Animal myrrh beetle and praying mantis. Mantis insect: what is dangerous and useful for humans? How to feed praying mantises at home

Animal world
Ground beetle and Mantis

Crimea is separated from the mainland by a narrow isthmus inaccessible to migration, so there are animals here that are not found anywhere else. But still, there are more of those who can be seen in the Caucasus, and in Asia Minor, and on the islands of the Aegean Sea, and in the Balkans. Perhaps, in the distant past, it connected these zoogeographic regions mainland sushi - Pontida. Over time, it sank to the bottom of the Black Sea, separating our peninsula and isolating its plants and animals. Be that as it may, about 15 million years ago, the ancestors of elephants, mastodons, ran along the steppes and hills of the Eastern Crimea, giraffes, antelopes, ostriches, three-toed hipparion horses ran. Monkeys climbed the branches of a coniferous-broad-leaved forest. AT rock of that era, petrified tree trunks are found with growth rings, hard and strong, like bone or stone.

Eastern Crimea is a mountain forest, and foothills, and a steppe, and the shores of two seas, and the seas themselves. There are quite a lot of animals here: although the climate is not as mild as on the South Shore, there is less civilization. 57 species of mammals live in Crimea, 17 of them are very rare. The Red Book of Ukraine includes the steppe mouse, the large jerboa, steppe ferret, common badger, small water shrew. Next in line are raccoon dogs, ground squirrels, black rats, martens, and roe deer. Approximately 4,000 species of beetles live in the Crimea.

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Winged decoration and danger in the mink. Quantity dangerous plants and animals increases as you move towards the tropics. So Crimea in this respect (when compared with exotic resorts and even with the Mediterranean not far from us) is more than harmless.

On the forest paths there is a Crimean ground beetle - a large (up to 5 centimeters) purple beetle. She lives only in the Crimea and as a rare endemic must be protected. The beetle cannot fly; it crawls on the ground and therefore, unfortunately, often dies under the wheels of cars and under the feet of inattentive tourists. This harmless beetle is trying to protect its fragile life: if you disturb the ground beetle, it will release a drop of a caustic liquid that scares away birds, but is not dangerous for humans - that's the whole defense. Our beautiful beetle feeds on snails, caterpillars, other beetles, slugs and terrestrial molluscs. The ground beetle lurks its prey in ambush or catches up, moving quickly on long, strong legs, and tears it apart, wielding powerful jaws. The Crimean ground beetle can live 10-11 years.

The praying mantis is a large insect whose front legs are always raised, as if human hands when he lifts them up in prayer to heaven. This strange, fun-to-watch predator up to five centimeters tall sits for a long time, hiding in the leaves, and lies in wait for small insects. Having tracked down the prey, the praying mantis grabs it with its clawed "hands" (so that's what they were raised for!) and, in the words of the German zoologist A. Bram, "quietly begins to devour." It happens that ferocious and brave praying mantises fight with sparrows. Five species of praying mantis live on Karadag. It is believed that a person who accidentally sits on a praying mantis will be happy for the rest of his life.

The wildlife of the Crimea is very rich, it has varieties that are unusual in type and habits. Unfortunately, many people who are far from biology get confused in “folk” and inaccurately conveyed names, mix several subspecies into one in their imagination and attribute terrifying properties to civilians. The Crimean praying mantis is a victim of such injustice. Why is it dangerous for humans? Does it bite or not? What does it eat? The answers to these questions are below!

Types of Crimean praying mantises

The fact is that not one, but at least five species of praying mantis live in the Crimea (many experts believe that there are 7). Among them there is also the one awarded the name "Crimean" (Ameles taurica). But this is far from the most common and the smallest in the detachment on the peninsula. Tourists and the uninitiated locals usually they notice another variety, the common one (Mantis religiosa), believing it to be "Crimean".

The Crimean praying mantis is the smallest in the detachment in the open spaces (less than 3 cm), it is also found in, in the south of Ukraine. It is grayish or brownish in color. Males have developed transparent wings and fly well. The opposite sex has a fuller abdomen, the wings are greatly shortened, they cannot fly. In this species, males are larger than females, which is not typical for praying mantises.

