What is the difference between a praying mantis and a grasshopper, a locust, a grasshopper and a cricket:

Have you ever seen a grasshopper? Did you know that this cute, vocal insect is a predator? Hiding, he can wait for a long time until a careless victim appears. The grasshopper attacks everyone who is smaller in size, and sometimes even those who are larger than him. Having grabbed the victim with tenacious and strong paws, he tears it apart with powerful jaws and immediately eats it. Children who caught grasshoppers remember: the bite of a green, brown or brown serenade performer is very painful. The insect easily bites through the skin.

Green, but not a grasshopper

There is an insect that is so similar to a grasshopper that an inexperienced eye will not immediately distinguish one from the other. These are locusts. The life of a locust takes place in two phases. At the moment of “loneliness” the fillies take on a protective color and lead a relatively calm lifestyle. In the second stage they form flocks. This is the main difference between a locust and a grasshopper: an insect similar to a grasshopper is a herbivore.

Flocking together in flocks, the grasshopper's short-whiskered counterparts are capable of destroying hundreds of hectares of crops in a few hours. Such flocks move at an alarming speed, and no means have yet been invented to combat them. What else distinguishes a thunderstorm from a grasshopper? Short mustache, shorter than that of the master of serenades, hind legs, powerful forelimbs. Locusts do not jump, which is why their legs are weaker. Finally, the grasshopper destroys insects, saving people from them, and the locust destroys farmland, causing harm.

Another double

Another green insect that looks like a grasshopper is the praying mantis. Of course, an entomologist can easily distinguish one species from another. However, townspeople are not always able to understand who is in front of them. Moreover: not everyone can see a praying mantis, so cleverly does it “pretend” to be a green twig. Even some insects do not see it among the foliage and land directly on the predatory insect, instantly becoming its prey.

The praying mantis can be recognized by its characteristic stance, reminiscent of one praying. It has a triangular head and very long front legs. During mating, the females bite off the male's head, but even being decapitated, he fulfills his duty to his “wife.”

Types of mantises: photos and names

The academic name for the praying mantis was given back in 1758 by the great Swedish naturalist Karl Liney, who drew attention to the fact that the pose of a praying mantis in ambush and guarding its prey is very similar to the pose of a man folding his hands in prayer to God. Because of such striking similarity, the scientist gave the insect the Latin name “Mantis religiosa”, which literally translates as “religious priest”; the name “mantis” itself came into our language.

Although it is not called this way everywhere, our hero also has other, not so blissful names, for example, in Spain he is called Caballito del Diablo - the devil's horse or simply - muerte - death. Such creepy names are obviously associated with the equally creepy habits of praying mantises.

Scientists have counted about 2000 different species of mantises; unfortunately, we will not be able to list them all in our article, but we will describe, in our opinion, the most interesting representatives.

Chinese mantis

Obviously, the homeland and main habitat of this type of mantis is China. The Chinese mantis is quite large, females reach up to 15 cm in length, but the size of males is much more modest. They have green and brown colors. A characteristic feature of Chinese mantises is their nocturnal lifestyle, while their other relatives still sleep at night.

The praying mantis Creobroter meleagris lives in southwest Asia: India, Vietnam, Cambodia and several other countries. Usually reach 5 cm in length. The colors are white and cream. You can recognize them by the light brown stripes that run along the entire body and head. Also on the wings they have one small and one large spot of white or cream color.

The mantis Creobroter gemmatus especially loves the humid forests of southern India, Vietnam and other Asian countries. This species is small, females grow to only 40 mm, males up to 38 mm. The body is more elongated than that of other relatives. And for additional protection, the Indian praying mantis has special spikes of different heights on its hips.

Either a stick or a flower

The stick insect is another grasshopper-like insect. During the day it pretends to be a flower or twig (which is why it got its name), and at night it looks for plant food. Even looking closely at the foliage, you are unlikely to distinguish a stick insect from a twig. In Russia, these insects are green and small, but in New Guinea there are individuals up to 20 cm long. They take on the color of the surrounding foliage. These individuals can often be found at exhibitions of exotic nature.

The grasshopper has “doubles” that are many times larger than itself. The domesticated giant Weta can be found on the Barrier Reef. The insect, similar to a grasshopper, grows up to 9 centimeters, but weighs almost 80 grams. This is a record among insects.

