Who is the water lover big? Meals, description of habitats

Today the family of beetles-water-lovers counts more than 2000 species, which are settled all over the globe. These are waterfowl insects that live quite badly because of their awkwardness. In Russia there are about 200 such beetles. They are diverse in size, appearance and way of life.

Who is a great water lover?

Basically, water lilies are small beetles that reach only a few millimeters in size. But there are also very impressive insects, for example, a large water lover. We will consider the food of these species a bit later. And now we will briefly describe this large representative of water lovers. The size of the insect can reach 4.8 cm. This is the largest beetle of the European part, heavy, shiny black with protuberant elytra, an insect.

Description of the water lily of the big

These beetles swim very poorly and reluctantly, mostly prefer to crawl over aquatic plants. When swimming, water lilies make asynchronous movements of the middle and hind limbs. There are swimming bristles on the legs on the upper side. In fact, they resemble swimming oars. The breathing of beetles is watery, that is, they breathe atmospheric air. Periodically, they head up to the water surface and breathe thick clavate mustaches, exposing them outward from the water. The air is held in the lower part of the body, between the hairs, and therefore they shine from below, like silver.

The males have paws on the legs. So the water-lovel is great. Body shape, nutrition and appearance - all these characteristics are related. They largely determine the way of life of the beetle, the way it hunts and moves. The abdomen is covered with red spots on the sides. Its lower part without longitudinal keel. The head is massive with large eyes. Elytra have thin grooves and rows of points between them. Antennae of beetle - red with asymmetric mace.

A black calf is different from other water lovers. Coloring, food is not much connected. But, perhaps, because the water-lover basically eats plants, his black color has acquired an olive-greenish shade. Also, the color of the beetle may be different. There are:

1. Dark brown beetles.
2. Dark blue.

Habitat

Basically, an aquatic man lives in the following places:

1. In Europe, with the exception of the far north.
2. In the Mediterranean.
3. In the Caucasus.
4. In Central and Central Asia.
5. In Southern Siberia.
6. In Primorye.
7. In China.
8. In India.

Standing, heavily overgrown shallow ponds with clean water - this is what a waterer likes a big place. The food there is often varied. Reservoirs should also be well warmed up and have a muddy bottom. Beetle feed:

1. Seaweed.
2. Decayed plants.
3. Dead small fry.
4. Dead insects.

Reproduction

After the spring mating, the female water-lily puts eggs in a special arachnoid cocoon of white silky threads. It is attached to plants that grow near the surface of the water. The cocoon has a sack-shaped flattened shape. At one end it narrows and forms a horn-shaped process. About 5 hours makes a cocoon a water lover big. The beetle feed during this period temporarily stops. Since the female will have an immediate laying of eggs. It can lay about 50-60 eggs. The cocoons are on the surface of the water. Some females wear them on the abdomen until the larvae hatch.

After about 14 days, larvae appear, which remain in the cocoon until the first molt. They feed on their own skins and threads. They are cone-shaped, thick, 6-9 mm long. The larva has a whitish hue, it is arched upward. It has lateral processes and a massive dark-colored head. The duration of larval development is 6-8 weeks. The larvae of such a beetle, like the water-loving one, prefer mixed food. They eat vegetable food, eat various invertebrate animals and can attack even tadpoles and gastropods. Usually, larvae hunt their prey from an ambush. They rise to the surface of the water and catch prey, stick out their head, water it with digestive juices, grind and absorb in semi-digested state. Small larvae are harmless, and large ones inflict considerable harm to fishing, as they eat in large numbers of fish fry. Then the larvae of the water-lily come to the surface of the earth and pupate in the soil. At the end of the summer a strong beetle, which emerged from the pupa, crawls out of the ground and sets off for the pond. It takes about 2 weeks. The development phase from egg to imago takes about 9-14 weeks.

Lifestyle of water lovers

Beetles lead a day and night way of life. They do not swim well, but crawl well along the bottom and underwater plants. In addition, a large water-loving, whose food, although it occurs mainly in the water, starts to fly at night. He prefers warm moonlit nights.

These beetles have a lot of enemies. They are protected in two ways:

1. Release from the body of stinking gruel.
2. Unpleasant screeching under the wings of the abdomen.

These are the above methods, the water lovers try to scare off their enemies.

Dangerous to humans, water lovers are large

For man this type of beetle does not present any danger. Since it was in the pond that the water-lover found a great habitat. Its food does not include various agricultural crops that belonged to a person. Hence, the water-lover will not harm the agriculture and land. Also these beetles do not eat wood. Accordingly, they do not threaten the timber industry either.

Aquarians are not carriers of various infectious diseases, and their populations are not so large that even potentially have the potential to harm a person.