The common praying mantis is much larger (females are larger than 7 cm), flies well, comes across grayish-brown or green in color. It is traditional throughout Europe, excluding the polar and subpolar regions, the largest in the detachment in this part of the world.

As you can see, the description does not allow to confuse the two types, but people ignorant of biology believe that different sizes are an indicator of different ages of insects. Small praying mantis larvae are indeed relatively similar to adults, but that's not the point.

In addition to those mentioned, other praying mantises live in the Crimea, including such an exotic appearance as the striped empusa. Tourists who are lucky enough to meet her are sure to take a photo - to scare their friends. Some are listed in the Red Book. But all of them, except for the "ordinary", are relatively rare.

Habitat and what it eats

You can meet the praying mantis in any part of the Crimea. He does not live only on stones and - he needs rich vegetation. But it is found in the steppe.

The praying mantis is an active predator. It feeds on any insects, worms, even small lizards and frogs, not embarrassed to attack creatures larger than itself in size. It will not be possible to unequivocally establish whether praying mantises are harmful or beneficial for a person - they do not have food specialization, they eat the most useful bumblebee with the same appetite or ladybug and the most harmful moth butterfly.

But praying mantises are not supporters of high-speed prey chases. They are cold-blooded, sometimes sitting in ambush for hours, waiting for a potential meal to approach the throw distance of their spiked front legs. However, although they look touchingly folded for prayer, they have tremendous strength and securely hold prey. Mimicry (masking) coloring and body shape allows them to safely hide among the grass and twigs.

What danger do praying mantises pose to humans?

What is dangerous for a person Crimean praying mantis? If we are talking about Ameles taurica, then it does not pose a threat at all. Like all predators, it bites, but cannot noticeably damage the dense and thick human cover. These insects are not poisonous.

But larger common praying mantis sometimes makes people uncomfortable. Real danger not in this one, but it bites quite painfully. But what's even worse is that it easily grabs a toe with its strong front legs, and the long prickly spikes on them are highly likely to pierce the skin. As a result, the legs will “anchor” on the “prey”, and it is not at all easy to unclench them - this is unpleasant, and, as a rule, it looks frightening.

Precautionary measures

But this passion will not happen if you do not try to catch the praying mantis. A person must have a certain endurance, good coordination and some knowledge in order to be able to catch a large individual without consequences.

Clumsy hunters then tear off the bravely defending “enemy” for a long time and complain of pain in bitten and punctured fingers. He himself, even when he is at the place of rest for tourists, will not attack people.

Particular attention should be paid to "anti-praying" prevention among. They need to be convinced that living beings in nature cannot be grabbed at random. A child's skin is softer than that of adults - a praying mantis can cause them severe pain and scare them.

There is no need to take any special medical measures for a bite. If the skin is damaged, it is enough to lubricate it with any disinfectant. The pain will go away in a couple of minutes. There is no allergy to a praying mantis bite - it does not introduce any substances into the wound.

The Crimean praying mantis, like other representatives of this family, is an adornment of nature, a manifestation of it and diversity. Don't disturb him just because he exists and looks funny. Then there will be no need to worry about punctures on the fingers. Interesting fact- Praying mantises are successfully kept as pets. In conclusion - as always, an informative video, enjoy watching!

The praying mantis is perhaps one of the most amazing and strange insects on our planet, both in its habits and way of life, some features of which can slightly (or even strongly) shock us people. Yes, we are talking about the famous mating habits of praying mantises, when the female praying mantis after the mating process (and sometimes right during the process) eats her unlucky cavalier. But, of course, praying mantises are not only remarkable for this, and in our today's article we will tell you about all aspects of the life of these unusual insects.