Grasshopper and cricket - similarities and differences

Both insects belong to the same order Orthoptera. They have an elongated shape, a large head, and well-developed eyes. Males of both families have a chirping organ - elytra. Insects have much in common in the process of reproduction, development and nutrition, but upon close examination it is difficult to confuse them. What is the difference between a grasshopper and a cricket? Grasshoppers are larger in size, some species reach a size of 35 mm. Their body is usually colored greenish for camouflage in the grass. The hind legs of grasshoppers are much better developed, because they live in open spaces and need powerful limbs for jumping.

The time of their activity also differs - crickets play music at night, and grasshoppers during the day. Their graph is related to the structural features of the wings. The apparatus of grasshoppers must be dry in order to make sounds. They are waiting for the warmth to dry the dew from the grass.

Crickets are jumping orthoptera insects, they are also mistakenly called grasshoppers. Sounds are produced by rubbing the elytra. Moreover, only males emit them, scaring away other males or inviting females to mate. This type includes:

Real;
Field;
Brownies;
Stem Far Eastern;
Ants;
Common ant lover.

The tropics are considered the homeland of crickets. Although many species have adapted and can live anywhere. For example, the field cricket feels great in the steppe or forest-steppe zone. This rather noticeable insect with a black, seemingly polished body can settle very close to human habitation. House view

and can even live in an artificial environment next to a person.

Picture

He sits behind the stove.

Similar to a grasshopper, only black, and our Russian cricket. These insects live in burrows, crevices, cracks, and are found in fields and houses (different species). The cricket has a flat body and a large head. They say that if it chirps in the house, it prophesies sad news. The “song” of the house cricket, intrusive and loud, annoys everyone who loves the comfort of home.

There are a great variety of agricultural pests. Each specializes in a certain type of food: leaves, grass, fruits, vegetables. The locust insect eats all the greenery that comes along the way, and also grabs cereal crops. There is even a popular saying: “They swooped in like locusts.” Indeed, these insects swoop in in huge swarms and destroy everything in their path, leaving nothing to the vanquished.

Gigantic, leisurely

The largest locusts on the planet live in the humid tropics. The size of females reaches 18 cm, weight - more than 10 g , males are usually slightly smaller. The diet of these insects consists not of cereal crops, traditional for the family, but of herbaceous shrubs and tree branches. The habitat of the insects is northern South America.

The color of males is brighter than that of females; the upper part of their bodies is bright pink, with a general green-brown color of the bodies . But the attractive appearance is deceptive - in a field, a swarm of such giants can eat several thousand tons of crops.

Interesting! This locust is leisurely, it jumps little and practically does not fly, slowly crawling from branch to branch.

Giant locust photo below:

Appearance

The locust insect, also called locust, belongs to the family of true locusts, order Orthoptera. The name comes from Turkic languages, which means “yellow”. But the color of the locust can vary from grayish to olive-brown depending on the habitat and age of the locust.

The locust's coloration camouflages the insect. It differs even among close relatives and depends not only on the species, but also on the environment, nutrition, and climate humidity.

The locust has a body length from 1 to 20 cm. The head is large with a powerful jaw apparatus and large eyes on the sides. The lower wings are a transparent shade of light green and are covered with hard wing covers. The size of females is larger than that of males. Female locusts have a short, sharp ovipositor. Just like a male locust makes sounds by rubbing special notches located on the thighs of the hind legs against the thickening on the elytra.

Cicada

If the song comes from above, then most likely it is performed by a cicada, one of the worst enemies of plants. Adult insects suck juices from the leaves of grasses, shrubs and trees. The larvae hide in the ground and damage the roots.

Southern cicadas are large (body length - 2-6.5 cm, wingspan - up to 18 cm), and in Central Russia and to the north there live small cicadas - no more than 1 cm in height.

Photo: www.globallookpress.com

The cicada's body is wide and short, with two pairs of transparent wings on the sides. The head is wide, with large bulging eyes. The legs are strong, but cicadas cannot jump high, and they fly only so-so. More often they prefer to walk.

The cicada is much tougher to the touch than it looks, and its wings are so dense that you feel like you could cut yourself with them. But in reality they are harmless to humans.

Both male and female cicadas chirp, although the latter do this extremely rarely. But the males, wanting to attract “ladies,” fill the air with a very loud song - up to 100 decibels. Sometimes it can be heard from a distance of 800 meters.

