Southern oak horror
| Southern oak horror | ||||||||||||
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Southern oak shrimp ( Meconema meridionale ) ♂ |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Meconema meridionale | ||||||||||||
| ( Costa , 1860) |
The southern oak insect ( Meconema meridionale ) belongs to the superfamily of the deciduous locusts (Tettigonioidea) in the suborder of the long-feeler terrors (Ensifera).
features
The southern oak cricket is pale green and very similar to the native common oak cricket . The body length of the males is 11 to 13 millimeters, the females are 11.5 to 17 millimeters long. The wings of the southern oak cricket are in contrast to the common oak cricket in both sexes only stubby; it is therefore unable to fly. The abdominal appendages ( cerci ) of the males are S-shaped, so the tips, in contrast to the common oak shrimp, are slightly curved outwards. The females carry a slightly curved saber that is more evenly curved than the common oak shrimp. The antennae of both types reach about four times the body length. A special feature of the grasshopper is the lack of stridulation organs in both Meconema species.
distribution
The southern oak insect has its distribution center in the Mediterranean area. However, it has been observed increasingly north in Germany over the past 50 years. Because of the secrecy of the species, it was overlooked for a long time and was only considered firmly established in the Freiburg / Breisgau area. In recent years it has also been found in large cities in western Germany (including in the Ruhr area) and is now found almost everywhere, for example it is widespread and very common in the Rhine Valley between Bonn and Cologne. Disjunct areas with sometimes massive occurrences have also become known (e.g. Trier). The most northeastern finds in Germany so far come from Berlin (known since 2007).
habitat
The habitat is the crown area of woody trees (linden, horse chestnut and maple are preferred), similar to the native species. However, it is also often found in hedges (e.g. hornbeam) or vine plants (e.g. clematis ). In contrast to Meconema thalassinum , the southern oak insect prefers the inner-city areas, which are protected from small climates, in Central Europe and only inhabits woody and woody groups there that are close to buildings or large asphalted areas. Large parks with cold-air lakes are usually avoided, as are forests and field margins. The species has only been found outside of the populated areas in the very warm Breisgau .
food
Their diet consists exclusively of insects , mostly aphids or small caterpillars.
Way of life
The oak terrors have developed a special kind of vocal expression: a drumming with the hind legs on leaves, normally inaudible for humans. Eggs are laid in the bark of deciduous trees. Species with cracked bark, especially winter and summer linden, horse chestnuts, sycamore and norway maples and common oaks are preferred. Red beeches and hornbeams are avoided because of their smooth bark, as are plane trees, whose bark peels off quickly and releases the eggs.
Similar to its airworthy sister species, the southern oak cricket is also attracted by light sources at night. Many of the first observations of this neozoon in the Freiburg area were made while telephoning at night in the yellow telephone booths of the Deutsche Bundespost.
How do you detect the southern oak insect?
Since the southern oak shrimp has become widespread, even inexperienced entomologists and laypeople will notice it. Evidence is achieved with simple means: the females climb down from the crown of the trunk from August to October (with Zehm even until the beginning of November) to lay eggs in the dark, in order to lay their eggs in the particularly cracked bark in the lower part of the tree trunk . In the case of large trees, it needs some time for this path and can be found at eye level on the trunk from around an hour after the onset of complete darkness (i.e. at least one and a half hours after sunset). From this point on, a flashlight is used to illuminate the tree trunks of deciduous trees planted in the city to provide evidence. The animals are easy to spot on the brown trunk due to their color. Often, just the same tree trunk Speckled Bush terror and Common Oak horrors encountered.
literature
- Peter Detzel: Locusts in Baden-Württemberg . Ulmer Verlag, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-8001-3507-8
- Knut Grünitz, Axel Hochkirch : First record of the southern oak insect, Meconema meridionale (Costa, 1860), in Bremen . Articulata 22 (1), 2007
- Helmut Schlumprecht, Georg Waeber (arrangement): Locusts in Bavaria . Verlag Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 2003, ISBN 3-8001-3883-2
- Sebastian Sczepanski, Bernhard Jacobi: Notes on the spread of the southern oak insect (Meconema meridionale Costa) in North Rhine-Westphalia (Insecta: Saltatoria) . - Natur und Heimat (Münster) 65 (1): 1-6, 2005
- Andreas Zehm: On the egg-laying of Meconema meridionale (southern oak insect). - ARTICULATA 33 (2018): 161-162
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ www.natur-in-nrw.de: Southern oak shrimp, special features