go hunting in search of food, they wait for hours for their victims, sitting in secluded shelters in thick grass.

The aggressiveness of such insects is fully manifested not only towards enemies and offenders, but also towards their own relatives. And cannibalism is the most common activity among such huge and warlike invertebrate living creatures for a small world.

By the way, ruthlessness in exterminating their own kind contributes to a significant reduction in the population of huge grasshoppers, whose low numbers even served as the reason for including the steppe rack in the Red Book

. In addition to the above, the plight of this rare species of insects is associated with human development of territories belonging to their natural habitat.

The plowing of steppes, ravines and lowlands, overgrown with shrubs and dense grasses, for their use in agricultural activities, as well as the use of pesticides and harmful substances, could not but have a very sad effect on the life of insects.

Pollution and other environmental changes have only made the existing situation worse. In the south-eastern part of Asia, the population of grasshoppers suffers, among other stated reasons, as a result of the extinction of wall flora associated with the onset of deserts.

Dybka can sit in the grass for a long time waiting for prey

In Russia the steppe rack

is protected by the state, and national parks and reserves are used to revive this species.
Active work is also being carried out to identify areas where the steppe rack lives
. It is in such areas that conditions are created that promote an increase in the population of giant grasshoppers.

Army ants

There are a huge number of ant species in the world, and many of them are very dangerous. These include army soldier ants, which are a specialized caste of worker ants and termites. The lack of vision only makes them more dangerous, because they attack anything that has flesh and blood - a fly, an elephant or a person. These fighters move in colonies and do not build anthills, so getting in their way will be a big deal. This type of ant has a large body, reaching 3 centimeters. They are armed with powerful, long mandibles that easily rip open flesh. Having made a hole, the ants climb into the wound and continue to destroy tissue, which causes incredible pain to the victim. They were even figuratively called “living death.” A colony of such ants could chew up an elephant in a week, and that would be a lot for a person to eat in a day.

How to destroy uninvited guests?

A small population can be destroyed with improvised means and folk methods, but if there are too many insects, insecticides cannot be avoided. When choosing medications, you must take into account that not all sprays and powders labeled “against silverfish” are effective. Pest control should be comprehensive and include the use of gels and powders simultaneously with aerosols.

Liquid spray preparations are used when the exact location of the parasite nest is known. In this case, drugs containing pyrethrin will be effective. To combat silverfish, powdered mixtures are more suitable, but only if there is no water nearby.

All chemicals act differently, so it is better to use them comprehensively. Chemicals can be divided into several groups:

sprays and aerosols;
concentrates (solutions);
powders.

The Raptor aqueous solution fumigator is popular. The electronic device operates on mains power and is filled with a concentrated chemical. During operation, it emits colorless, odorless steam, safe for humans and animals. The manufacturer claims that the substance is destructive to all types of insects, which will completely disappear after 4-5 hours of use.

Raptor spray has a similar effect and helps fight all crawling insects. It is enough to spray a little product in places where the parasites are most concentrated, which die after a few seconds. It is safe for humans and is allowed to be used in living rooms.

One of the most effective means in the fight against silverfish is “Demon Wp” powder, produced in 9.5 g bags. The active component cypermethrin is an artificial pyrethroid used against most household pests. It is scattered in a thin layer in places where silverfish appear, removing the water away. The effectiveness of the drug can be increased by regular ventilation, reducing humidity in the apartment and daily dry cleaning of the room.

Many experts advise using diatomaceous earth (mountain flour) against silverfish. Small grains of sand with sharp edges damage the protective shell of insects, which leads to their death. It is necessary to work with the powder in a respirator, as it irritates the respiratory tract, causing a painful cough.

The concentrate for preparing an aqueous solution “Cyzmic CS” received good reviews. A 230 ml bottle is enough for 150 liters of finished liquid. The American drug is suitable for exterminating garden pests and house parasites. Works great against silverfish, bedbugs, ants, the instructions indicate that it kills all known insects.

