What is a wasp: an insect with a controversial character


Sphecoid wasp

Modern people living in the middle zone have to deal with wasps. But few people know that in addition to the classic type of this insect, there are other types of wasps. The body sizes of individuals vary from 1.5 to 10 cm. Each individual is equipped with membranous wings and an elongated abdomen with hairs. The eyes of these insects have a complex structure. There are differences between representatives of different species in the degree of danger, bites and other characteristics.

On the head of the insect's body there are antennae that perform several functions. They are the wasp's sense of sight and smell, as well as its sense of touch. These “organs” act as taste buds because they can easily detect air vibrations. As for the insect's mouthparts, it is needed for grinding food and for collecting materials for building a house.

What wasps look like: photo

Wasp: species.

Composition, release form

The high effectiveness of the drug is ensured by several active components at once - cypermethrin, bioallethrin. Mosquitol contains their concentration of 0.2% for each. The action of Mosquitol is enhanced by the synergist. Insecticidal substances are used for the manufacture of professional preparations due to their rapid action and relative safety.

The aerosol is sold in yellow-black cans in a 500 ml container. The product is ready for use and does not require special preparatory procedures. Before using Mosquitol, simply remove the protective membrane and shake the can well.

general description

Name: Wasps Title status: uncertain
Class: Insects - Insecta Suborder: Stalked belly - Apocrita

Habitats:garden, forest, fields, proximity to people
Dangerous for:bees, people and pets
Description:stinging insects with a quarrelsome character

The wasp insect is a stinging one, with a specific abdominal shape and lifestyle features.

To generalize, all representatives of stalked bellies with a sting, which are not representatives of bees and ants, can be characterized by the concept of wasp.

Appearance

DimensionsIn the classical sense, the wasp has a small size of about 20 mm. But the sizes vary from 10 mm to 10 cm.
ColorMost often, representatives have a yellow-black body with stripes. But shades may change.
WingsFor the most part, representatives of the species have 4 membranous wings. But there are also completely wingless individuals.
AbdomenIt has the shape of a spindle or barrel.
MustacheLocated on the head, they are organs of touch, taste buds and even measuring instruments.

Insect nutrition

Wasps are pollinators.

Feeding habits depend on the age of the insect and its species. Herbivorous wasp species love sweet pollen, nectar, juice of fruits and berries. They feed on aphid honeydew, the sweet secretions that pests leave behind.

There are predatory species of wasps that feed on other insects. Their diet includes flies, cockroaches, spiders, beetles, mantises and other types of wasps. They teach their offspring to do this from childhood. The wasp catches prey, stings it, injects poison and paralyzes it. This keeps the food source alive and fresh.

Kinds

These birds are classified as members of the corvid family, that is, they are considered to be close relatives of crows. In its order, the group of jays is represented numerously and widely, including about 44 species.

Moreover, zoologists claim that there may be species that have not been described by scientists, living in areas of the globe that are difficult to access for scientific research.

Within the Old World, such birds are united into one genus, which is divided into three species, and they, in turn, are divided into subspecies. Some of them are worth mentioning.

The common jay is a feathered creature widespread in the forest regions of Eurasia; it is also found in the northwestern regions of Africa. Among the varieties of jays, this one is considered the largest, that is, the size of a jackdaw.

From a distance, its plumage appears gray to the observer, and only if you come closer does it become possible to see black and white wings, complemented by a blue stripe. All the features of the appearance are visible in the photo of the jay of this variety, also called the Eurasian jay or simply the karese jay.

It is worth mentioning one more funny feature of hers. There is a crest of black and white feathers on its head; it tends to rise when the bird is excited or frightened.

Decorated jay. These creatures stand out from their fellows by the black-violet color of their head, dark blue elytra and back, and chestnut feathers with a purple tint on other parts of the body. They are found exclusively on the Japanese islands.

Pictured is a decorated jay

Himalayan jay. Where this species lives is clear from the name. The feather outfit of such birds is very beautiful, although its color schemes are predominantly cold.

