Bed bugs are insects of the family of Hemoptera. All over the world there are at least 40 thousand species of bugs. They live everywhere, but people do not always notice them. But there are also creatures that can harm people by turning their lives into a nightmare.
Types of Bedbugs
These insects have glands, which are a source of unpleasant odor. To them they scare away enemies and attract their relatives.
Some bugs (for example, those living in Japan) carefully take care of their offspring, daily bringing food to the nest, and some lay eggs on the back of the male, where they develop before the appearance of larvae. The nutrition of these creatures depends on the environment.
People are well aware of bed and water bugs, but this is far from all representatives of this species. In general, it has long been believed that these creatures are blood-sucking parasites. Indeed, some individuals are adapted to suck blood from animals, and only occasionally attack a person. True, a predatory water bug can cause panic in people who have never encountered such an insect.
Water bugs: water striders and rowers
The size of these insects is small - from 2-30 mm. They have a thin and elongated body with long legs, with which they can easily move around the water surface. This species of bugs is predators, they do not disdain even the bodies of dead animals.
Water striders living in fresh water, laying eggs on plants, and sea insects drag them on themselves. Often a person who likes to relax near the water, a water bug enters his eyes. Photos of these creatures are even posted in school books of zoology.
The body length of rowers is about 0.5-0.6 cm, with short legs, in shape resembling spoons. A favorable place for their habitation is in shallow water. But they can not only swim, but also fly.
They are herbivores and feed mainly on algae, sometimes detritus. Rowing males chatter so that when they gather in large numbers in one pond, you can hear their many-voiced choir from the water. This water bug does not pose any danger to humans.
Who are water scorpions and smoothies
Another type of bugs is water scorpions. In length, they grow no more than 45 mm. In this case, their body is very elongated. The front legs are grasping, and they breathe with the help of a long tube, which is located behind. This water bug lives in swamps. Water scorpions are predators, and fry and small animals living in water serve as food for them.
His body resembles a boat that quickly and deftly cuts through the water. Hind legs serve as bedbug bugs. Insects have chosen reservoirs with stagnant water, but they can be seen in puddles and even in a barrel of water.
Gladysh is also able to fly in search of food, and he does this at night. He is a predator with a piercing-sucking mouth apparatus. Thanks to his large eyes, no one will escape from him.
The water bug is smoothly held by the forelimbs with its water bug, while piercing its shell and sucking out the juice from it. Males of this species, like rowers, make rattling sounds.
Giant water bugs
Giant water bugs are tropical inhabitants. There they chose almost all fresh water reservoirs.
These insects grow up to 15 cm. Their hind legs are designed for swimming, and the front ones are equipped with claws that allow you to grab prey and hold it tight. The object of hunting giants are fry, tadpoles, snails, sometimes small fish also come across. Picking up a prey, a predatory water bug can sit for a long time without movement. As soon as the prey approaches, the insect snatches it from the water and immediately begins to absorb it.
A giant water bug can also fly, but it does this extremely rarely, for example, if you suddenly need to move to a new reservoir. People are not of interest to them, but while swimming, the bug can still bite a person by the legs. This bite gives a very unpleasant sensation, but does no harm.
Why do we need water bugs in the world? This question torments those who negatively relate to insects of a certain species. To a greater extent, the creatures described are involved in the food chain of aquatic inhabitants. For example, frogs love to eat water jets and rowers. And in Thailand, and a person can taste the giant water bugs, if he, of course, is a lover of exotic cuisine.
Ground bugs: horseflies and shield bugs
Another representative of the bugs is horseflies from 2-9 mm in size. They have a bright color: dark brown, brick, orange or straw, and at the same time with dark or light stripes or dots on the back. They have a long antennae, proboscis, but have no eyes. Mostly horseflies are herbivores, and therefore have taken root in the grass or on the trees. Among them there are pests, which are beet bug and alfalfa bug.
The family of shieldworms includes several subspecies: turtle shields, earthen shields, hemispherical, etc. Their body is round in shape from 1.4 to 45 mm in size. Individuals feed on both plants and insects, and they are pests of fields and gardens.
As you can see, a water bug is not as harmful as its relatives of land origin.
What are lace bugs?
Lace-bugs got their beautiful name due to the shape of the body, which resembles lace. Their sizes do not exceed 1.5-5 mm. They are inactive and have no eyes. Lace makers feed on the juice of fruit and larch trees, causing harm to them.
Many gardeners are fighting a stubborn struggle with these insects, as you can lose their crops if no measures are taken. Bed bugs do not attack people, but trees suffer from them, even cases are known when a large number of these creatures “eat up” voluminous garden lands.
Predatory Bedbugs
Individuals of the predator family reach a length of up to 20 mm. They like to sit out near rocks or in bird nests. Often found in residential buildings. They feed exclusively on small insects.
But bugs of the genus Nabis and Orius are very useful for humans. They help to destroy pests such as aphids and caterpillars, as well as the larvae of any invertebrates on agricultural land.
Bed bug
Quite well-known bed bugs are blood-sucking insects. Their elongated torso grows to 8.5 mm. Mature individuals have a red-brown color, and their larvae are white. They are the owners of the very glands from which the unpleasant odor emanates. Bed bugs prefer to settle in houses closer to people; bats nests and mouse burrows are suitable for them.
In warm conditions, bloodsuckers can breed around the clock. During the day, the female bug lays about 10 eggs, and in her whole life she can get up to 260 eggs. The larva from the egg is born after 17 days.
When the air temperature drops to +10 ° C, insects can survive for six months without food, and their larvae will go into suspended animation and can remain in it for up to a year. When freezing with temperatures below -17 ° C, bugs can survive no more than a day, and in hot weather above +45 ° C they will die out within half an hour.
Any bug is needed by nature, although not all people understand this. Of course, there are dangerous representatives, but if you monitor your home and carefully choose places for swimming, then nothing bad will happen. Each type of bug is of particular value to other living organisms and nature in general. They are part of the food chain, so their extinction can lead to the death of several species of various representatives of fauna and flora.