Giant wasps near Moscow and Siberia

All wasps belong to the suborder of the hymenopterous stinging insects. We often see them on household plots and try to avoid close contact. Because you do not want to be stung! And now imagine that giant wasps are circling over you. Of course, their size is not from the eagle, but still they are larger than their relatives.

Judge for yourself, the length of an ordinary wasp reaches 10 millimeters, the wingspan is about 20 millimeters. The scaly wasp is gigantic in comparison with it! The size of her body varies from 30 to 100 millimeters, the amplitude of the wings in flight is fixed from 30 to 60 millimeters.

The habitats for large wasps are land areas with a tropical and subtropical climate. On the territory of the Russian Federation there are approximately 25 species of these insects.

Description

Giant wasps are usually black and yellow. The female has a dark abdomen, which is as if drawn by transverse yellow plates. Her wings gleam with the soft color of the onion peel with a pearl luster. The female is usually larger and more aggressive than the male.

Scolia is considered a predatory insect, and it is always interesting to observe them. They start their hunt by choosing a victim. As it can act beetles-rhinoceroses, bronzovki, wood flies.

Choosing the most successful moment, giant wasps sting their prey in the abdominal nerve center. The victim is deprived of the opportunity to move. After all, the sting of insects, like a sophisticated surgical instrument, paralyzes the motor activity of the prey. Then, the wasp sobolia calmly lays the egg in the abdomen of the prey. What happens then?

Next step

Soon the hatched larva begins to eat the insides of the beetle. This lasts about 2 weeks. As a result, only the skin remains. Then it's time to weave the cocoon. Curiously, the baby-sparrow distributes all the threads correctly. The whole process takes about 24 hours.

The result is a cocoon in the form of an ellipse. And, if the female was weaving, then its length is approximately 26 millimeters. In males, it is shorter - 17-18 millimeters. In this cocoon, the larvae spend the winter period. In the spring, adults appear that are selected outside for food and reproduction. Giant wasps gladly absorb floral nectar.

Parallel to this, mating occurs in adults. For love games is not very much time. After mating, a female specimen carefully digs a kind of mink for future production. There are no corridors, entrances and exits. After all, the female-chamois chooses a place for the mink, which is not someone who wants to walk. When the wasps exit the hole is closed with lumps of earth. During the summer, the uterus is engaged in laying eggs and preparing food for the larvae.

These insects live in Central Asia, the Crimea, North Africa and the southern regions of Russia. Giant wasps in the suburbs - a rare phenomenon. Most likely, it may be due to the fact that some kind of lover of exotic animals brought in the winged ones. In this case, the wasps can exist only in the conditions created for them. After all, the cold soil of the Moscow land is disastrous for the larvae. Scolia, like other species of large wasps, are listed in the Red Book.

Giant wasps of Siberia

Hornet is another major representative of this genus. He stands out with his wasp waist, thin transparent wings and a powerful jaw. These insects have the most vivid color. In addition to yellow and black, they are orange and brown.

In total, there are more than 20 species of hornets. Their habitat is the Urals, the east of China, Ukraine. They can also be found in the northern part of Russia, where the locals call them "Siberian sparrows". They prefer to live in forests or choose lonely hills and other hills. Like other insects, giant wasp hornets live in colonies in nests. They are built horizontally, in the form of numerous honeycombs.

Living is

The wasps are responsible for the construction of their home. First, prepare the material - chew the wood fibers, abundantly moistening them with saliva. The nest itself consists of 7-8 cells. In each of them you can count about 600 cells. Where are the hornets fastening their nests? Most often in attics, under the roofs of abandoned houses, in birdhouses and in tree hollows. Sometimes insects settle in the burrows of small animals under the ground.

In addition to nectar, giant wasps feed on the juice of trees, ripe fruits and berries. They, like the scolias, are predators, which can easily be dealt with by grasshoppers, locusts and flies. The most important is the uterus, which survived the winter. In the spring she wakes up, looks for a place for a nest, works on honeycombs and releases the first larvae from the laid eggs. Those, in turn, turn into working hornets.

Patience and work

Who do you think is in the group of real hard workers among insects? These are ordinary and giant wasps! The photo eloquently conveys their painstaking work. Hornets guard the dwelling, feed the uterus and new larvae. As you can see, the giant wasps are pretty well-coordinated. This is a good basis for the growth of the family.

New rows of cells are built and the nest becomes larger. It is noteworthy that working hornets do not produce offspring, since they are infertile. But by the beginning of autumn in the family there are females that are capable of reproduction. After mating with the drones, the wasps are hiding to wait out the long winter. The old womb and the males, who have fulfilled their functions, are dying. And the overwintered female in the spring again creates a new family.

Varieties of hornet

All these types of insects have similarities with each other and with other representatives of wasps. The most beautiful of all species is the eastern hornet. It has a bright red-brown color.

This is the only species that is resistant to dry steppe climate. In addition, the female eastern hornet has surpassed all impressive size in length - 24-30 centimeters! Insects live in the mountains of Sri Lanka, Japan, China and Korea.

The locals call them "tiger bees". There are absolutely black hornets. By the way, this species is often taken as a basis for creating computer insects for filming in art pictures. In them, giant wasp killers often act in the main role.

In reality, black hornets inhabit Chinese, Korean, Indian and Thai lands. Also found on Russian territory: in the Amur Region, Transbaikalia and Primorye. This species is remarkable in that a female black hornet does not grow a family. She simply kills the uterus in a flock of hornets of a different species and takes her colony under her direction.

Benefit and harm

All giant wasps are some kind of environmental sanitarians. For example, scolias destroy insects that damage agricultural crops. It is known that entire colonies of Hymenoptera are exported to the reed fields to fight the rhinoceros beetles. Also large wasps eat wood flies and bugs, which destroy the roots of fruit-berry trees. In addition, insects pollen the plants. Despite the fact that large species of wasps are of benefit, yet their location next to the human house is contraindicated.

First, all insects look awesome due to their size. Secondly, wasps have a highly toxic poison, which is deadly to humans. Children and persons suffering from allergic diseases are at risk. Especially dangerous are multiple bites.

A large amount of poison falls under the skin of a person and there is an intoxication of the body. The victim may experience headache, nausea and chills. In severe cases, a person has convulsions and death. So admire the unusual wasps only from afar!