If silverfish are infested, the safest method of control is to use traps. They are easy to make with your own hands. You can take a jar (0.5 l) and wrap the outer part with adhesive tape or tape, and place a piece of sugar inside as bait. The silverfish will easily climb into the jar, but will not come back out.

There is an easier way, when you take a thick newspaper, moisten it with water, and tie the ends with a rope. Such a device is left overnight in the kitchen or bathroom, and in the morning the newspaper is burned or thrown away from the house.

Cedar sawdust

Traditional methods are aimed not at exterminating, but at repelling silverfish and are used when their numbers are small. It is recommended to use boric acid, alum, cedar sawdust, tobacco and some spices:

Dry boric acid is mixed with chalk in a ratio of 1:4 and scattered in all hard-to-reach places. After a week, the powder is removed and the procedure is repeated, and after another 7 days, a general cleaning of the room is carried out using chlorine-containing products.
100 g of alum is dissolved in half a glass of hot water, cool slightly and treat the room or kitchen. Insects will disappear after 3-4 applications at intervals of 2-3 days.
A mixture of baking soda, tobacco and loose red pepper (3 g each) gives a good effect. All ingredients are dissolved in a liter of hot water, left for about an hour and filtered. The resulting liquid is sprayed onto the apartment and not washed off for 10 hours.
Silverfish really don’t like the smell of cedar sawdust, so you can scatter them throughout the apartment and the insects will go away on their own. The sawdust is changed regularly so that the persistent woody aroma lasts for 2-3 weeks.

Previously, naphthalene was often used in the fight against moths, which is no less effective in the fight against silverfish. It is laid out in small bags and placed in pest habitats.

It is important to remember that mothballs not only have an extremely unpleasant odor, but are also hazardous to health.

Description

Lepisma saccharina, or common silverfish, or sugar silverfish, is a wingless insect that, in addition to wild conditions, often appears in homes, buildings and warehouses. Her ancestors lived on Earth back in the Paleozoic era - about 300 million years ago!

Silverfish belong to the bristletail family, as eloquently evidenced by the processes located at the end of their triangular body. The insect's body length is from 0.8 to 1.9 cm, it is flat and when the larva reaches sexual maturity, it is completely covered with scales.

The bristles at the end of the body extend in different directions - one to the right, the second to the left and the third to the back. On the head there is a pair of long antennae that look forward.

Sugar silverfish, once in a human home, look for warm and humid places. If your house constantly maintains a dry microclimate and at the same time there is light in it, then such conditions for this insect will be unsuitable and it will probably not stay long, sneaking away to less clean neighbors. This parasite requires the following conditions for normal life:

air temperature within +21…26°C;
air humidity from 75 to 97%.

And such conditions, as is known, are created in the bathroom and toilet, which is why silverfish are most often found there. They are active at dusk and at night. And when the light suddenly appears, they try to leave the open area as quickly as possible. These insects run quite quickly and, when moving along the surface, make short stops from time to time.

Life cycle

Since silverfish reproduce rather slowly, for a good increase in numbers their “family” should initially consist of at least ten individuals. In this case, the offspring will appear with high frequency and populate other rooms in your house.

The development of these insects occurs as follows:

One egg clutch can contain up to 70 eggs. They are oval in shape and painted white. The egg size is small and is no more than 1 mm. During the incubation period, the eggs darken and gradually acquire a brown color. The optimal air temperature for normal egg maturation is considered to be +30°C, and if this condition is met, the silverfish larva will appear after 25 days. When the temperature drops to +20°C, development will take about 40 days.
A young insect that has just emerged from an egg does not have scales on its body. They begin to form only after the second molt. During its development, the larva changes its skin up to 5 times. But even after reaching maturity, silverfish can remain white without ever “dressing” in a silvery shell.
After the fifth molt, the insect turns into an adult, which during its life also sometimes changes the old cover to a new one.