Origin of the name praying mantis

The academic name for the praying mantis back in 1758 was given by the great Swedish naturalist Karl Liney, who drew attention to the fact that the pose of the praying mantis, which is in ambush and guarding prey, is very similar to the pose of a man who folded his hands in prayer to God. Because of such a striking similarity, the scientist gave the insect the Latin name "Mantis religiosa", which literally translates as "religious priest", but the name "praying mantis" itself came into our language.

Although it is not called so everywhere, our hero also has other, by no means so blissful names, for example, in Spain they call him Caballito del Diablo - the devil's horse or simply - muerte - death. Such creepy names are obviously associated with no less creepy habits of praying mantises.

What does a praying mantis look like: structure and characteristics

The structure of the praying mantis is characterized by an elongated body, which distinguishes it from other arthropod insects.

The praying mantis is perhaps the only living creature that can easily turn its triangular-shaped head 360 degrees. Thanks to such a useful skill, he can see the enemy approaching from behind. He also has only one ear, but, despite this, just excellent hearing.

The praying mantis eyes of a complex faceted structure are located on the sides of the head, but in addition to them, our hero has three more simple eyes above the base of the antennae.

The antennae of praying mantises are comb-like, feathery or filiform, depending on the species of the insect.

Praying mantises, almost all of their species, have well-developed wings, but mainly only males can fly, females, due to their greater weight and size, are more difficult to fly than males. Praying mantis wings consist of two pairs: anterior and posterior, the anterior ones serve as a kind of elytra protecting the hindwings. Also, pilgrimage wings usually have bright colors, and sometimes they even have peculiar patterns on them. But among the many varieties of praying mantises, there is such an earthen praying mantis (the Latin name is Geomantis larvoides), which does not have wings at all.

Praying mantises have well-developed forelimbs, which have a rather complicated structure - each of them consists of many parts: trochanters, hips, shins and legs. From the bottom of the thigh there are large sharp spikes arranged in three rows. There are also spikes (albeit smaller ones) on the praying mantis shin, which is adorned with a sharp, needle-shaped hook at the end. See the picture for an exemplary structure of the praying mantis foot.

Praying mantises keep their prey just between the thigh and lower leg until their meal is over.

Praying mantises have a primitive circulation, but there is a reason for this - an unusual respiratory system. the praying mantis is supplied with a complex system of tracheae connected to dichals (stigmas) on the abdomen in the middle and posterior parts of the body. The trachea contains air sacs that enhance ventilation throughout the respiratory system.

Praying mantis sizes

We have already mentioned above that the female praying mantises are much larger than the males, oddly enough, this is their main sexual difference.

A species of praying mantis, called in Latin Ischnomantis gigas and living in Africa, can reach 17 cm in length, perhaps this representative of the praying kingdom is a real champion in size.

Ischnomantis gigas is the largest praying mantis in the world.

Heterochaeta orientalis or Heterochaeta orientalis is a little inferior to him, it reaches 16 cm in length. Ordinary praying mantises are much smaller, on average no more than 0.5-1.5 cm in length.

praying mantis color

Like many other insects, praying mantises have excellent camouflage abilities, this biological way protection from predators, because of this, their colors have, depending on environment, green, yellow and brown tones. Green mantises live on green ones, while brown ones are inseparable from the bark of trees.

What does the praying mantis eat

It's no secret that our hero is a notorious predator who loves to eat both smaller insects and is not afraid to attack prey even larger than himself. They eat flies, wasps, bumblebees, beetles, etc. Large representatives of the praying family (see above) can even attack small rodents, birds and small amphibians:,.

Praying mantises usually attack from an ambush, suddenly grab the prey with their front paws and do not let go until they are completely eaten. strong jaws allow these gluttons to eat even relatively large prey.

Mantid Enemies

Although praying mantises are excellent predatory hunters, they themselves can also become prey for snakes, some birds, or bats. But the main enemies of praying mantises, perhaps, are their own relatives - other praying mantises. There are often life-and-death fights between two rival praying mantises. The fights themselves, both between praying mantises and with other insects, are very spectacular, first of all, the praying mantis seeks to scare the opponent, for this he takes a special frightening pose - throws his front paws forward and lifts his belly up. All this may be accompanied by appropriate threatening sounds. Such a show of strength is by no means feigned, praying mantises are desperately brave and with courage rush even at a much larger opponent. Thanks to such courage and bravery, praying mantises often emerge victorious from such fights.

