Steppe hab: way of life and breeding of a predatory grasshopper

Among the herbs of the steppes and meadows, you can find a large green grasshopper that preys on locusts and other small insects. This is a steppe habitation - the largest representative of its family in Russia. An amazing fact, but among them there are no males, all insects are females. The number of species is constantly declining. Grasshoppers die as a result of the destruction by a person of their usual habitats. The steppe dyke is included in the IUCN Red List (vulnerable species) and in the Red Book of Russia.

View description

Steppe dung (SagaPedo) - belongs to the family Orthoptera, a family of real grasshoppers. The genus of hawks includes 15 species; its representatives are the largest grasshoppers in Europe. In steppe females, an elongated body reaches 70-80 mm, plus an ovipositor of 30-40 mm. The wings are short or completely absent. Body color is green or yellow-brown, longitudinal light stripes on the sides.

Brownish bristle-like antennae equal to body length without ovipositor. Sensitive antennas are the organ of touch. The shape of the head is conical, compressed laterally. The forehead is sharply slanted down and back. The eyes are large, well developed. The mouth organs of the gnawing type, strong mandibles easily bite the throat of prey.

The front and middle legs of the running type. The fish is a predator, so the front legs are grasping. On the inner side of the hips in two rows are strong spikes. The hind legs are elongated and strong, but the hopping function is almost lost.

Distribution area

Grasshopper steppe horn found in Europe and Asia. The birthplace of the species is considered to be the Mediterranean. The southern border of the distribution of the species is Sicily, the northern - Kurgan region of Russia. There are known habitats in Slovakia, Hungary, Spain, Ukraine, Georgia and Kazakhstan. Grasshopper is distributed in the steppe zone of Central Asia to China. In Russia, the habitats are areas of the European part and Western Siberia.
A large grasshopper is noted in the foothills and plains of Dagestan, the steppe regions of North Ossetia, and Chechnya. In the Azov steppes of the lower Don, a small horn is noted in the Rostovsky Nature Reserve, near settlements and in the area of ​​the Rostov-on-Don Botanical Garden.

Favorite habitats are feather grass degrees overgrown with forbs. No less comfortable insects feel on the slopes of ravines, rocky landscapes overgrown with shrubs, in wormwood fields. In the south of Europe, holes are found in cereal fields, vineyards, and pastures. Adults and larvae prefer to hide in dense grass and shrubs. In the Don River Delta, grasshoppers have chosen thorny thickets of thorns. Dybki prefer to settle on the plains and slopes, but under adverse conditions they climb into the mountains to a height of up to 1500 m.

Interesting fact. A steppe hawk was brought to North America in 1970. It is believed that the insect came to the United States along with sandy soil imported from Italy.

Lifestyle & Nutrition

The life cycle of a grasshopper steppe hump is one year. Insects are nocturnal.With the onset of dusk, predators go hunting. Each female has her own hunting grounds, so the population of the species is sparse. Adult individuals are belligerent in nature, when the enemy appears, they stand on their hind legs - they take a threatening posture by raising their front and middle legs. The individual characteristic of insects gave the name to the whole genus - the grouse. Aggressive behavior is also shown in the direction of relatives, among the representatives of the species cannibalism often occurs.

SagaPedo are the only representatives of a kind that do not have males. Scientists spent a lot of time searching for males, in some cases, they took males of close species. But the fact of the existence of males of the steppe hump was not confirmed. This feature affects her lifestyle. Females do not have to find a mate and wait for fertilization to continue the genus. In the daytime, insects hide in thickets of grass and arrive at rest. At this time, they are especially vulnerable, they can easily be caught by a person or a predatory animal. Natural enemies of grasshoppers - birds, rodents, lizards, small mammals. Larvae lurk even more threats, they become the prey of spiders, scorpions and centipedes. In addition to them, there are parasites that lay eggs in the body of large insects.

Food

Locusts, small grasshoppers, praying mantises, beetles and flies become the prey of the steppe. She patiently lies in wait for small insects that exert within the cast. Food grabs the front spiked paws, kills with a bite from the throat. The green color allows the predator to disguise itself in the thickets, waiting for prey.

