Waxworts belong to the lamellar family. Small beetles are distinguished by a large number of hairs on their body and variegated elytra. A common color option is yellow with black bands. In summer, a beetle similar to a bumblebee can be seen on rosehip flowers. This is a bandaged waxwing, its chest and abdomen are abundantly covered with thick reddish hairs. Beetles fly all summer. They are found in deciduous forests and in the mountains in the south. The larvae are completely different from their parents. The worm-like offspring live secretly in rotten stumps.
Kinds
Very rough estimates indicate about 26,000 species of these creatures, but these data often change.
Almost every year new species are discovered from different places, mainly from the tropics and areas close to the equator. However, new species also appear in civilized Europe, exotic Asia and advanced America. There are 583 species of them on the territory of Russia. Despite their diversity and abundance, these insects have been well studied by scientists. Most are average in size for beetles. But there are also giants among them. For example, the titan lumberjack, which lives in North America, reaches 19-22 cm in length.
There is another large species in South America - the Brazilian bigtooth woodcutter, the size of which can be 17-18 cm. The longhorned beetle from Fiji is the third largest of the large beetles known at the moment. Its size reaches 15 cm.
Lumberjack bigtooth
Of the European beetles, the largest at the moment is the carpenter's longhorned beetle, it is about 6 cm long. Russia also has a large representative of this species - the Ussuri relict longhorned beetle. He grew to 11 cm.
Relict barbel
There are 11 subfamilies belonging to the barbels. Let's talk about some of them. Their names: true longhorned beetles, laminae, longhorned beetles, parandrins, prionine longhorned beetles, spondylidins. Lamiinae include more than 13,000 species of beetles, many of which look elegant in appearance. For example, some have transverse stripes of black and greenish color along their wings.
Prionins include 1000 species. This is one of the oldest beetles. Found everywhere on earth except cold polar regions. The size varies greatly, from 2 mm to 178 mm, but mostly these are large beetles, sometimes even up to 22 cm.
Painted in brown, black, brown tones. It is to this subfamily that the giants among beetles belong: the titan woodcutter, the Brazilian bigtooth woodcutter and the Ussuri relic woodcutter.
Parandrins number 50 species and live in the tropics and subtropics. They are atypical for the family, as they have very short antennae, which are more reminiscent of staghorns. The color of their hard wings is usually red-brown or black.
The barbels or lepturines are a family of 100 genera and 2500 species. Small beetles, the wings are colored with yellow and black stripes.
Spondylidins include more than 100 species. These are nocturnal and crepuscular representatives. Their whiskers are also not very long, their size is smaller than their body. The color of the wings is blue-black or black-brown.
This longhorned beetle in the photo resembles a picture from Egyptian frescoes. It is very beautifully outlined, there is an interception in the middle of the body, the wings have a noble matte tint, a little like a bronze vase. The whiskers are segmented, the paws are very elegant. Just a model for a coat of arms.
Color Variation
The pattern of the elytra changes significantly in insects living in different areas. The ratio of yellow and black varies in different variations. This variability is called aberration. It occurs accidentally under the influence of temperature and other factors acting on the larval stage. There are individuals with a short anterior and middle band, and beetles with a predominance of black or yellow color. In aberration dubius the bands are reduced to dark spots on the shoulders. The obliquus group of insects is distinguished by an oblique median band extending from the shoulder to the suture at the apex of the elytra.
Distribution area
The striped waxweed is distributed throughout the Palearctic. The northern border of its habitat runs through the Arctic, in the south – along the Caucasus and Tien Shan mountains. Beetles are found throughout Europe: Norway, Great Britain, Portugal, Spain, Bulgaria, and the Baltic countries. In the east he lives in Mongolia, northern China, and Japan. In Russia, the common waxweed lives on the shores of the Sea of Okhotsk and the White Sea, in the central regions. There is an isolated population of insects on the Kuril Islands, Kamchatka and Sakhalin. In the Caucasus mountains, beetles live at an altitude of 2000 m, and in the Tien Shan they rise to 1600 m.
Lifestyle and habitat
The longhorned beetle lives throughout the planet where there are forests. Their distribution depends on the availability of food - mainly trees. The exceptions are the Arctic and Antarctic, precisely because of the lack of food supply.
They are quite active in their lifestyle. They crawl, many very quickly. Some of them can fly. If you pick up a beetle, it makes a characteristic chirping sound. Their lifestyle depends on the climate and habitat.
In the southern regions, these insects “take wing” from mid-spring. Central Asian beetles begin to fly closer to autumn. Some are active during the day, feeding mainly on flowers that open during the day. Others are active at night. Their food does not hide in the dark.