Differences from nearby species

If you look at a photo of a locust, you can see that the insect looks very similar to a grasshopper, but they belong to a different order. Grasshoppers - to grasshoppers and long-whiskered, and locusts - to locusts and short-whiskered. The difference is also that the pest has shorter and less strong limbs. There are differences in lifestyle:

grasshoppers are predators, locusts are herbivores;
long-whiskered - nocturnal insects, short-whiskered - daytime;
grasshoppers lay eggs on plants or under the bark of trees, while locusts lay eggs in the ground.

Decorative options

Since the underside of the roof canopy is visible, the desire arises to make this part of the structure more decorative. There are possibilities for this. You can simply round the limb of each filly, or you can make their bottom curly throughout the entire visible area.

Using a jigsaw you can actually make shaped cutouts in the middle part of the boards. Here you need to know when to stop and not overdo it with too many of them, which can weaken the structural strength of the fillies.

For greater decorativeness, it is advisable to cover visible wooden elements with oil paints or colorless varnish to preserve the texture of the wood.

Locust phases

Locusts have two stages: solitary and gregarious. Singles (fillies) are divided into males and females and lead an inactive lifestyle. They can eat no more than 300 grams of green mass in their life. They are considered harmless as long as food is available. As soon as the locust begins to feel a shortage of food, it lays “marching offspring”, which subsequently form swarms. Thus, they become a gregarious individual. The size of this brood is larger, the wings are longer, they are more active, have the same color, and there is almost no division by gender.

Flocks of gregarious locusts can number up to hundreds of millions of insects, forming clouds of several thousand square meters. Locusts are very voracious and eat greens and cereals that they encounter along the way. In flight it makes a noise that can be mistaken for thunder. Swarms are mobile and can cover distances of up to 200 km per day. Cases of locusts flying across the ocean over a distance of 6,000 km have been recorded.

Cricket lifestyle

All crickets require warmth to live. They rarely settle in apartments, since in the spring and autumn the heating is turned off, and the apartment becomes cold for these insects. Therefore, they prefer to choose their home in stores, at heating units, in bakeries, and boiler rooms.

It is almost impossible to see a cricket during the day, since its activity occurs at night. During daylight hours, they sit in crevices and secluded dark corners, and only at night can they be detected by sound.

There is a sign that if a cricket appears at home, it is good

Adult males control their territory, making daily rounds and checking it for the presence of rivals. If a stranger gets in the way, the crickets will inevitably fight. During a fight, they try to bite off each other's paws and antennae, and hit their thick heads. The winner may even eat the loser.

This spectacle is quite exciting to watch, so in some countries they even organize cricket fights. They have developed a special diet for fighting insects, cold medicines, and provide them with meetings with females to maintain morale.

Nutrition

The locust insect feeds on a variety of greens, including cereals. She eats as much food per day as she weighs. The offspring of one female locust eats an amount of grass equal in weight to the food of two sheep. Everything that comes across the path of a hungry flock - meadows, fields, vegetable gardens, forests - is destroyed in a matter of hours. Sometimes orchards and vineyards are attacked. Berry pickers eat locusts completely, including bark and fruit. When there is a shortage of food, thatched roofs and weaker members of the flock are used as food.

Locust feeding

A few words about migratory “Asians”

Separately, it is necessary to say about the Asian migratory locust. This type of insect is capable of daily absorbing an amount of food equal to the volume of feed for two sheep . It is incredibly difficult to fight the “Asian” - before raiding the fields, it forms complex nests in hard-to-reach thickets in swampy areas. You can defeat Asian guests only in the following ways:

chemistry;
burning;
digging.

Locusts are sometimes called the jaws of the wind, and this completely reflects their essence. In regions where locust outbreaks are a frequent event, this phenomenon is described as a black cloud rapidly approaching, leaving only bare ground after disappearing. Therefore, learning to effectively combat this natural scourge is so important.

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Reproduction

The males begin the love games of locusts. They secrete a special enzyme that can attract females. Jumping onto the female, the male deposits a spermatophore at the base of the female's ovipositor. This process can take up to 14 hours. After fertilization, the female locust lays eggs in the ground or on fallen leaves, enveloping them in a special liquid that freezes and hardens. Thus, the clutch is protected throughout the entire period of egg maturation.

