Dark saber terrestrial
| Dark saber terrestrial | ||||||||||||
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Barbitistes ocskayi | ||||||||||||
| Charpentier , 1850 |
The dark saber horror ( Barbitistes ocskayi ) is a species from the subfamily of the sickle horror (Phaneropterinae).
features
The animals reach a body length of 18 to 22 millimeters (males) and 18 to 25 millimeters (females). The basic color of the animals varies between dark green and black. There is also a strongly contrasting white markings, especially on the edge of the abdominal segments. The wings are colored red, but outside and inside they are white. In particular, the area around the joints of the legs , but also the compound eyes , the antennae and the cerci of the males are reddish in color. The pronotum is impressively saddle-shaped. A white longitudinal line runs along its sides at eye level. The males, like the southern French saber hedge ( Barbitistes fischeri ), have a nasal extension on the subgenital plate, albeit less pronounced.
Occurrence
The dark saber hedge is common with the gray-green saber hedge ( Barbitistes yersini ) along the eastern Adriatic coast from Istria . But it occurs much more south to the Peloponnese .
Way of life
The species is prone to extreme mass reproduction and can then devour large parts of the vegetation. In years like this, the streets are littered with saber horrors run over. The animals at this time are noticeably darker in color, so they have a mass phase similar to some species of migratory locusts.
credentials
- 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 .
Web links
- Fauna Europaea: Taxonomy (English)