Giant water bugs

It is very difficult to calculate how many varieties of bugs are in nature. Bed bugsthat make a person’s life unbearable, bug bugsliving quietly in all parks and forests, pest fields - bug bug. But few people know that there are water bugs or smoothies, including giant species. Gladysh is a member of the large family of insects - Hydrocores.

Because types of bugs a lot, they all differ in their external data, duration and lifestyle, nutrition, size, sometimes truly unique specimens are found. The bedrock bug not only quickly moves along the water surface, but also flies perfectly. Such mobility is surprising, given its impressive size.

What types of water bugs exist

Water bugs, unlike bed bugs, are absolutely harmless to humans. But if you disturb it, like any insect will defend itself, it will bite. Lives in fresh water, rivers and lakes. The main menu consists of larvae, small insects. Large individuals of water bugs can feed on small fish, frogs, sometimes attack turtles. The insect uses the wings located on its back very rarely, only with the aim of finding a new habitat and food.

The following types of water bugs are distinguished:

1. Water strider. It is found in absolutely all reservoirs, lakes and even in puddles. Quickly moves on the surface of the water. A thin body resembles a stick, has three pairs of legs.
2. Rowing. The body is no more than 15 millimeters long. Males with the help of tubercles on their paws are able to make sounds to attract females. Sometimes they can be scared, because they abruptly fly out of the water. Rowing is active not only in summer but also in winter.
3. Gladysh. The size of the insect does not exceed 15 mm, it has a flat abdomen, which is darker than the wings. If you touch it with your hand - it can sting, so he was nicknamed the water wasp.
4. Bialystoma - the biggest bug. Reaches 10-17 cm in length.

Two species deserve special attention: smoothfish and white-breasted. These are giant water bugs that are unique, but less well known than ordinary water strips.

Bedbug Gladysh or water wasp

The main feature of the bedrock bug is the way it moves around the water. Based on its hind legs, it strokes the surface of the lake, quickly overcoming long distances. A favorable habitat is stagnant water, a pond or a lake. Sometimes the cocks can be seen not only in the pond, but also near the house, because he is attracted to the night lights. On the back are two pairs of transparent wings and elytra. The insect rises into the air due to hunger when food is running low in the next pond.

On a note!

The bite is rather painful, but does not pose a health hazard.

Gladysh is an excellent hunter and master of disguise. Plunging into the water, he swims with his belly up, so that he has the opportunity to control a significant area of ​​the reservoir. The back of the insect in water makes it invisible to fish. Having caught the prey, the smoothies sprinkle it with a special enzyme, then pierce and suck out the internal contents.

Rubbing his proboscis with his feet, he makes sounds that resemble the chirping of a grasshopper.Water bugs of smoothies do not harm a person, they can sting only when they are picked up.

Giant bug - Bialystoma

The number of giant water bugs on the planet is quite small. They live in Southeast Asia and South Africa. The water bug in the photo looks intimidating, because its dimensions reach 17 centimeters in length.

Description of Bialystomy:

• large forelegs resembling a claw of cancer;
• eyes are netted and large;
• body of oblong shape, color from brown to black;
• long antennae.

Due to the impressive size and structure of the forelegs, the Bialystomy preys on frogs, turtles and fish. The water giant is a predator that can wait for its prey for a long time. It attacks quickly, pre-searching for a weak spot on the body of the prey. It penetrates the skin with its proboscis and injects a special secret, which dissolves the insides, and after a while the formed clot is sucked out of the body.

Interesting!

If an ordinary person sees a giant bug, will panic because of its size, then in Thailand the white-breasted cattle is a delicacy and massively destroyed.

When life threatens the belostomy, it pretends to be dead and numb. Sometimes it releases from the gland, which is on the abdomen, a pungent odor that scares off the enemy.

Considering the photo of the inhabitant of the reservoirs, the question involuntarily begs the question, where are the ears of the water bug. In a bialystomy, they are located in the middle segment of the body and are called the tympanum. Hearing organs are located on both sides of the body. The hearing aid has a rounded shape, which is closed by a stretched film that acts as a drum and protects against the penetration of water into the body. Inside, air sacs are attached to it, thanks to which all sounds are amplified. They are joined by nerve endings, which perceive the vibrations of the membrane.

After the Bialystoma wakes up from hibernation, it begins to actively eat, replenishing the spent nutrient reserves. Then comes the period of mating, laying eggs and caring for offspring. One egg laying has one hundred eggs. The female lays eggs on the back of the male.

Breeding lasts two weeks. During this time, the male is constantly on the surface of the reservoir, because the future generation needs oxygen. During this period, the male eats less and becomes easy prey for predators. Therefore, by the end of larval maturation, the number of bugs decreases sharply.

When leaving the eggs, the larvae have soft bodies and are colorless. Over time, the cover hardens and acquires the desired shade. Then begins the phase of active nutrition, they eat, grow and dump chitinous shell, which quickly becomes small for them.

For humans, a giant bug is not dangerous, he can only scratch his paw when he bathes in water. The enzyme that gets on the skin will cause discomfort, and the trail left by the insect will heal for a long time.

The role of a giant water bug is difficult to overestimate. Being a predator, it helps to regulate the number of amphibians and insects on the planet. Japan noted a high mortality of three-keel turtles, which destroyed rice crops. In the course of observations, scientists found that it was precisely the Bialystomy that caused their death. But giant bugs also caused damage to fisheries, eating young growth, launched into the lakes.

The line between the benefits and harms of the presence of water giants on the planet is very thin. Do not forget that in nature, everything is interconnected, from microorganisms to huge animals. Nature is unique - it needs to be valued and protected.