Where does the praying mantis live

Almost everywhere, since their habitat is very wide: Central and Southern Europe, Asia, North and South America, Africa, Australia. They are not only in northern regions, since praying mantises are not very accustomed to the cold. But they are great, for example, hot and humid climate tropical Africa and South America. Praying mantises feel great in tropical forests, and in the steppe regions, and in stony deserts.

They rarely move from place to place, preferring their habitual habitat to unknown distant places, the only reason that can encourage them to travel is the lack of food supply.

Types of praying mantises: photos and names

Scientists have estimated about 2000 various kinds praying mantises, we, unfortunately, will not be able to bring them all in our article, but we will describe, in our opinion, the most interesting representatives.

Mantis common lives in most countries of Europe, Asia, Africa. The praying mantis is very major representative pilgrimage kingdom, reaching up to 7 cm (female) and 6 cm (male). As a rule, they are green or brown in color, the wings are well developed, at least it is not a problem for the common praying mantis to fly from branch to branch. Abdomen ovoid. This type of praying mantis can be distinguished by a black spot, which is located on the coxae of the front pair of legs from the inside.

Obviously, China is the birthplace and main habitat of this species of praying mantis. The Chinese praying mantis is quite large, females reach up to 15 cm in length, but the size of males is much more modest. They are green and brown. A characteristic difference Chinese praying mantis is their nocturnal lifestyle, while their other relatives still sleep at night. Also, young individuals of Chinese praying mantises do not have wings, which grow only after several molts, at the same time they acquire the ability to fly.

The praying mantis Creobroter meleagris lives in southwestern Asia: India, Vietnam, Cambodia and a number of other countries. Usually reach 5 cm in length. The colors are white and cream. You can recognize them by the light brown stripes that run throughout the body and head. Also on the wings they have one small and a large spot of white or cream color.

He is the mantis Creobroter gemmatus especially loves moist forests South India, Vietnam and other Asian countries. This species is small, females grow up to only 40 mm, males up to 38 mm. The body is more elongated than that of other relatives. And for additional protection, there are special spikes of different heights on the hips of the Indian praying mantis. Cream colored. Representatives of this species are excellent flyers, both males and females, due to their low weight, in addition, both pairs of wings are well developed. Interestingly, on the front wings they have a spot similar to an eye with two pupils, which scares off predators. Flower mantises live, as their names imply, in the flowers of plants, where they guard their prey.

He is a praying mantis Pseudocreobotra wahlbergii lives in the countries of southern and eastern Africa. In terms of lifestyle, size, it is very similar to the Indian flower mantis. But what is especially interesting is its coloring - it is really artistic, on the upper pair of wings interesting drawing resembling a spiral or even an eye. On the abdomen of this species there are additional spines that gave it its name.

Orchid praying mantis - in our opinion is the most beautiful representatives of the praying mantis in the world. It also got its name not without reason, but precisely for its external resemblance to beautiful orchids, on which it actually hides in ambush in anticipation of another victim. females orchid praying mantis exactly twice as many males: 80 mm versus 40. And even among other praying mantises, orchid mantises are distinguished by amazing courage, representatives of this species are not afraid to attack even insects that are twice their size.

Oriental heterochaete or spiky-eyed mantis is one of the largest mantises in the world (the female reaches 15 cm in length) and lives in most of Africa. These praying mantises live in the branches of bushes, since their appearance also resembles twigs.