Each locust cocoon contains from 50 to 150 eggs. The female lays from 6 to 12 clutches during her life. There can be up to 2000 cocoons per square meter. The offspring of locusts go through three stages of development: egg, larva, and adult. After winter, larvae emerge from the eggs, similar to adult locust insects only without wings.

Forty days after five molts, a full-fledged locust individual develops from the larva, capable of producing new offspring. The lifespan of the pest ranges from 8 months to 2 years.

Scarab beetle

Not every insect is a hero of myths and legends, and certainly not a symbol of an entire country. The ancient Egyptians believed that the insect protected the human soul. A photo of a scarab beetle can be seen below.

The insect has a round body with a black, smooth and matte surface. Its length is 2.5-3.5 cm. Adults acquire a glossy surface over time. On the head of a scarab beetle (a photo of the insect can be seen in this section) there is a small protrusion and eyes, divided into upper and lower parts. There are spurs on the paws.

Sexual characteristics of the beetle are practically not expressed. The lower part is covered with dark brown hairs. The insect is distributed on the Mediterranean coast, the Black Sea, Southeast Europe, Crimea, Egypt, Turkey and the Arabian Peninsula.

Scarabs are dung beetles that typically feed on the excrement of cattle, sheep and horses. They roll shapeless manure into perfectly smooth balls and bury them in the soil, where they subsequently use them for food. Scarab beetles live for about two years and spend most of this time underground, rising to the surface at night. In winter, the insect burrows deep into the ground.

The beetles form pairs during the process of preparing food and continue working together. They then dig a burrow up to 30 cm deep and mate. After which the female rolls balls into which she lays eggs. When the job is finished, she fills up the hole. After a couple of weeks, the larvae hatch, during the maturation period they feed on food prepared for them, after which they pupate.

Locust habitats

About 12,000 species of locust insects are known. They can be found everywhere except Antarctica. Some insects love heat and dry climates, so they often settle in semi-deserts and steppes. The steppe locust lives in European, Asian and North African countries. Border regions - Indo-Malaysia, New Zealand, Madagascar, Sahara - voracious locusts can be found everywhere. Others settle around bodies of water in areas covered with dense, lush vegetation.

Locust

There are 600 species of insects found in Russia. Their habitats are in Kazakhstan, Siberia, the Amu Darya River basin, near the Northern Caspian Sea and in Dagestan. In the northern regions you can also find this formidable pest, but due to the cold climate their numbers are not so large.

Why and where do these insects appear in an apartment or house?

In nature, crickets live close to humans, preferring old buildings with many cracks, old rugs and high humidity. As the weather gets colder, insects move into new buildings, even found on the upper floors. The reason is renovation or complete reconstruction of the house.

One of the reasons for the appearance of uninvited guests in a multi-storey building is the breeding of “night singers” by one of its inhabitants and the escape of crickets from the place of detention.

Insects can be brought in both as part of the product and in things from the previous home.

In human homes, insects need warmth and food. Damp, warm rooms with abundant food have become favorite places for crickets. Therefore, the lack of cleanliness and a considerable amount of food waste in uncovered trash cans are perceived by insects as invitation cards.

House crickets have chosen warm basements, warehouses, and industrial premises as habitats; warmth also settles in people’s homes. Crickets move indoors when it gets colder.

Insects are omnivores. Under natural conditions, they prefer plant foods. But the diet is diversified by eating other insects and even young individuals of their own species.

In human homes, crickets prefer leftover food: pieces of fruits, vegetables, bread crumbs. Crickets eat cockroaches, moths. The “singers” like drops of drinks, excluding alcoholic ones.

During the day, uninvited guests hide under baseboards and lurk in dark secluded corners.

You can detect “neighbors” only after dark by sound.

Historical background on locust plagues

Over the entire period of human existence, various territories have been attacked more than once by locusts. For the first time such a tragic event in the history of ancient Rus' was mentioned in the chronicles of 1008. They caused significant damage to crops, causing people to starve. Such raids were repeated several times. Akrids flew over Russian lands in the 11th-17th centuries.

On the territory of modern Ukraine, an invasion of pests was observed in 1824. Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin was part of the detachment that was sent to fight this natural disaster. This is what he wrote as a report:

May 23 - flew, flew;
May 24 - and sat down;
May 25 - sitting, sitting;
May 26 - ate everything;
May 27 - flew away again.