The full development cycle at temperature fluctuations within +18...20°C takes several months, and at +37°C this figure noticeably decreases and the development time is reduced to 11 weeks. If insects live in a heated room, then the development of one generation will take no more than a year; in the absence of heating, this process takes about 3 years. Without food, they can survive for no more than 300 days, and when the temperature drops to +4C°, the insects fall into a cold stupor.

When the number of these insects is small, then fighting them will not take much of your time - in most cases, a rolled-up newspaper is enough. But if there are silverfish in the bathroom and you notice that their development is intensive, then in this case it will be necessary to resort to the help of various poisons and chemicals.

Number of wingless fillies

In the center of our country, the species is found infrequently, and there is a tendency towards a decrease in numbers. There is only one population in the Moscow region.

The reduction in the number of these insects is influenced by the destruction of vegetation. Fires also destroy a large amount of vegetation, and due to the winglessness of the fillies, the dispersal of the fillies is difficult.

a collective name that refers to a number of orthoptera insects (Orthoptera) from various genera and species of the locust family (Acridiodea); this also includes the Prusik (Caloptenus italicus), which is sometimes also called K.; these same insects are also called jumpers, grasshoppers and conics, but the name K. is more common, and grasshoppers and jumps are more often called representatives of the family Locustodea. For a description of K. and their way of life, see Prusik. In addition, some other proboscis insects (Rhynchota), belonging to the genus Cicada and also called cicadas, are known under the name K. (see).

- 1) part of a plow or plow in the form of a frame;
2) rowlock... Toponymic dictionary of the Amur region
- a piece of board that extends the lower end of the rafter leg to place on it the overhang of the roof or a continuous sheathing lying on the eaves - a scythe attachment to a curved edge at the cornice or eaves - námětek;
stolička — Auflagerholz… Construction dictionary
- see Cavaletto...
- a collective name that refers to a number of orthoptera insects from various genera and species of the locust family;
This also includes the Prusik, who is sometimes also called K.... Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Euphron
- or Italian locust - an orthoptera insect from the locust family;
grayish-brown in color with dark speckled elytra and pink wings at the base; shins and thighs are red... Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Euphron
- cm….
Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Euphron
— Egg capsule, a clutch of locust eggs, surrounded by frozen foamy secretions of the accessory glands of the genital tract and encrusted with soil particles.
It has the shape of a cavity scraped out in the soil by the female’s ovipositor... Great Soviet Encyclopedia
- ;
pl. koby/lky, R…. Spelling dictionary of the Russian language
- FILLY, -and, female, also collected.
Locust insect. II. FILLY, -i, female. 1. see mare. 2. transfer An unrequited and hardworking worker, a hard worker. All my life I was a gray filly... Ozhegov's Explanatory Dictionary
- FILLY, fillies, female.
1. diminutive to the mare in 1 value. . 2. Wooden stand for strings on violins and other bowed and plucked instruments. 3. A device like a fishing rod for fishing in winter. 4… Ushakov’s Explanatory Dictionary
Explanatory Dictionary by Efremova
— filly I
decomposition Female foal. II Wooden stand for strings in stringed musical instruments... Efremova’s Explanatory Dictionary
— filly I
decomposition Female foal. II Wooden stand for strings in stringed musical instruments... Efremova’s Explanatory Dictionary
— filly I
decomposition Female foal. II Wooden stand for strings in stringed musical instruments... Efremova’s Explanatory Dictionary
— filly I
decomposition Female foal. II Wooden stand for strings in stringed musical instruments... Efremova’s Explanatory Dictionary
- See HAPPINESS -...
V.I. Dahl. Proverbs of the Russian people

Ecology

Goat willow is the larva's food plant.

Lives in willow and mixed plantings where willow grows ( Salix

). It occupies mainly river valleys, the first terraces of mountain rivers, riverine areas of mountains, etc. The beetle's flight time is from July to the first half of August. The peak of numbers occurs in the second half of July.

