Blue-winged filly - master of camouflage among locusts

In the arid steppe regions, a blue-winged filly lives. A characteristic feature of the species is the adaptation of body color to the color of the soil. Even at the larval stage, insects adapt to the environment. The body of stockies is stocky, the females are much larger than the males. This species is not prone to scatter. Adults live in isolation, without leaving their usual habitats. Changes in natural conditions, recreational development of sites leads to the death of insects. The species is listed in the Red Book of Moscow and Tula region.

Morphological description

The blue-winged filly (Oedipodacaerulescens) belongs to the order of Orthoptera, a family of true locusts. Coloring of insects is yellow-brown, light and dark gray. On elytra, transverse bandages of black or brown color. The head is large, wide. The eyes are large, well developed, located in the middle of the head. Insects have short, strong antennae, the length of which does not exceed half the body. Antennas are thickened, threadlike.

The keel of the pronotum is interrupted by a transverse groove. The pronotum surface is rough. The size of the female is 22-28 mm, the males are smaller - 15-18 mm. A distinctive feature of the species are the hind wings, painted in bright blue. Their length is somewhat shorter than the elytra. The top is transparent, sometimes with several dark spots. At the outer edge of the wings passes a wide dark strip. You can see beautiful wings during short-term insect flights.

The hind limbs are significantly longer than the front and middle legs. Their tibiae are colored blue with a white area. The leg segment is covered with a large number of spikes. The inside of the hips is black. Females have a short ovipositor, the upper cusps of which are notched, and the lower ones with a sharp apex and prong. From the hips of the hind limbs and elytra, the sound of the filly is created. Due to the special structure of the wings, male and female Oedipodacaerulescens make crackles during the flight.

Habitat

The species is distributed throughout Europe, in northern Africa lives in Morocco. Blue-winged filly is found in Central and West Asia - Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Iran, Syria, and western China. Northern Settlement settlements are recorded in southern Sweden. Insects live in Western Siberia. In mountainous areas, they were recorded at an altitude of 1,500 m. In the northwestern part of Europe and some regions of Russia, the number of insects is noticeably reduced.

Lifestyle

Typical habitats of forest-steppe, pine forests on dry sandy soils, wastelands, meadows with a predominance of wormwood, river banks, railway embankments. Insects select areas with low sparse vegetation. They are found on stony, gravelly soil with mosses and lichens. Rarely take off on plants, prefer to stay on the ground. They live alone. The peak of summer imago falls in July. They are active until September-October. Mares feed on daylight in sunny weather. Rain awaits in shelters.

Information. Blue-winged filly shy, jump from the harsh sounds and fly a few meters.

The species Oedipodacaerulescens has many natural enemies. Body color, fully consistent with the color of the soil, allows you to perfectly mask on the background of the substrate.At the moment of danger, insects are pressed to the ground and freeze. Only with the close approach of the enemy do they bounce and fly away. Blue wings disorient the attacker.

Reproduction and development

Orthoptera - a detachment of insects with incomplete transformation. Blue-winged filly go through 3 stages of development - an egg, a larva, an imago. After fertilization, the female ovipositor makes holes in the soil to a depth of 5-7 mm. The eggs are placed in a capsule formed by the foamy secret of the female. At this stage they winter. Larvae appear on the surface in May-June of the following year.

Interesting fact. During courtship, the filly males make rattling sounds. With increasing competition, singing becomes longer and louder.

Larvae pass 4-5 ages, with each molt their color approaches in tone to the color of the soil. Like adult insects, they feed on broad-leaved plants, cereals, solids accumulated in uneven soil.

Limiting factors and protection

Blue-winged filly live in local populations, separated from each other. The abundance of the species is negatively affected by:

• grass bollards;
• any disturbance of soil cover;
• grazing;
• chemical processing of fields;
• overgrown areas with weeds and shrubs, lack of open soil.

View fell into the Red Book of Moscow and the Tula region. In the preserved habitats, remedial measures are being taken.