At the end of the 18th century, a locust attack in America (Texas) and in the territory to the west resulted in a huge disaster. Having devastated a huge area, the flock disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. In the modern world, crops and vegetation continue to suffer from attacks by voracious locusts everywhere, especially in Africa.

How to fight locusts, effective methods

In areas where there is a high probability of these pests appearing in large numbers, deep plowing of the soil is usually carried out to destroy the eggs laid by the locusts in the ground.

In the spring, repeated digging and harrowing should be carried out in order to destroy clutches of eggs that the locusts could lay after autumn plowing.

During the summer season, swarms of locusts can only be effectively controlled using chemical agents.

In areas where a large number of larvae of this insect are found, pesticides are used, the validity of which is at least a month from the moment of spraying. To poison the soil and destroy pests, Karate, Confidor and similar preparations are usually used. Also suitable for combating locusts are chemicals designed to kill the Colorado potato beetle.

A systemic chemical such as Clotiamet VDG, when sprayed, protects plants from locust attacks for 19-22 days. The main positive quality of this product is the possibility of using it together with mineral fertilizers, growth stimulants or other drugs that protect plantings from pests.

The insecticide "Damilin", which is also successfully used to combat locust larvae, slows down the development of insects at this stage, and also prevents the formation of the chitinous cover of the larvae, which leads to the death of the pests. This drug is the least toxic.

Types of insects

There are a huge number of varieties of locusts. It is impossible to list them all. Some of them include:

There can be about a billion individuals in a swarm of locusts, and the area occupied by it is more than 1 thousand sq.m. The creaking sounds produced by the friction of the wings are similar to thunder.

Locusts are considered to be not very distant relatives of cute grasshoppers. However, the damage that their flocks cause is enormous in scale. Bare gardens, fields of grain crops gnawed to the roots, devastated plantations - the final result after visiting their voracious herd.

DANGEROUS LOCUST. GIANT LOCUST EATING. Video (00:02:10)

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Description and features

Nature has endowed the locust with an elongated body and six limbs, of which two pairs are short and weak, one (the back) is stronger and much longer. In some cases, there are specimens whose “height” approaches 15 cm.

This subspecies has a large head with clearly visible eyes. One pair of solid elytra covers 2 transparent wings, which are practically invisible when folded. Locusts belong to the long-existing order of Orthoptera, of which there are supposedly more than twenty thousand species.

Coloring usually has nothing to do with heredity; color is influenced only by the conditions in which the individual lives and the stage of its formation. Specimens coming from the same litter will be colored differently if they were raised in different conditions.

The stage of formation has a direct impact on how the insect looks - single insects are painted in camouflage shades (green-yellow or walnut), which are influenced by the region of residence. When a flock is formed, everyone acquires a color exactly the same as everyone else. Gender divisions are already disappearing at this time.

The speed at which the flock moves reaches 120 km per day. The locust in the photo looks like a grasshopper familiar to every child. In order not to make a mistake and not miss the appearance of a formidable dirty trick, you should pay attention to the following characteristic features:

Locusts and grasshoppers are recognized primarily by the size of their antennae. The grasshopper's whiskers are not much larger than his own size, the locust has short whiskers, they are no more than his head;
locusts have less developed forelimbs than grasshoppers;
grasshoppers love the coolness of the night and begin to become active in the evening, and locusts are active during daylight hours;
grasshoppers are loners, they never gather in large groups for self-preservation;
the common grasshopper is a predator that eats only small insects, the locust is a plant eater (for the most part, it will indiscriminately eat everything it comes across).

The most famous types of locusts are:

1. Migratory or Asian.

It is found in large quantities in European countries and in countries located in western Asia, in the Mediterranean territories of the African continent, in the countries of East Asia. The size of the body in an adult individual is usually 40-60 mm.

The wings have a barely noticeable grayish tone and darkened veins. The color follows the shades of the surrounding area - emerald-greenish, grayish-brownish or sand. The hind limbs of these insects are darker in color compared to the body.

This species is distributed in the Mediterranean climate zone of northern Africa. You can see insects in the southern part of European countries, as well as countries located on the Balkan Peninsula and in southern Russia.