The beetles first visit flowers for additional nutrition. They visit the flowers of various plants, including Umbellaceae, Rosaceae and others. Having replenished the supply of nutrients with pollen from flowers, which are necessary for adult beetles for life and the maturation of eggs (in females), they fly to food plants for future larvae, which will hatch from eggs laid by the female. The food plants of the larvae primarily include shrub and tree representatives of the willow genus ( Salix

) - goat willow, white willow, twig willow, eared willow.
However, in addition to willows, other types of trees can serve as forage plants: aspen, alder, white mulberry, poplar, horse chestnut and white maple. Subspecies A. m.
orientalis in Korea was recorded on the plum species
Prunus grayana
. Adult beetles were noted to be predators of young spiderlings.

In the first photo there is a musk beetle on a sweet peppermint; on the second - on a plant from the umbrella family.

Some arthropods parasitize the musk beetle. Two species of Hymenoptera from the family Ichneumonidae ( Ischnoceros rusticus

and
Xorides praecatorius
), whose larvae develop inside the barbel larva.
The mite Hericia georgei
, the epochal commensal of the adult longhorned beetle.
The entomopathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana
can infect beetle adults.

Types of locusts

There are quite a few types of locusts, since they easily take root in a new area, immediately adapting to it; even in Russia, the filly lives and thrives - a peaceful solitary locust that does not flock into swarms. The most dangerous for agriculture are two subspecies of migratory locusts: the Asian one, which causes enormous damage to cereal crops, and the Central Russian one, which is more adapted to the cold. But, of course, the true scourge of agriculture are two species: the Turanian locust and the Moroccan locust.

The Moroccan locust, reaching 4 centimeters and distinguished by its red-golden color and bright red shins, has settled over a vast territory from Southern Europe to Kazakhstan. Locusts cause irreparable damage to cereals and garden crops. The larvae destroy plants completely; adult locusts devastate hectares of crops, simply gnawing plants at the roots. The Turanian locust terrorizes the population in northern China, Afghanistan, the southern regions of Kazakhstan and Central Asia.

The worst thing is the hybrids: new species born as a result of such mating can inherit the gluttony and gregariousness of the southern locusts and combine them with the resistance to frost of the northern fillies, which will allow them to avoid migration and actively devastate the northern lands.

And

Although the speed of locusts is not the highest in the insect world - only 10 km, swarms actively take advantage of the tailwind, which allows them to fly thousands of kilometers.

One swarm of locusts can include up to 50 billion individuals, and in a day such a swarm can devour four times more plants by weight than all the food of the inhabitants of a metropolis, such as, for example, New York.

The village tick is a carrier of encephalitis and relapsing fever. Read here what to do to avoid encountering this parasite.

Country tents with mosquito nets will make your holiday pleasant and relaxing. No more annoying flies and mosquitoes! Tips for choosing can be found at https://stopvreditel.ru/parazity/zashhita/setki/sadovyj-shater.html link.

Damage caused by fillies to agriculture

Many people believe that fillies are quite harmless. After all, although they belong to locusts, they are solitary insects. However, in 1939, a senior researcher at the Chelyabinsk stronghold of the All-Union Institute of Plant Protection, K. N. Filatov, compiled a report on the study of the dynamics of non-gregarious locusts, that is, fillies.

His research proved how dangerous the filly can be to agriculture. According to documentary data, in the years 1883-1892, these voracious insects regularly destroyed crops over vast areas in the Kurgan district. This was a real disaster for the peasants. And only in 1892 did people en masse go out hunting by hand. With the help of special canopies, they managed to catch 155,951 pounds of fillies!

Local historians say that in 1894, when the last insect was buried in the ground, the owner of the Balakshin molasses plant erected a monument at his own expense in honor of this event. Unfortunately, it has not survived to this day.

Fighting fillies

If you notice this harmful insect in your garden or garden, you should try to reduce the number of fillies by frequent sprinkling. High air humidity has a negative effect on their reproduction.

Treating plants with a 3% solution of Bordeaux mixture helps get rid of fillies. Feeding on plants that have been sprayed with poison, insects die within 1-3 days.

