Nowadays, the family of water-beetle beetles has more than 2,000 species that are spread throughout the globe. These are waterfowl insects that live very poorly due to their clumsiness. In Russia, there are about 200 species of such beetles. They are diverse in size, appearance and lifestyle.
Who is a big water lover
Basically, water divers are small bugs reaching only a few millimeters in size. But there are also very impressive insects, for example, a large hydrophobia. We will consider the nutrition of these species a little later. And now we will briefly describe this large representative of the water lovers. The size of the insect can reach 4.8 cm. This is the largest beetle in the European part, a heavy, shiny black with convex elytra elytra.
Description of a large water lover
These beetles swim very poorly and reluctantly, mostly prefer to crawl along aquatic plants. When swimming, water divers make asynchronous movements with their middle and hind limbs. On the paws on the upper side there are swimming bristles. In fact, they resemble swimming oars. The breath of aquatic beetles is airy, that is, they breathe atmospheric air. Periodically, they rise head up to the water surface and breathe with a thick club-like tendril, exposing them out of the water. Air is held in the lower part of the body, between the hairs, and therefore they shine from below like silver.
Males have suction cups on their legs. It looks like a big lover. Body shape, nutrition and appearance - all these characteristics are interconnected. They largely determine the lifestyle of the beetle, the way it hunts and moves. The abdomen is covered with red spots on the sides. Its lower part is without longitudinal keel. The head is massive with large eyes. Elytra have thin grooves and rows of dots between them. The antennae of the beetle are red with an asymmetric mace.
The black body is different from other large hydrophobia. Coloring, nutrition are not much connected. But perhaps due to the fact that the diver mainly eats plants, its black color has acquired an olive-green tint. Also, the color of the beetle may be different. Meet:
- Dark brown beetles.
- Dark blue.
Habitat
Basically, a large water lion lives in the following places:
- In Europe, with the exception of the far north.
- In the Mediterranean.
- In the Caucasus.
- In Central and Central Asia.
- In southern Siberia.
- In Primorye.
- In China.
- In India.
Standing, heavily overgrown shallow ponds with clean water - this is what a water lover prefers a large place. The food there is often diverse. Ponds should also warm up well and have a muddy bottom. Beetle Nutrition:
- Seaweed.
- Rotten plants.
- Dead little fish.
- Dead insects.
Breeding
After spring mating, a female hydrophobia lays eggs in a special spider web cocoon of white silky threads. It attaches to plants that grow near the surface of the water. The cocoon has a bag-shaped flattened shape. At one end, it narrows and forms a horn-shaped process. About 5 hours makes the cocoon a big lover. Beetle nutrition during this period temporarily stops. Since the female will have a direct laying of eggs. She is able to lay about 50-60 eggs. Cocoons are on the surface of the water. Some females carry them on the abdomen until the larvae hatch.
After about 14 days, larvae appear that remain in the cocoon until the first molt. They feed on their own skins and threads. They are conical, thick, 6–9 mm long. The larva has a whitish hue; it is curved up. It has lateral processes and a massive dark-colored head. The duration of larval development is 6-8 weeks. The larvae of a beetle such as a large hydrophobia, prefer mixed food. They eat plant foods, eat various invertebrates, and can even attack tadpoles and gastropods. Usually, larvae prey on their prey from an ambush. They rise to the surface of the water and catch prey, stick out their heads, water it with digestive juices, grind it and absorb it in a semi-digested state. Small larvae are harmless, while large ones cause considerable harm to fishing, as they eat a large number of fish fry. Then the hydrophobia larvae emerge on the surface of the earth and pupate in the soil. At the end of summer, a strong beetle that emerged from the chrysalis crawls out of the ground and leaves for the reservoir. It takes about 2 weeks. The developmental stage from egg to imago takes about 9-14 weeks.
Lifestyle of water enthusiasts
Beetles lead a day and night lifestyle. They swim poorly, but crawl well along the bottom and underwater plants. In addition, a large water lover, whose food, although it occurs mainly in water, begins to fly at night. He prefers warm moonlit nights.
These bugs have a lot of enemies. They are protected in two ways, these are:
- The release of smelly gruel from the body.
- Unpleasant rattle rattle about abdomen.
With these methods, the aforementioned divers try to scare off their enemies.
Are large water divers dangerous to humans
For humans, this type of bug does not pose any danger. Since it was in the pond that the hydrophobian found a large habitat. Its nutrition does not include various crops belonging to man. So, a water lover will not bring harm to agriculture and land. Also, these beetles do not eat wood. Accordingly, they do not threaten the forest industry either.
Divers are not carriers of various infectious diseases, and their populations are not so large as to even potentially be able to harm a person.