Steppe Dibble - The Endangered Grasshopper
Steppe dyke is the largest grasshopper ever inhabiting Russia. The insect belongs to the subfamily of the toes. At the moment it is a disappearing species of insects and is listed in the Red Book.
Description
The body length of the female without ovipositor is 30-40mm, and with it - 70-90 mm. The wings of a large insect are either absent altogether, or represented as very short rudiments and do not bring any visible benefit.
Habitat
Steppe dyke is quite common in Georgia,Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Also it can be found in Moldova, Ukraine and in Southern Europe. In Russia, the insect inhabits areas in the non-plowed steppes and lives in the Kursk, Voronezh, Lipetsk, Samara and other areas. An insect can be found in thickets of thorn, as well as in shrubs of stony steppes. The nearest relatives of these grasshoppers live in South Africa and Australia. Until recently, the steppe dyke lived throughout the steppe zone, from the Kharkov and Chelyabinsk regions in the north to the Crimea and the Caucasus in the south.
Food
In the diet preference is given bygrass-herbaceous plants. By nature, this grasshopper is a predator. Mostly hunts at night. Steppe bottles feed on grasshopper fries, as well as insects such as mantises, bedbugs and other small beetles.
Reproduction
It reproduces by parthenogenetic method. Presumably, the steppe has 68 chromosomes, which is twice as large as that of a sedentary grasshopper. The female starts laying eggs 3-4 weeks after the imaginal molt. Throughout life, a grasshopper lays eggs in the soil in small portions. Thus, almost all the time he is at the stage of reproduction. It is known that even after the death of a female, more than a dozen eggs can be found in her body.
Hatch larvae about 12 millimeters in size. Throughout development, young grasshoppers pass through eight ages and reach full maturity after 25 days.
Limit factors and protection
The total number of these unusual grasshopperscontinues to decline steadily. This is because the natural habitat of these insects is constantly being destroyed. To date, this factor is not fatal, as there are still shelters in the form of ravines and other places that have a lowered relief. This habitat is suitable for eating a steppe. These places are most favorable and meet all the needs, as well as the biological characteristics of such grasshoppers.
The greatest danger for the existence of the steppeThe bottle now represents a large-scale use of insecticides. Since in most fields the crops are constantly sprayed with chemicals, giant grasshoppers suffer greatly. But nevertheless the steppe poplar, the photo of which is presented below, is protected in the Zhigulevsky, Khopersky and Bashkir reserves.
Experts recommend that they remain intactplowed fields on the fields within the habitat range of these insects. Also they advise to abstain in these places from haymaking and stop cutting down bushes and trees.
Steppe dyke is listed in the Red Book
This species was listed in the Red Data Book andthe moment is guarded by the law as an endangered one, just like a close kindred of a steppe - a saddle-tailed grasshopper. A distinctive feature of this insect is that its back really resembles a saddle.
Among other things, large grasshoppers are listed in the European Red List, as well as in the Red Book of Ukraine.
Finally
Today it is very important to protect from extinction notonly large animals, but even the smallest insects, since they are an indispensable part of the nutritional cycle in nature. By destroying small grasshoppers, we deprive the food of larger individuals that feed on beetles, bugs, flies, etc. Ultimately this leads to the fact that larger animals suffer and gradually begin to disappear from the face of the Earth.
Scientists annually add to the Red Book the most extinct species of animals and plants. The extermination of these living beings is punishable by law and is strictly prohibited throughout the world.
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