Alydus calcaratus
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Alydus calcaratus |
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| ( Linnaeus , 1758) |
Alydus calcaratus is a bug from the family of crooked feeler bugs (Alydidae). It isthe only type of familyin northern Central Europe outside the Alps .
features
Alydus calcaratus is a large, elongated and predominantly blackish colored bug. The animals reach a body length of 10.0 to 12.0 mm. The head is as wide as the pronotum , the back corners of the pronotum are rounded. The hind legs ( femora ) of the males are thickened and have several strong thorns on the underside. As with all species of the family, the antennae have four segments, the fourth of which is curved. The body is blackish, the abdomen ( abdomen ) shows a bright orange field above in the middle, which is only visible in flight.
The nymphs show a pronounced mimicry and look very similar to ants of the genera Lasius or Formica depending on their age .
distribution and habitat
The Holarctic distribution area of this bug extends from the British Isles over almost all of Europe to the east to Yakutia and China. In addition, the species is also found in northern North America from Alaska to the east to Québec and in the west of the USA east to Wyoming and in the mountains to the southwest of the USA. In Europe, it is only absent in the northwest of the British Isles and in the far north. Alydus calcaratus is widespread in Germany and Austria and mostly not rare, but it is largely absent in the north-west German lowlands and occurs only very sporadically in the west of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania .
The species colonizes dry and warm, open habitats and is often found in heaths , for example . It mainly inhabits the ground here.
Way of life
Alydus calcaratus , like all crook bug bugs, is phytophagous . The adults and nymphs mainly suckle on fallen seeds of various legumes (Fabaceae), especially of species of the genera Sarothamnus , Cytisus , Genista and Ulex . The suckling of vertebrate animals and faeces was observed several times. According to Schuster, the overwintering is documented as an imago, in the forest steppe region of Russia the species overwinters as an egg. In Germany, adults can be observed from mid or late June at the earliest. Most of the records are made in early August to mid-September, with the last observations in October. The animals mate from July to September, nymphs have been detected from May to August. In other parts of Europe the phenology differs, at least in part, significantly. Two generations of adults appear in the forest-steppe region of Russia, the first from mid-June to mid-July, the second from the beginning or mid-August.
The information on the way of life of the nymphs is contradictory. According to Schuster, the nymphs live in ant nests, according to another source this is only considered possible and from Wachmann et al. not mentioned at all. Wasmann could not find any nymphs of Alydus calcaratus in ant nests in the Netherlands , but found nymphs "in the vicinity" of the nests of Formica rufibarbis . The nature of the nymphs' relationships with ants is still unclear.
swell
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e Achim Schuster: The bugs (Insecta: Heteroptera) West Mecklenburgs, part 3 (Krummfühlerwanzen, Alydidae). Virgo, bulletin of the Entomological Association Mecklenburg 12th year, issue 1, 2009: p. 81
- ↑ a b British Bugs - An online identification guide to UK Hemiptera: Alydus calcaratus.
- ↑ a b c d e f g Ekkehard Wachmann, Albert Melber, Jürgen Deckert: Bugs Volume 3: Aradidae, Lygaeidae, Piesmatidae, Berytidae, Pyrrhocoridae, Alydidae, Coreidae, Rhopalidae, Stenocephalidae. Goecke & Evers, Keltern 2007, ISBN 978-3-937783-29-1 : pp. 198-201
- ^ A b CW Schaefer and JC Schaffner: Alydus calcaratus in North America (Hemiptera: Alydidae). Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 96, 1994: pp. 314-317
- ↑ a b Dmitry L. Musolin, Andrey V. Maysov and H. Aida Saulich: Egg diapause in Alydus calcaratus (L.) (Heteroptera: Alydidae): photoperiodic induction under natural temperature conditions. Appl. Entomol. Zool. 34 (4) 1999: pp. 469-473
- ^ E. Wasmann: First addendum to the ant guests of Dutch Limburg, with biological notes. Tijdschrift voor Entomologie 41 (1), 1898: pp. 1–19, here p. 9 full text online as PDF
literature
- Achim Schuster: The bugs (Insecta: Heteroptera) of West Mecklenburg, part 3 (Krummfühlerwanzen, Alydidae). Virgo, bulletin of the Entomological Association Mecklenburg 12th year, issue 1, 2009, p. 81 ( PDF file ).
- Ekkehard Wachmann , Albert Melber, Jürgen Deckert: Bugs Volume 3: Aradidae, Lygaeidae, Piesmatidae, Berytidae, Pyrrhocoridae, Alydidae, Coreidae, Rhopalidae, Stenocephalidae. Goecke & Evers, Keltern 2007, ISBN 978-3-937783-29-1 , pp. 198-201.
Web links
- www.naturbildarchiv-guenter.de Photo report on the biology, way of life and development of the larvae (mimicry) of the red-backed wisp Alydus calcaratus
- British Bugs - An online identification guide to UK Hemiptera: Alydus calcaratus. Online, accessed September 1, 2011