The Himalayan jay can also be found in India and Afghanistan

Malayan or crested jay. In addition to Malaysia, such birds are common in Thailand. These creatures, unlike many of their fellows, are distinguished by their courage and do not shy away from people.

Their young are striped in color. But as they mature, the birds become almost completely black, with only a white stripe on the neck, similar to a collar. Their head is decorated with a characteristic long crest that rises randomly in certain conditions.

With age, the Malayan jay acquires a black plumage color.

The saxaul jay is common in Mongolia, where it settles in sparse bushes among deserts. In appearance it is similar to a large sparrow or a small crow. She is interesting because she flies poorly, she is better at jumping and running.

Birds from this group - inhabitants of various regions of the New World - are represented in a variety of ways. They are combined into eight genera and each of them is divided into several species. Representatives of these varieties are distinguished by their feather color and other external appearance features. Some of them will be presented below.

The saxaul jay rarely flies, but runs quickly and well

The American blue jay is a bird that lives in the central regions of the United States, inhabiting mixed, beech, pine and oak forests. Sometimes they settle in areas not far from human habitation, where in addition to their main food they feed on food waste.

The main tone of the feathers of these creatures is bluish-blue, marked by a black stripe on the neck and white speckles throughout the body. The nests of such jays are very neat and strong structures, made of pieces of lichen and branches, covered with wool and rags, reinforced with wet clay and earth.

blue jay

Black-headed magpie. These jays are found in Mexico. They really look like magpies in the structure of their tail, which is sharp and long in shape. When the bird is excited, the crest bends, the feathers are blue above and white below, the face and neck are black.

The voice of such birds is similar to that of a parrot; during the mating season, its sounds become pleasant and melodic. The beak of these creatures is unusually strong, which greatly helps in obtaining food. And they eat almost like people, holding a treat with the toes of one of their feet, while standing on the other.

The Yucatan jay is a rare species. In addition, such birds are shy, and therefore little is known about them. They live in the ruins of Mayan cities. The birds' plumage is black in front and blue in back.

Yucatan one of the rarest types of jays

Blue bush. This type of jay is found in the forests of Florida. The head and wings of the birds, like the tail, have blue plumage, and below they are light gray. Due to their rarity, these birds are taken under protection.

Blue scrub jay

Varieties

There are a large number of wasp species. They may differ from each other in the degree of color, shade and even feeding habits. But there are two clear classifications: solitary and social.

The way of life depends on the names

Solitary wasps coexist with other individuals of their species only when they need fertilization. They can build nests, but feel comfortable in different burrows and depressions. Even the larvae of single species are laid so that they do not touch each other.

Social wasps. They live in a colony, which is founded by the queen. She lays the first generation, fattens it and raises it. Then a family appears, in which each individual occupies a certain place and has a certain role.

What is the difference between a hawk and a falcon?

Hawks are often confused with other birds of prey - falcons, but let's try to describe the differences between them.

  • Firstly, falcons belong to a completely different zoological species - the falcon family, while hawks belong to the accipitridae family.
  • Falcons are larger than hawks.
  • The falcon's wings are sharp and longer (more than 30 cm in length), while the hawk's are shorter (less than 30 cm in length), and also blunt.
  • The eyes of falcons are usually dark brown, while those of hawks are usually yellow or yellow in color.
  • The tail of falcons is shorter, while that of hawks is longer.
  • Falcons have a pronounced tooth on the beak; hawks do not.
  • Hawks and falcons hunt differently and, as a result, live in different areas. Falcons prefer open steppe spaces; they attack their prey from a great height and at high speed.
  • To hatch chicks, falcons have a bad habit of seizing other people's nests, but hawks do this very rarely, but they build their own nests thoroughly.

Benefit or harm

Wasps are predators.

Wasps are considered to be pests . Most likely, this reputation is deserved by its painful bites. They can live next to people and eat their sweet fruits. Another manifestation of the damage is that wasps can attack honey bees.

But despite everything, wasps also have useful properties. Some of them eat agricultural pests. They also act as pollinators, although not as well as bees. Recently, there is evidence that the venom of the Brazilian wasp is used in the treatment of oncology.

