Alpine mountain cricket
| Alpine mountain cricket | ||||||||||||
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Alpine mountain horror ( Miramella alpina ) mating |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Miramella alpina | ||||||||||||
| ( Kollar , 1833) |
The alpine mountain hideaway ( Miramella alpina ) is a short-antennae hermit from the family of grasshopper (Acrididae).
features
The animals are 16 to 23 millimeters (males) or 22 to 31 millimeters (females) long. Both sexes have a glossy green basic color and a variable black pattern, which is more contrasting in the males. On the sides of the neck plate in each case a black longitudinal stripes runs. This also expands downwards, especially in the males. The thighs ( femora ) of the hind legs are colored red on the underside, the rails ( tibia ) of the hind legs are yellowish to ocher in the females, in the males they are black-blue and taper to pink towards the tip. The thorns on the rails of the males are bright and have a black tip. The entire body is short, pale hairy. The light brown wings vary in length between that of the pronotum and that of half the abdomen. Occasionally one can also observe melanistic animals whose black pattern is more or less strongly dominant.
Similar species
The only way to distinguish the alpine mountain cricket from the very similar species Miramella carinthica , Miramella irena and Miramella formosanta, which overlap in their distribution in the southern and eastern Alps , is through genital examinations .
Occurrence
The distribution area extends disjointly over the following mountains: Pyrenees , Massif Central , Jura , Vosges , Black Forest , Alps and Carpathians , where they can be found at an altitude of 1000 to 2800 meters. It is assumed that populations in the Black Forest have been isolated from those in the Alps for about 10,000 years. The alpine mountain cricket prefers moist habitats, such as lush and moist meadows, fens , moist clearings or light forests. The adults can be found from mid-July to September, and occasionally as early as June.
Way of life
The horrors feed on lichens, mosses, grasses and young shoots of budding trees. Above all, they prefer blueberries ( Vaccinium myrtillus ), lingonberries ( Vaccinium vitis-idaea ) and blue pipegrass ( Molinia caerulea ), but they are also found in numerous other species. The females lay 5 to 23 eggs about 15 millimeters deep in the moist soil from August to October. Most of the time, the egg-laying areas are flooded at least briefly in spring, which is why it is assumed that the eggs are tolerant of such an influence. Larvae can be found from May to September, although they are sensitive to cold spells in spring.
Courtship and mating
Like the other representatives of the creaky horror , the males of the Alpine mountain cricket cannot stridulate . You can, however, use the mandibles to generate soft creaking and clicking sounds. Females are attracted from exposed areas, mostly large leaves. In addition to the mandibular noises, the hind legs are moved back and forth in rhythm. If the male discovers a partner, courtship is first stopped. It then approaches the female with repeated leg movements. From a distance of about 10 centimeters, the female is jumped on and clasped with the front legs. The subsequent pairing takes between 10 and 60 minutes.
swell
literature
- Heiko Bellmann : Der Kosmos Heuschreckenführer, The species of Central Europe safely determine , Franckh-Kosmos Verlag GmbH & Co KG, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 3-440-10447-8 .
- Peter Detzel: The locusts of Baden-Württemberg. Verlag Eugen Ulmer GmbH & Co, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-8001-3507-8 .