Both nocturnal and daytime beetles find hard-to-reach places to rest or mate. Depending on the size, the flight range is determined. The larger the beetle, the less it flies and the more it crawls. They lead a very secretive lifestyle. Seeing an adult beetle in the forest is a real gift for an entomologist and an alarming signal for a forester.
Why are dung beetles so hardworking?
Since manure contains a small amount of nutrients, the development of the larvae can last from one season to several years. At the same time, the largest individuals, even having turned into a beetle, continue to remain in the dung ball until the formation of a full-fledged individual is completely completed.
After this, the dung beetle climbs to the surface and begins an independent search for food, among which it prefers horse manure (in the absence of it, it is content with cattle excrement). Moves in search of food mainly in the evening. At the same time, some species of beetles can consume mushrooms and detritus along with manure, while others may not eat at all.
Since there are several main species of dung beetles, the development of each group of insects occurs with some differences. Some dung beetles find droppings and, burrowing to a depth of 50 cm to 2-3 m, prepare a kind of “nest” for the future larva: they prepare a ball of dung, into which the female lays an egg.
Thus, the larvae are provided with food until they pupate completely. Other types of dung beetles lay eggs directly in the droppings, which will become not only food for the larvae, but also a home. After 28 days, dung beetle larvae emerge from the laid eggs.
Dung beetle larvae
Adult dung beetles can feed not only on droppings from various animals, but also on carrion. Some mushrooms are also eaten. There are certain types of beetles that do not consume food throughout their lives.
Adult dung beetles differ in color. There are black, blue, green, bronze, and blue-black dung beetles. Whatever the color, the lower body, that is, the abdomen, is always the same color - black and purple. The front legs are powerful and designed for digging. Solid chest plate, rounded jaws. The length of an adult can reach from 1 to 7 cm, depending on the habitat and species.
It's a fascinating sight, a tiny beetle pushing a huge ball of dung. Dung beetles roll balls of dung, hence their name. They extract nutrients and energy from feces. They like dung from herbivores as it is full of nutrients. In contrast, carnivore dung has little nutritional value. But the best manure is produced by omnivores, which eat plants and animals.
Dung beetles prefer the most “fragrant” dung, including chimpanzee and human feces.
Having made a fresh dung ball, the beetles choose a place and dig a hole, bury it in the ground, and the female lays eggs in the hole. After the eggs hatch, the dung beetle larvae feed on the stored manure.
Not all beetles, which are called dung beetles, roll droppings. There are more than 7,000 species of dung beetles, each of which has evolved and developed its own specialization in handling coprolite.
Rolling
This is the most iconic group of beetles, they actually roll dung into balls and are incredibly picky about where they live and lay their eggs, traveling up to 200m before burying the ball in the ground.
Sedentary
The third group simply digs into the manure, wherever it lies. There are dung beetles that do not eat droppings, preferring decaying fruits, rotting plants or mushrooms that grow from dung.
Only 10% of beetles roll dung balls. The majority of beetle species make balls and leave them where they found feces.
Arthropods live up to 3 years in nature. They vary in size, ranging from tiny microscopic insects to large 5cm beetles that roll dung across African deserts.
All species of dung beetle have dark bodies covered with a protective shell that protects them from falls and scratches, but not from predators. Dung beetles, like most other arthropods, walk remarkably well on the ground, but they also have wings. When a dung beetle is threatened, it spreads its wings and flies away.
Description
The length of the beetle is 9-15 mm. The body is wide, slightly convex above. The main color is black. The elytra are matte, slightly convex, with several shiny tubercles and longitudinal grooves. The color is light yellow or reddish-yellow with a black border along the edge and 3 transverse bands, of which the middle one is discontinuous. The drawing is very diverse. The pronotum, head and lower body are covered with dense, long, reddish-yellow hairs, sparser on the abdomen.
Lifestyle of waxwolves
The flight of waxwings begins at the beginning of summer and continues until mid-September. These beetles are a typical summer species. Waxworts lead a diurnal lifestyle. They feed on the flowers of a variety of plants. Most often they can be found on the flowers of elderberry, rosehip, meadowsweet and popovka.
Waxworts are flower lovers.
The habitat of wax beetles is fields, meadows and deciduous forests.
In the south of our country, waxworts live exclusively in the mountains; in the Caucasus, they are found at altitudes of up to 2000 meters.
Waxworts also live in the taiga. In Ukraine they are found mainly in the northwestern part.
Wax beetle in a flower field.
Biology
Beetles fly from the beginning of summer until the first half of September. Mainly a typical summer species. Beetles are diurnal and feed on pollen from flowers of various plants. They are especially often found on flowers of umbrellas, elderberry, popovka ( Leucanthemum vulgare
), meadowsweet, rose hips and other plants.