Mantis breeding

And here we move on to the most interesting part, namely the reproduction of mantises, which, as a rule, has a sad and tragic end for males. But let's not get ahead of ourselves, but let's start in order. Male praying mantises advancing mating season(usually in autumn), with the help of charm organs, they begin to search for females ready to mate. Having found one, he performs a special “marriage dance” in front of her, transferring him to the rank of a sexual partner. Then the mating process itself begins, during which the female praying mantis has a bad habit of biting off her male's head and then completely eating him. Some scientists believe that such behavior, which is more than terrible in our opinion, also has its own biological reasons - having eaten her “groom”, the female, in such a simple way, replenishes the reserves of protein nutrients necessary for future offspring.

Although it also happens that the male manages to get away from his “beloved” in time than to avoid the sad fate of food.

After some time, the fertilized female lays eggs, at the same time enveloping them with a special sticky secret that is secreted by their special glands. This secret serves as a kind of protective capsule for the eggs of future praying mantises and is called ootheca. The fertility of the female depends on her species, usually the female is able to lay from 10 to 400 eggs at a time.

Praying mantis larvae stay in the eggs from three weeks to six months, after which they crawl out of the eggs. Further, their development proceeds in quite the same way. fast pace and after about 4-8 molts, the larva degenerates into an adult praying mantis.

Keeping praying mantises at home

Terrarium

It would be a very exotic and unusual act to have a pet praying mantis, right? However, there are people who have such “pets” and if you want to join them too, then the first thing you have to take care of is the terrarium. A relatively small, glass or plastic terrarium with a mesh cover is suitable, its dimensions should be at least three times the size of the praying mantis itself. Inside it would be nice to place twigs or small plants on which the praying mantis will climb like trees.

Temperature

Praying mantises are heat-loving insects, so the optimal temperature for them will be from +23 to +30 C. You can use special heaters for terrariums.

Humidity

Also, do not forget about humidity, which is also important for these insects. Optimum humidity for praying mantises is 40-60% and to maintain it, you can put a small container of water inside the terrarium.

How to feed praying mantises at home

Living food. Perfect fit, grasshoppers, cockroaches, flies. Some species of praying mantis will not mind eating ants. And with all this, they need to be fed regularly, so keeping such “pets” can be somewhat troublesome. But praying mantises do not need to be watered, since they get the fluid they need from food.

• One of the styles of Chinese wushu martial arts is named after the mantis, according to legend, this style was invented by a Chinese peasant watching the mantis hunt.
• In the Soviet Union at one time they wanted to industrially use praying mantises as a biological protection against pests of agricultural plantations. True, this idea had to be abandoned, since the praying mantises also ate beneficial insects, the same bees.
• Since ancient times, praying mantises have been frequent heroes of various myths and legends among African and Asian peoples, for example, in China they personified stubbornness and greed, and the ancient Greeks attributed to them the ability to predict the onset of spring.

Mantis - an insect from another planet, video

And in conclusion, we bring to your attention an interesting popular science film about praying mantises.

When writing the article, I tried to make it as interesting, useful and of high quality as possible. I will be grateful for any feedback and constructive criticism in the form of comments to the article. You can also write your wish / question / suggestion to my mail [email protected] or on Facebook, with respect, the author.

In this short article, I just wanted to point out the species composition of the praying mantises of the Kerch Peninsula. The fact is that when I was at the university and we were given a course in entomology, then mentioning the Mantis Detachment (Mantoptera) we were listed only 4 species that at that time were found on the territory of the Crimean peninsula. At the same time, it was noted that the background species is the common Praying Mantis - Mantisreligiosa (Linnaeus, 1758) , less numerous Oriental Iris - irispolystictica (FischerdeWaldhei, 1846). But the other two species are so rare that if in practice we find one of these species, and God forbid, we just think of catching it and stabbing it on an entomological needle, then the torture of hell will be the mildest punishment for us. The two of these species, of course, included Bolivaria short-winged - Bolivariabrachyptera (Pallas, 1773)Empusafasciata(Brule, 1836). There was no talk of other praying mantises.

But periodically being on local expeditions on the Kerch Peninsula, I found that the number of species in Eastern Crimea somewhat different. It is difficult for me to assess the species composition of the entire Crimea, but on the Kerch Peninsula, as a result of monitoring over the past 5 years and according to literary data, 7 species of praying mantis are observed.