To prevent the invasion of fillies from reoccurring next year, it is necessary to mow down all the plants from the roadsides in the fall, plow the soil deeply and harrow. This will destroy the filly's eggs laid in the ground.

There is another way - to breed hedgehogs on your property. For whom fillies and other pests of gardens and vegetable gardens are a joy! At the same time, these prickly predators will destroy slugs and mice along with the fillies, if they decide to settle on the site.

Anatomy of a grasshopper

The grasshopper has an oblong body, ranging in size from 1.5 to 15 cm in length, depending on the type of insect. Its body is conventionally divided into three sections: head, chest and abdomen. The grasshopper has two pairs of wings - front and rear, with the help of which it rises into the air and flies short distances. The grasshopper's head is large with very long antennae, which sometimes exceed the length of its body and are the insect's organ of touch. The eyes are large. The color of a grasshopper also depends on its habitat; it can be green, brown or even striped. Females are larger than males.

The grasshopper has 3 pairs of legs. At the same time, he uses his front legs for walking, and with the help of his hind legs he can jump quite high and far. This insect chirps using its elytra. One elytra plays the role of a bow, and the other - a resonator. By vibrating their elytra, grasshoppers produce unique sounds. Moreover, each species has its own unique sounds. Males chirp most often. But in some species, females also chirp. Another interesting fact is that grasshoppers' ears are located on their front legs.

Orthoptera (Ensifera)

The next suborder of long-whiskered orthoptera unites insects that are completely different in appearance - grasshoppers and crickets. These Orthoptera have long bristle-like antennae, the length of which, in most cases, exceeds the length of the body. Many grasshoppers are able to jump a distance of 20 times their body length. Grasshoppers, like locusts, overwinter in the egg stage. Among grasshoppers, there are both predatory and herbivorous species.

photo: Janos Bodor

In the damp places of the steppe lives the well-known, very common green grasshopper (Tettigonia viridissima), whose diet consists of small insects. The gray pipit (Decticus verrucivorus) lives in open, dry areas of the steppe. Like most of the order Orthoptera, it successfully camouflages itself and takes off at the last moment. It takes off noisily, with a bang, needless to say, good protection from pursuers! The gray pipit feeds on both plants and insects.

Steppe rack

One of the most remarkable and largest grasshoppers is, of course, the steppe grasshopper (Saga Pedo). Its body length is 6-8 cm. The steppe rack is a predatory insect. It feeds on locusts, crickets, beetles and bugs, and also catches large grasshoppers and can even cope with ordinary ones.

Orthoptera insects are represented by the superfamily of crickets, which includes crickets and mole crickets. Mole cricket (Volchok) is an insect that leads an underground lifestyle and feeds on plant roots and insect larvae. The top digs tunnels of a special shape, due to which the sound it makes is amplified by an echo. These orthoptera have wings and can fly.

Medvedka

Most of you know all these insects well, but each representative of Orthoptera is a unique and special creature. In the steppe you can find another original family - these are stem crickets (Oecanthidae). This delicate insect with a yellowish or greenish body has the same elytra as in crickets, which lie flat on the back and are almost completely occupied by the chirping organ, the legs are long and thin. Their wings have lost their main purpose - the ability to fly.

Stem grasshopper

Stem crickets spend almost all of their time on the plants they feed on. During the day they hide under the leaves, and in the evening and at night the males chirp loudly. In some regions they may cause minor damage to crop plants.

Interesting Orthoptera are bush crickets, large flightless crickets that are also known as long-legged pipits. These orthoptera live in trees, masquerading as dead leaves. In a moment of danger, they rise into the air, opening their wings and showing the colored eye-like dots depicted on them. Most bush crickets are predators that feed on other insects and even small lizards.

Cricket Veta photo: Richard Mayston

Endemic to New Zealand, the weta is a cricket with long, spine-covered hind limbs that it uses to ward off predators. Some species can even bite the offender. Veta is nocturnal, crawling out of its hiding place only after dark to feast on plants and mushrooms. There are over 100 known species of weta, all of which live in New Zealand.

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