Interesting fact. The tails have their own taste preferences - they are representatives of the locusts, but they catch large butterflies and bugs in exceptional cases.

Propagation Features

The steppe hawk belongs to insects with incomplete transformation. The stages of transformation of the insect include three stages: egg, larva, imago. The method of reproduction is parthenogenetic. This means the development of eggs in the body of an adult female without fertilization. The advantage of partogenesis is the ability to leave offspring with all individuals of a certain species. The steppe horn belongs to tetraploid species. The number of chromosomes in her body is 68, which is twice the number of chromosomes of related species.

3-4 weeks after turning into an adult, the female is ready for procreation. This period falls on the beginning or middle of July. Egg laying occurs with the help of a special organ - the ovipositor. It consists of two to three pairs of appendages. The saber-shaped organ descends into loose soil, an egg moves along it. Before starting the breeding process, the female, using antennae and an ovipositor, scans the soil and selects the most convenient place for laying eggs.

Masonry, like all active actions, occurs in the evening and at night. At one time, the female leaves 6-7 eggs in the soil. New eggs are formed in the body of the hawk throughout life. The last clutch occurs in early September. Then the female dies, but some of the eggs remain in the body. Insects winter in the egg phase. The temperature of the embryo is affected by the temperature of the soil. With a cold snap, diapause sets in. Time before the appearance of the larva:

• at + 20 ° - 80-85 days;
• at + 25 ° - 60 days;
• at + 30 ° - 40-45 days.

Information. The eggs of the steppe hump can be in a state of diapause for 2-3 years, less often - up to 5 years.

Larvae of the first age appear in May; their length is only 12 mm. The offspring looks like adult grasshoppers, but it lacks some organs. The development of the larva takes about a month. During this period, it passes 5-8 links and increases in size by almost 10 times. The life expectancy of adults depends on the timing of the onset of cold weather, it ranges from four to six months.

Species Threatening Factors

The virgin steppes, which were traditionally inhabited by insects, underwent intensive cultivation. This significantly reduced the initial number of grasshoppers, but did not become a critical factor.Between the agricultural fields, ravines, complex relief areas overgrown with bushes, have been preserved. These inconvenient places bypass when developing land. For the existence of a species of such islands is enough. The population is initially fragmented, crushing into small colonies is favorable for its lifestyle. The real threat to the steppe hodgepodge is the use of insecticides in the fields. Chemicals used to kill insect pests destroy grasshoppers living in the neighborhood. It is impossible to exclude wind drift of insecticides into areas with wild vegetation. The greatest harm is caused by spraying chemicals from aircraft.

Information. The size of the hut is not high, but in some favorable years it increases. Scientists notice a tendency to increase the population when observing the behavior of birds. They begin to bring grasshoppers to the chicks as food.

Among the main limiting factors it is worth highlighting:

• Reduced habitat due to intensive land plowing.
• The absence of wings makes it difficult to move insects in favorable conditions.
• The death of each hut brings irreparable harm to the gene pool.
• Scale up field treatment with broad-spectrum insecticides.
• Dry grass fell, in which insects die.

Security measures

Despite the significant distribution area, the density of settlement of insects is low. This is due to the peculiarities of the behavior of predatory insects and the reduction of places available for living. Secretive lifestyle does not allow to calculate the exact amount of steppe huts. The most favorable conditions for insects are observed in some areas of the Stavropol Territory, the North Caucasus and Karachay-Cherkessia. Large undeveloped steppe areas remained in these regions.

A large and rare grasshopper is listed in the Red Book of the Russian Federation in the second category, as a species is declining in number. It is protected in reserves and reserves - Bashkir. Zhigulevsky, Khopersky. To restore the population, it is necessary to create protected areas around which it will be prohibited to use insecticides in the cultivation of arable land. A critical situation with species reduction has developed in all countries of habitat. SagaPedo is included in the IUCN-96 Red List, the Berlin Convention Annex and the European Red List.

Steppe dyke useful entomophage - an insect that controls the number of pests of agricultural crops. This is part of nature that descendants must see.