Below is their scientific classification.

Type: Arthropod - Arthropoda

Class: Insects - Insecta

Infraclass: Winged insects - Pterygota

Cohort: Newwings - Neoptera

Subcohort: Polyneopterans - Polyneoptera

Superorder: Dictyoptera - Dictyoptera

Squad: Mantis - mantoptera,Mantodea

Family: Real praying mantis - Mantidae

Genus: praying man - Ameles View: Prayer Crimean - Amelesheldreichi (Brunner, 1892)

Genus: Bolivarian Bolivaria Species: Bolivaria short-winged - Bolivariabrachyptera (Pallas, 1773)

Genus: Wood praying mantis - Hierodula Species: Caucasian Praying Mantis - Hierodula transcaucasica(BrunnervonWattenwyl, 1878)

Genus: Mantis - Mantis Species: common praying mantis - Mantisreligiosa (Linnaeus, 1758)

Genus: Iris - iris Species: Oriental iris - Iris polysticica (Fischer de Waldheim, 1846)

Family: Empuse - Empusida Genus: Empusa - Empusa

View: Empusa striped - Empusa fasciata (Brulle, 1836) Type: Empusa sandy - Empusa pennicornia (Pallas, 1773)

Which of the above species are more common, and others less common. Of course, the background view remained on the pedestal. This is the common Praying Mantis known to everyone - Mantisreligiosa (Linnaeus, 1758). This species is found not only in wild nature, now it can be found both in the city park and in the private sector on personal plots. By color scheme no special changes are observed, usually it is a green or brown morph.

But the next species is slowly winning the palm from the Common Praying Mantis and this is the Transcaucasian Praying Mantis - Hierodula transcaucasica(BrunnervonWattenwyl, 1878). It is found throughout the territory and looks very similar to the first species. Has the same color variations. It can be distinguished by a white spot on the elytra, as well as a thin spike on the middle and hind femora at the top.

Then, according to the frequency of occurrence, the Crimean Prayer Mantis or Geldreich Praying Mantis is noted - Amelesheldreichi (Brunner, 1892). I came across this species most often in the north of the Kerch Peninsula, almost along the entire coast of the Sea of ​​\u200b\u200bAzov.

It should be noted that now the type of empusa has become much more common: Empusa striped - Empusafasciata(Brulle, 1836) and Empusa sandy - Empusapennicornia (Pallas, 1786)

Of course, striped Empusa is more numerous, which is found almost throughout the entire territory of the Kerch Peninsula, from Opuk to the Karalar Landscape Park. But Empusa sandy, a problematic species, has never caught my eye, but is mentioned by individual authors. The only place where, according to the literature data, finds of this praying mantis are noted is the Opuk Reserve.

The next two species are not so common, though in recent times their numbers have increased slightly. First of all, this is Bolivaria short-winged - Bolivariabrachyptera (Pallas, 1773). Occurs on the territory of the Karalar Landscape Park as single specimens. Oriental iris - irispolystictica (FischerdeWaldheim, 1846) in terms of frequency of occurrence it is not inferior to Bolivaria short-winged. It is found throughout the territory, which is interesting even within the Kerch district of Arshintsevo. In my opinion, this is one of the most combative and very active praying mantises. At the slightest danger, he takes a fighting pose, characteristic of all praying mantises, and at the same time makes a kind of rustle with his wings, also trying to frighten the enemy with a sound effect. Interestingly, this is the only praying mantis in our nature, individuals of which can be found with different eye shapes. Both teardrop and reverse teardrop shape.

It is difficult to say how useful praying mantises are for humans, since their diet includes large group insects, in some cases they are harmful to humans, in others they are beneficial. And the praying mantises themselves are not at the top of the food chain. The fact is that some Sphecoid wasps (Sphecoidea) feed their offspring on paralyzed praying mantises. And some large grasshoppers, for example, the Steppe Dybka -Saga pedo (Pallas, 1771) are also not averse to feasting on them.