Adults are not large in size, in most cases they are no more than 20 mm, the color is usually inconspicuous, grayish-brownish. A distinctive feature by which they can be recognized is a light-colored pattern resembling a cross on the back and dark spots randomly located throughout the body.

The main place of settlement is the countries of the Iberian and Apennine Peninsulas. You can meet insects in areas west of the Urals and in Asian countries, in the Altai Territory and in the countries of the Arab East.

The maximum size to which an adult insect grows is 40 mm. Individuals of the Italian locust have a brick or brownish color; lightish specks or stripes are clearly visible on the back.

4. Siberian filly.

It can be found in almost all regions of the Asian part of the Russian Federation (except for permafrost areas) and in Kazakhstan. A large number of Siberian fillies can be found in the northern territories of Mongolia and China, and the mountainous areas of the Caucasus. Mature individuals are relatively modest in size; their length is not often more than 25 mm. The color of the insects is brown with a brownish tint or a khaki shade.

5. Egyptian filly.

This species can be found in European countries, northern regions of the African continent, and Middle Eastern countries. This is one of the most impressive insects. Females can grow up to 60-70 mm. Male individuals are smaller, their body size is no more than 40-45 mm.

These locusts are usually painted the color of a mouse or the color of wet sand. The hind legs of the insect have a bluish tint, sometimes with the addition of yellow-red. A characteristic feature is clearly visible lines - black and white, they can be seen on the bulging eyes.

6. Blue-winged filly.

It lives in steppes and forest-steppe regions of Asia and Europe, the Caucasus, western regions of Siberia and Kazakhstan. Does not apply to species whose size is large. 20 mm is all that a pest with beautiful wings can grow to. The color of the insect is amazing.

The wings have a turquoise or rich blue color, on which a fancy pattern of thin strokes of dark color is clearly visible. The hind legs have small spines of a light shade and are tinted light blue.

7. Rainbow Locust.

Lives on the island of Madagascar. This is a very spectacular and attention-grabbing individual, but at the same time, it is extremely poisonous. All her organs are literally saturated with toxic and noxious substances, since she only eats plants that produce poisonous juice.

Favorite food is milkweed leaves and fruits. Her appearance is admirable - the whole range of colors is gathered on her wings, and this is understandable, because she lives among bright vegetation. The beauty has impressive dimensions - up to 70 mm.

What is a filly on the roof

The filly is an element that is present on the roofing frame. The purpose of this element is to lengthen the rafter leg, which rests on the mauerlat of the structure, made of brick or blocks, and is located on the top frame of the structure made of logs or beams.

To put it simply, a filly in a rafter system is a piece of board used as a continuation of the rafter system, resulting in an overhang on the roof. As a rule, this element is suitable for the rafter system in cases where the rafter leg does not have the required size, which prevents the formation of an overhang.

To install fillets on the rafter system, it is recommended to choose boards whose cross-section is much smaller than that of the boards suitable for the rafter system. In addition, thanks to this approach it is possible to significantly facilitate installation work.

The use of this material in the rafter system can significantly facilitate installation work on the construction and further repair of the roof frame. In addition, it is possible to significantly reduce the level of load on load-bearing walls and foundations.

This is due to the following:

since the length of the rafter leg will be much shorter, it is not necessary to provide for an overhang of 40-100 cm beyond the plane of the walls for further arrangement of the overhang, as a result the structure is quite light, short and not so expensive in cost;
installation work is carried out on boards that are thinner compared to the building material suitable for arranging the rafter system, as a result the weight of the structure becomes much less;
if necessary, it is possible to quite easily align the line at the overhang, and if an error is made in the construction, then it will be enough to replace this element;
If during operation the support of the eaves overhang begins to rot, then it will be enough to replace the damaged element rather than carry out repair work.

In addition, it is worth considering that fillies in the rafter system can be used during the construction process as a decorative element. If necessary, this product used in the rafter system can be given any shape, making it as decorative as possible.

Attention! For a better understanding, it is recommended to look at what the fillies on the roof look like in the photo.

Lifestyle and habitat

A distinctive feature of the locust is its ability to both live alone and gather in giant communities. If an individual is solitary, it behaves quite calmly, is sedentary and not voracious. Destructive consequences from its presence are usually not observed.

