Nature is the creator of all life on Earth.Its creation is unique and beautiful. Sometimes very tiny and harmless creatures can amaze with their capabilities, the presence of which no one even guessed.
An example here is an unusual insect called a bombardier (beetle) from a subfamily of ground beetles.
This small specimen in appearance does notnotable: red legs, antennae, head and back of black color. The length of the beetle is only a few mm and up to 3 cm. For comparison: a creature of this size can fit on the toe of the index finger of a human hand. But the insect acquired its name and fame thanks to an extraordinary protective device. During the threat of the ground beetle, black lets the attacker scald the poisonous fountain. In ancient times it was believed that only such a God could produce such an explosive mixture, which can reside in the body of a living organism.
In the inner abdomen of the beetle there are twocontainers with individual glands, which release hydroquinones and hydrogen peroxide, characterized by toxic and odorous properties. When an insect is in danger, the reagents penetrate through the channels into the right tank, where they begin interacting with the catalysts, and at the end, a toxic and hot solution is formed. Its temperature reaches 100 degrees.
Through the moving tail from the edge of the abdomen, the bombardier(beetle) aims and lets a jet of burning liquid. The impact lasts only an instant - from 8 to 17 ms, and the eruption speed is 10 ms, and all this is accompanied by piercing sounds. This is enough to frighten the predator, who will not only run away, but also for a long time will remember the gun shot of the insect, which left tangible burns. Reagents have a reserve of 10-30 volleys, which then end.
About 25,000 of them are known inanimal world; over 3,000 live in Russia. The scorers are among the most tiny specimens of the beetle family. Some species of these bugs do not fly very well or have completely lost this ability, because their wings are either tiny or not at all, and the elytra (under them wings should hide) can grow to their back. But the individuals run well. Insects in Eurasia are popular, especially in forest territory, which is upholstered in foliage and in the soil, feeding on snails, larvae and worms.
An ordinary bug beetle is a harmful insectthe size of 12-17 mm. The trunk of these insatiable parasites is resin black and has a pale metallic tide. Their bright wings are equipped with small deep hollows, and the legs and tendrils are painted in brownish-black tones.
Bread ground beetle can be found, as a rule, insteppe, forest-steppe and southern outskirts of Polesye. The main food of larvae of beetles is the ladders of winter plants. A common meringue with a huge desire eats young leaves of small shoots so that only streaks remain from them. In those areas where the larvae of pests live, the plant world for the most part is dying. This has a very negative effect on the amount of harvest.
The scorers are unique not only at the mature stageformation, but also in the early stages too. The female lays eggs in tiny balls made of mud and located near the lake. In them, she puts 1 egg each, and then places them on an adjacent branch or stone. Over time, the larvae outwardly appear somewhat similar to a short centipede with a radiant, segmented corpuscle and slightly with a caterpillar.
These insects diverge in search of food, whichthey will eat before they turn into mature beetles. The bombardier (beetle), like most varieties, goes hunting for the larvae of the beetle-buzzard. Other individuals dig out pupae of the bear from the ground, and some of their relatives eat leaves of cereal crops.
Perelynav and becoming more (up to 25 mm), beetlesbegin to gnaw on young leaves, leaving only streaks from them. Then they climb the stems of the grain plants and eat them. The spoiled foliage has a worn and chewed look. Often bitten leaves insects carried to their earthen dwellings, where in a quiet environment they are eaten.
If the bombardier (beetle) finds the correspondingprey, for example, a doll, then it will be taken from the head. This process of eating continues for several days until the victim's wall is completely emptied. As a result, the larva enters the liberated shell, where it transforms into an adult beetle instead of its prey. A period passes, and from the cocoon comes a mature ground beetle in absolute combat readiness.
Benefits from most species of such insectsit is obvious - they eat millipedes, worms, lice, pests of vegetable gardens and gardens, as well as their larvae. Due to strong jaws, individuals can cope with almost all parasites.
There are also certain varietiesmalicious bread ground beetles, but for the most part they only benefit. Beings are really capable of destroying the incoming number of garden and garden pests, but most importantly - they can do it on time.
Such beetles in nature are among the individuals,well introduced to protect against pests. Like most other insects, the ground beetle often goes unnoticed, especially by people who are practically not interested in beetles. But it still does not prevent its participation in the fight against parasites of vegetable gardens and gardens.