Literature: Red Data Book of Ukraine

4. Empusa striped (adult) Golden

5. Female Iris orientalis Kurortnoye

6. Oriental iris

7. Oriental iris

Not always the largest insects of the Crimea, the most noticeable, but most still have a bright elegant color, because of which they suffer. Many of them have become rare, so if you meet them, do not offend, do not kill. Without them, our peninsula will lose a little of its identity, because Live nature one of its important components.

The animal world of Crimea is diverse. Firstly, because of the location - both southern and northern species have found refuge here. Secondly, thanks to a large number natural areas on the peninsula itself. There are steppes and forests, mountains and deep gorges, fresh and salt water reservoirs. Thirdly, being almost an island, Crimea has created conditions for the emergence and preservation of endemic and relic species. All this was reflected in the world of insects, and the story will go about the largest of them.

Butterflies-sailboats of Crimea - Swallowtail, Podaliry, Polyxena

Interestingly, all three butterflies are named after the heroes of myths about Trojan War- Machaon and Podalirius were the sons of the doctor Asclepius, who treated the Achaeans, Polyxena - the daughter of Priam and Hecuba. Achilles died when he went to perform the ceremony of marriage with her.

The largest of them - males 64-81 mm, females - 74-95 mm caterpillars feed on umbrella, some Compositae and birch.

Podalirium- they have wingspan up to 72 mm, caterpillars feed on rosacea.

In the video, podalirium, scolia (will also be on our list of the most large insects Crimea) and tongue hawk:

Polyxena smaller - the wingspan of the male is 46-50 mm, females - up to 54 mm. Threatened with extinction, the caterpillars feed on only four species of vines of the Kirkazon genus. We met her only once - on, but we took it very close:

Crimean praying mantises

Several types of praying mantis live in the Crimea. The largest of them common praying mantis reaches a length of 42-52 mm (male), 48-75 mm (female). A predator hiding somewhere in the green awaits its prey. It comes in different colors (green, brown). It depends on what shades of vegetation was around during the last molt. This praying mantis flew to our 4th floor in Sevastopol, was fed and sent home:

Empusa striped-another praying mantis, but much more rare and with a completely exotic appearance- from the spike on the head to the abdomen, resembling a gear. Reaches 47-65 mm in length, is mainly nocturnal, during the day it hides in tall grass or shrubs. So imperceptible that even our camera, which can easily shoot anything, did not believe that it was something alive and did not agree to focus on it:

Butterflies hawk moths

These are our Crimean hummingbirds, which, often flickering their wings, hover over flowers, sucking nectar right on the fly. There are several Brazhnikov in the Crimea, but to see the largest one - the Dead Head, is almost unrealistic, it is extremely rare. Interestingly, this species of butterflies makes sounds, and at all three stages of development: caterpillar, pupa, imago. Wingspan 90-115 mm (males), 100-130 mm (females).

Caterpillar dead head is also impressive. The one that posed for us in, for example, was about 10-11 cm long:

Oleander, oak, southern and some other hawks are much more common. Here, for example, oak (wingspan 75 - 115 mm, in the south of the range up to 125 mm), found in the entrance of a house in:

And this is his caterpillar, the size of the middle finger of the hand, which we noticed in:

Crimean ground beetle

Large (up to 6 cm), very fast and very beautiful beetle. Endemic of Crimea. The elytra are iridescent in all shades of bright green, blue and purple. A nocturnal predator that prefers grape snails. After eating a large specimen, it burrows into the soil for several days. And why does he need such a speed with such a slow meal?

The larvae of the Crimean ground beetle also have a size of 6-7 cm. They feed on terrestrial mollusks, resemble creepy alien monsters and stay in this form for two to three years. We filmed this fight between a ground beetle larva and a large grape snail near the Ust-Alma Scythian settlement:

A large carpenter bee, often referred to as a bumblebee. Beauty can easily argue with the Crimean ground beetle - it has an equally saturated, maybe a little more purple, metallic color.