They are found in clearings in deciduous forests and meadows. In the south of the range, the species is confined exclusively to the mountains, and in the Caucasus it rises to a height of about 2000 m above sea level, in the Tien Shan - up to 1600 m. The species is found in large numbers in taiga zones and mixed broad-leaved forests. In Ukraine (in the zone of deciduous forests) it is distributed mainly in the north-west of the country.
Lifestyle
Common waxweed is a summer species. The beetles appear in May-June and fly all summer until September. In the subtropical zone (Transcaucasia), adults reach the surface already in April. Habitats: heated edges of broad-leaved and mixed forests, clearings and meadows overgrown with tall grass and shrubs. Insects are often found in gardens and vegetable gardens. They feed on carrots, parsley, and dill. Beetles are not pests, but beneficial insects. A lot of pollen clings to the numerous hairs of the striped waxweed, flying between flowers, they contribute to cross-pollination.
Insects are active during the daytime and hide under trees during rain. Most of the time, adults sit on flowering herbaceous plants, burying their heads in the inflorescence. They feed on pollen and nectar, preferring umbelliferous plants (hemlock, hogweed, angelica), rose hips, and elderberries.
Reproduction and development of offspring
The breeding season occurs in early June. Fertilized females lay 20-40 oval eggs under the bark, in hollows and cracks of deciduous trees. The larvae live in rotten wood, stumps and large dead wood. Most often they are found in the outer part of dry, rotten trunks and branches lying on the ground. The favorite species of larvae are aspen, birch, alder, and oak. At birth they are no more than 5 mm, by the end of development they reach 40 mm.
The body structure is typical for the lamellar family - C-shaped, cylindrical, not very thick. The color is off-white. The head is small, matte, brown-yellow. The upper jaws are wide and well developed. There are simple eyes. The antennae are 4-segmented. It moves with the help of three pairs of short legs. The larva goes through 3 instars. In temperate and warm climates, one generation develops per year. The larvae overwinter in wood and pupate in a cradle in the spring. Doll, soft, free. In the far north, the offspring do not have time to form during the short warm season; development is delayed for two years.
How to get rid of barbel
The longhorned beetle at home is one of the most terrible enemies of man, if not the most dangerous. Its larvae are hardy, voracious, and are not immediately detected. Therefore, you need to know some rules on how to get rid of the longhorned beetle so as not to be left homeless.
When choosing wood, be sure to check whether it has been treated with an antiseptic. When constructing a building, use special finishing products for wood with an antiseptic. They will prevent bugs from invading. If you have bugs, be sure to carry out emergency treatment with chemicals. These are bromomethyl, zinc chloride, sublimate. Moreover, such treatment must be carried out 2-3 times a year. The larvae are tenacious, prevention is necessary
It is important to remember that the process must be carried out under the control of the relevant services. It is better to call specialists from the sanitary and epidemiological station for this purpose.
You should also contact specialists if you decide to fumigate against beetles, treat with poisonous gas, or install poisonous baits. All these methods require a careful professional approach.
You can treat it with dry steam or, conversely, by freezing. Only these methods are difficult to implement at home. And they are not safe. Therefore, they are used in production, and only in strictly designated places.
A modern method of getting rid of house beetles is microwave irradiation. A special device heats the wood even in hard-to-reach places, destroying the larvae. The advantage of this method is safety for people and buildings. It happens that some affected parts are easier to cut out and replace with new, undamaged and treated ones.
Strawberry flavor
Why is this hermit called odorous? It really has this interesting feature: during the breeding season, males, in order to attract females, periodically release substances (attractants) that have a specific sweetish odor, reminiscent of the smell of strawberries, which some people find unpleasant, although most people like it. Usually the waxwing sits on the edge of a hollow, raising its body high on outstretched legs, pressing its antennae to its head and its head to its body, releases its scent and waits for its mate. A person can catch this smell at a distance of up to 30 m from the beetle, but the female hermit, of course, at a much greater distance. It is interesting that some specimens, even in the collection, retain faint shades of this scent for several years.
Reproduction
The beetles lay their eggs in rotten wood and stumps, where the larvae develop. Their accumulations were found in such tree species as birch and aspen.
The larva is distinguished by a not particularly thick, C-shaped curved body. The head is matte, finely wrinkled, brownish-yellow, and is widest in the middle, at the base of each antennae with a round, black eye. The antennae are quite thick, the length of their segments is only slightly greater than their thickness. The legs are rather short and bear small, curved, sharp claws. The body length of the 3rd instar larva is up to 40 mm, the head length is 3.2 mm, the head width is 4 mm.
Pupation occurs in the wood where the larva lived in the spring, after a single overwintering, that is, the beetles have an annual generation.