When food disappears, insects try to lay as many eggs as possible, from which gregarious individuals hatch, ready to move across vast spaces. These offspring are larger, and their wings are better adapted for long flights. Giant swarms of locusts sometimes contain up to half a billion individuals. Such flocks have amazing mobility and interact as a single organism.

It is believed that the signal for mass laying of eggs may be a lack of organic substances and amino acids in the body of individuals due to insufficient food in dry years.

Installation of cornice and filly

A roof with this element is a little more complicated. The fillies are boards with a cross section of 150*30 mm or 100*30 mm. Also for this element, trimmings of rafter beams can be used, which will be attached to the rafters with the wider side. During installation of fillets, orientation occurs along the brickwork or level.

After installing the fillies, hemming boards are attached to them. The result of this procedure is a box with a horizontal lower part. Then you can move on to decorating the box according to the general style of the house or the wishes of its owner.

When installing the cornice, you need to understand that the roof must “breathe”. This means that warm air enters the part of the roof under the eaves. After this, the air, passing the rafters, sheathing and the roofing material itself, comes out. This allows for proper ventilation, which dries the roof well, protecting it from condensation accumulation and extending its overall service life. That is why you cannot seal any elements of the ridge or cornice. They are performed without the use of polyurethane foam or silicone. The only exceptions are vertical junctions with pipes and walls, since in these places there is a high probability of water penetrating under the roof.

There are several types of hemmed cornices with fillies. The simplest method is to lay a triangular cornice. In addition to ease of installation, it is distinguished by the absence of unpleasant humming during winter blizzards, which is inherent in other types of cornices.

Nutrition

Single individuals do not cause catastrophic damage to green spaces. Singles have a very moderate appetite. During their entire life, they eat no more than five hundred grams of green mass. The main problem is the locusts that have united in a swarm.

To replenish the energy balance and vitality, individuals gathered in a herd are forced to eat without stopping, otherwise they will die from thirst and lack of protein. The locust, finding itself in the company of numerous relatives, begins to show amazing gluttony. One individual is capable of absorbing about four hundred grams of green mass per day, but there are millions of them in a flock.

With a lack of protein in the body, insects begin to degenerate into predators, and the process of eating their own kind begins. In this case, the flock is divided into two symbolic subgroups, one of which runs ahead, and the second tries to catch up and eat. Both those escaping and those catching up eat everything in their path, completely destroying crops and gardens.

Locusts are pests . The multimillion-dollar community will leave behind bare ground with the occasional remnant of protruding stems. Individuals have a better appetite in the absence of heat (morning and evening).

Reproduction and lifespan

Locusts are oviparous insects and reproduce sexually. To attract a female, an enterprising male produces a specific hormone, by the smell of which the female searches for a suitable partner.

Attracted by the smell, she finds the male and tries to get as close to him as possible. The male individual attaches to the female and tries to deposit a capsule with sperm into the part of the posterior end of the abdomen (ovipositor). Mating often takes a long time and can last up to 13 hours.

The female leaves the ovipositor directly in the ground and covers it with a foamy liquid, which solidifies into a solid cocoon. One such clutch can contain 60-80 eggs. During her life, the female makes from six to twelve clutches, which contain up to four hundred eggs.

After twelve days, white larvae crawl out of such a cocoon and immediately begin to feed intensively. The larva goes through several stages of development and turns into an adult specimen in 35-40 days.

The lifespan of locusts depends on the climatic conditions of their habitat and can range from 7-8 months to 2 years. In areas with harsh winters, locusts die with the onset of frost. an insect similar to a locust on your territory , you should water the area as often as possible, since fillies do not reproduce well in high humidity.

It is best to treat plants with a liquid specifically designed to combat these insects. Animals that eat poisoned leaves should die within 2-3 days. Particular care must be taken to identify places where eggs may be laid, and try to prevent the appearance of larvae.

General information about the structure and size of insects

What if there is a cricket in the house - is this good or bad from the point of view of sanitary standards? It’s bad, because adult individuals not only create irritating noise, but also “ruin” the table, kitchen, bathroom and other rooms. Therefore, the answer to the question of what a cricket eats is simple - crumbs, leftover food, waste, etc. Their bodies are covered with a durable chitinous layer, which provides reliable protection.