The size is impressive - 20-28 mm. The head is large, thanks to the powerful muscles responsible for the movement of the mandibles, with which it gnaws into a dry hole to create a nest where the next generation of these beautiful insects will be born and develop.

scoli

It is not in vain that it is called the giant scolia - the length is 32-55 mm (females), 26-32 mm (males), and the appearance of the wasp makes anyone be wary of her. Its larvae feed on the larvae of large lamellar beetles, such as the rhinoceros beetle. And since there are less and less of them in the Crimea, then scoli are less and less common. You can see them above the flowers of Compositae or Liliaceae, as well as under oaks, where they dig holes in search of larvae of host beetles. They paralyze them - they lay an egg, from which the larva soon hatches, gradually eats the paralyzed beetle larva and pupates. We met this beauty on:

A kind of awkward grasshopper with an elongated head. Akrid ordinary does not form huge flocks and does no harm agriculture, as its closest relative is the locust. The size of the insect is 3.1-5.3 cm (male), 5-8 cm (female). It lives throughout the peninsula, preferring the steppes and foothills, overgrown with rare shrubs. Surely, in those flocks of grasshoppers and fillies that scatter from under your feet in the Steppe Crimea, there are also locusts. This instance sadly sat on the side of the road opposite the water park "":

Dybka

Another relative of the grasshopper, or rather the largest grasshopper in Russia, is the steppe chump. The body length of the female is 70-80 mm less, plus the ovipositor 30-40 mm (that dagger at the end of the abdomen). The wings are very small, although the legs are large, but the donkey cannot jump like a grasshopper. And its main difference from relatives is that the dybka is a real predator. It hunts not only for grasshoppers and fillies, but also for other predators - praying mantises. It is included in the International Red Book and the Red Book of Russia as a declining species. So, you will see a huge elongated grasshopper, do not offend him. It's not a locust, it's a bug.

Cicada

An ordinary cicada, resembling a gray nondescript, but huge fly (30-36 mm, with wings 40-50 mm), is primarily striking not in size, but in “singing”. Only males sing. Nature has placed convex plates on the anterior segment of their abdomen - cymbals, with which they vibrate, making amazingly loud sounds for such a small animal. When a chorus of cicadas “sings” in the summer heat, the sound is simply deafening. By the way, they sing only during the day, at night the baton is taken over by crickets. This "singer" was filmed on Fiolent, a stone's throw from:

Medvedka

There are also huge "crickets" of the bear in the Crimea. This insect grows up to 5 cm in length and makes an indelible impression on the one who sees it for the first time - brown, large-headed, with powerful front paws ending in strong claws. Bears live underground, making numerous moves in it, for which gardeners and gardeners do not like them - if there are a lot of bears on the site, they can severely damage the roots of cultivated plants. The chance of a tourist to meet a bear in the Crimea is close to zero.

The largest beetle in Europe, males are on average 70-74 mm, sometimes up to 100 mm, but not in the Crimea, here they are smaller than the mainland ones. Females are much smaller than males and do not have such a frightening "decoration" on their heads. A Red Book, endangered species, since its larvae feed on dead wood of oaks and some other trees, and there are fewer and fewer forests, and even those that remain are more and more thoroughly cleared of dead wood. On the peninsula, in some places it has been preserved in mountain forests.

A bright, lacquered mini-tank 25-47 mm long, the larvae also feed on rotten wood of deciduous trees. The horn is also only in males. They are found throughout the peninsula, as their larvae can live in greenhouses, humus, garbage heaps, that is, wherever decaying wood residues are found. Their larvae, found in such places, are often mistaken for the larvae of the cockchafer and destroyed.

Large dragonflies of the Crimea

There are 60 species of dragonflies on the Crimean peninsula. They are all predators, both adults and larvae, and the larvae can easily argue with the larvae of ground beetles in their deformity and habits - they live in water and prey on everything edible, up to fish fry. Most of of the Crimean dragonflies is small in size, but there are also very large ones. The largest, probably Red Book watchman-emperor (wing length 5 cm).