Interesting facts about hawks

  • In some places, small hummingbirds live under the nests of hawks. The fact is that hummingbirds are not of gastronomic interest to hawks, but their natural enemies: jays and squirrels, on the contrary, are very interesting. Thus, hummingbirds, with the help of hawks, protect themselves from squirrels.
  • The parental connection with the maturation of the chicks is completely broken; if a matured hawk, out of old memory, approaches the parent's nest, its parents will drive it away as if it were a stranger.
  • The ancient Greeks and Egyptians revered the hawk as a sacred animal, and killing it was considered a criminal offense.
  • Since ancient times, people have learned to use hawks to hunt quails and pheasants.

Habitat

Various species of wasps are found everywhere, from the hottest time zone to Antarctica. They begin their activity at the first rays of sunlight, ending with the first cold weather.

They are found in the wild:

  • on the trees;
  • in the stagnation of garbage;
  • in the fields;
  • in hollows;
  • in insect burrows.

Around people:

  • in barns;
  • in attics;
  • in piles of firewood;
  • compost pits;
  • under the balcony.

If a wasp nest just appears, it can be removed without loss. But it is better not to stand in the way of the colony - the insects mercilessly attack in flocks.

Nest Features

Wasp nest

Paper wasps, which actually are such because they build their houses from a material similar to paper, are competent designers. They build honeycombs gradually, with space and walls between them to make it comfortable and retain heat.

The nest begins with the first row, which is laid out by the queen. She herself is a designer and mother to the first generation. As they grow older, each individual takes its place: males and females appear, who perform construction work and feed the offspring.

The number of individuals can reach hundreds of thousands in one nest. The hive fills with life in the spring and by the time it gets cold, all its processes are completed. Insects do not return to the same place every year, but will gladly build a new nest next to last year's.

Reproduction and lifespan

After a warm winter (a secluded place is specially located for this), the queen begins to build a nest and lay eggs there. From these eggs only sterile individuals will emerge, which will further build the nest and obtain food.

And only towards the end of summer the queen begins to lay eggs, from which wasps will emerge capable of reproducing. It is these individuals that swarm and mate with each other.

After fertilization has occurred, young females fly out of the nest and look for a warm shelter for the winter, so that in the spring they can build their own nest. The males die. With the onset of cold weather, the entire abandoned wasp family, along with the old female, dies.

One female mates once and is capable of producing more than 2000 wasps. For the most part, these are worker wasps, sterile. The eggs are sealed in a chamber along with small insects (food). The larvae will then feed and gain weight in order to turn into a wasp.

The larvae that will produce wasps capable of reproducing feed differently. They are fed food that promotes the formation of reproductive organs. After the wasp emerges from the larva, it climbs out of the chamber on its own. The queen is 10 months long, but worker wasps and drones are only 4 weeks old.

Wasp control

Professional protection against wasps.

When wasps begin to bother people and cause harm, an active fight against them begins. But in this matter it is necessary to act clearly and wisely. Methods are selected according to where Hymenoptera are localized.

Personal protection and safety equipment is equally important. You will need to protect yourself, cats, dogs and even neighbors. Angry insects can be very dangerous.

Read the full guide to wasp control here.

What are they?

The main types of operating systems depending on the developer:

  • Windows is the “brainchild” of company M. At the time of writing this article, the latest version is Windows 10, but in popularity it is still inferior to the “seven”;
  • Mac OS X is a product from Apple, characterized by stable operation and minimal requirements for hardware performance;
  • Linux is distributed free of charge, the source code is freely available, which allows any user to make changes and improvements;
  • Mobile platforms: Android, iOS, Windows Mobile, Bada, Symbian and others. In fact, there are a lot of them, but most have already become a thing of the past, leaving only a couple of “giants” at the top.

Each “OS” has its own unique GUI - graphical interface that distinguishes it from others. Before the introduction of this "shell", people had to work in a gloomy command line environment. Oh, those were tough times...

The author recommends:

  • Secrets and tricks of Windows 10
  • How to check and fix hard drive errors
  • TOP best programs for watching TV on your computer

Now let's look at modern operating programs for computers.

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