It will not be difficult to spot the insect. A cricket that has taken up residence in a house, which we will discuss below on how to get rid of an orthoptera, has a body length of 16-25.8 mm and a head in the form of a flattened egg. Other distinctive features include:

small eyes with a faceted structure - as if bulging;
gnawing mouthparts. If you were wondering whether crickets bite or not, the answer is yes. Cases of human bites are extremely rare. But the insects themselves are extremely aggressive and can put up real fights. They are able to chew solid food;
long antennae that act as an organ of touch. Their length in 87% of cases exceeds the body size;
membranous wings allowing easy movement from place to place. If you don’t know how to get rid of crickets in an apartment, then the simplest method—catching—will not work. Thanks to its wings and sense of touch, the insect immediately senses danger and reacts instantly. Once you learn how to catch a cricket in the house, you will have to try. After all, domestic Orthoptera can make long and sharp jumps and long journeys;
three pairs of strong and jumping legs. Do not come up with ways to catch a cricket in an apartment, they will not be successful;
the hearing organs are located on the shins of the first pair of legs.

If effective measures are not taken, the insect will not only settle in the house, but will also begin to multiply. It is interesting to know how long outdoor and indoor class crickets live. Years of life - up to 3 months.

Before deciding how to get rid of crickets on your property, find out where they came from. This information will help prevent insects from re-infesting your home in the future. Once you know what crickets eat and in what conditions they feel most comfortable, it will be very easy to answer this exciting question.

As soon as the ambient temperature drops below 18-210C, orthoptera pests lose interest in food and mobility. The deposited larvae stop growing and developing. And since the cricket is an insect that leads an active nocturnal lifestyle, the night temperature that is comfortable for it does not last so long in our latitudes. To survive and raise offspring, he moves to warmth. The domestic cricket feels comfortable at a temperature of 28-350C.

It’s not only warm in apartments and houses, but it’s also easy to find food. Especially if you live in the kitchen. Let us remind you what crickets eat in a person’s house:

flies and cockroaches;
ants and crumbs;
food waste from the trash can;
moth, etc.

Do you want to know how long a cricket lives in the presence of heat and food? Long, over 3 months.

Interesting Facts

Among the features of the structure and life of locusts, many interesting facts can be identified:

Due to the fact that the insect has well-developed hind legs, it can move a distance twenty times its body size in one jump.
When eating, locusts eat everything that is colored green. As soon as food that has greenish tints runs out in a closed room, the locust begins to eat its relatives if they are green in color.
Insects can fly over vast spaces without landing - up to four hundred kilometers. The longest flight of a swarm of locusts is from the African continent to the islands of the Caribbean Sea. A herd of locusts walking on foot covers an area of twenty kilometers during daylight hours.
7,000 tons of citrus fruits were swallowed in 5 days by a community of locusts that attacked an orange plantation in Morocco. Amazing gluttony - one ton per minute.
Locust is an insect that inhabits all continents of the globe, with the exception of Antarctica. This is due to harsh climatic conditions and a complete lack of food. But an interesting fact is that they are not available in North America. The last known locust outbreak on the continent was in 1875.
The most unusual way to fight locusts was recorded in the 15th century in France. The judge who was considering the case of damage to the vineyards by insects made a decision to allocate them a plot of land, which the pests were strictly forbidden to leave.
Locusts are on the menu of many peoples of the world. These insects are eaten in thirty-six countries located on the African continent, twenty-nine Asian countries and twenty-three countries on the South American continent. Research has proven that locusts are a nutritious food that can replace meat, they are low in fat and high in vitamins.

Why increase the length of the rafters

As a rule, the rafters in their lower part rest on the top of the walls. In houses made of bricks and blocks, the above-mentioned Mauerlat is used for convenience. There is no need for it in wooden buildings. The rafters are fastened directly to the walls.

Let's say that the rafters will not be extended, and the roof will be laid, only slightly extending beyond the plane of the vertical structures of the house or outbuilding. In this case, moisture will drain from the roof directly onto the walls, which will lead to the following negative consequences:

the wall material will get wet, allowing moisture to pass into the premises, which will certainly lead to the formation of fungus and mold, the activity of which is not beneficial for humans;
Overmoistening contributes to the rapid destruction of wall material.
Repeated cycles of freezing and thawing have a similar effect on the frame of a house.

All of the above led to the need to extend the edge of the roof beyond the walls by 45-60 cm in accordance with the existing GOST. Thanks to this, these negative aspects will be eliminated.