Red-winged wasteland cricket
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Red-winged wasteland insect ( Oedipoda germanica ) |
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| Oedipoda germanica | ||||||||||||
| ( Latreille , 1804) |
The red-winged wasteland insect ( Oedipoda germanica ) is a short-antennae insect from the family of field locusts (Acrididae). It occurs in Europe from the Pyrenees to the Volga as well as in Western Asia and lives in warm and dry, exclusively sparsely overgrown, stony or rocky habitats. It is extremely sensitive to bushes . In large parts of Central Europe, the population of the species has been greatly reduced due to the destruction of its habitats and is considered to be threatened with extinction in Germany. The red colored hind wings are characteristic of its name.
features
The males reach a body length of 16 to 22 millimeters, the females 22 to 32 millimeters. The animals look very similar to the blue-winged wasteland shrimp ( Oedipoda caerulescens ), as their body color varies between light gray to dark brown and blackish, depending on the inhabited area, and two light bands also include a dark one on the dark front wings and hind legs. The hind wings are a clear distinguishing feature between the two species. As the name suggests, the red-winged wasteland insect has red-colored hind wings, on the outer edge of which there is a wide black band. This is more pronounced than with O. caerulescens and runs not only along the entire outer edge, but also shortly behind the front edge from the wing tip to the base of the wing. The wing tip is usually transparent in color, but can also be black and opaque. The wing color can occasionally also be reddish yellow, orange or yellow. The hind legs have a step on the upper edge, which is less strongly developed than in the similar species. The forehead rib between the antennae is unkeeled , unlike in the blue-winged wasteland insect. The rails ( tibia ) on the hind legs are colored gray and have a light-colored ring at the base. Due to its color, it is very well adapted to the moss and lichen growth of its habitat.
Occurrence and habitat
The animals are found in Europe and Asia from the Pyrenees to the Volga . In the north, their distribution extends from Paris via Belgium , central Germany to Upper Silesia , south across the Balkans to southern Romania and east further across southern Ukraine to southern Russia. The southern border is formed by northern Spain , Italy , the eastern Mediterranean and Asia Minor as far as Syria . The species is found in Germany above all at altitudes of 200 to 400 and a maximum of 800 to 900 meters, in Switzerland it still occurs frequently up to around 1500 meters above sea level and has been detected up to 2520 meters.
The species prefers warm and dry habitats, but occurs exclusively in lightly overgrown, stony or rocky places, such as steep southern slopes, rubble corridors and rocks, rocky heaths, weakly overgrown dry grassland , or in these habitats very similar quarries. Gravel areas on river banks are also populated, but only if they are very similar to the preferred habitats. The species does not tolerate sandy soils and is extremely sensitive to bushes and also to an increase in precipitation or fog. High temperatures are poorly tolerated in high humidity. The populations can, however, recover in dry years with high temperatures. It survives cool nights and can therefore occur at high altitudes on sun-exposed slopes. The species can often be seen in company with the less demanding blue-winged wasteland insect and less often with the Italian beautiful insect ( Calliptamus italicus ). The brown grasshopper ( Chorthippus brunneus ) and the steppe grasshopper ( Chorthippus vagans ) also often live together with the red-winged wasteland insect.
Relatively small habitats with a size of only about 100 square meters are colonized under favorable conditions. A genetic exchange between populations in habitats that are up to several hundred meters apart takes place mainly through the males; at greater distances this is very likely not possible. Males migrate within a radius of about 500 meters around their habitat, the females, which are more true to their location, only come to about 300 meters. There are individuals who are very faithful to their location and who do not move further than 50 meters from their habitat, while others are particularly agile. Migration is important for genetic mixing and repopulation, while the animals that are loyal to their location ensure the continued existence of the population.
Way of life
The way of life is very similar to that of the blue-winged wasteland insect. Like other wilderness terrors, the animals are adapted to life on the ground and move almost exclusively by walking. However, they can also fly very well. The flight behavior of the species is also typical of wasteland horrors. In case of danger they fly up in a nimble flight to show their bright red hind wings, and after a sudden snap of the hook they land on a rock on which they are almost invisible due to their color.
food
In older literature it is claimed that the red-winged wasteland insect feeds on grasses. However, this cannot be confirmed by more recent observations. Rather, the animals feed on herbaceous plants such as noble germander ( Teucrium chamaedrys ), mound meier ( Asperula cynanchica ), common horseshoe clover ( Hippocrepis comosa ), upright ziest ( Stachys recta ) or narrow-leaved hollow tooth ( Galeopsis angustifolia ). The plants eaten in each case are presumably related to the offerings found in the inhabited habitat. Animals have also been observed eating carrion.
singing
As with the other species of wasteland horror, one cannot define a characteristic song for the red-winged wasteland horror. Males make short whirring sounds, both sexes can crack with their mandibles . Before pairing, you can hear short metallic sounds from about a meter away. A disinterested female rejects the male with foot drums, whereby the tarsi is usually only drummed once, occasionally several times at intervals on the ground. Both males and females move the thighs of the hind legs slowly up and down as an expressive movement.
development
The females begin to lay eggs about 20 days after their imaginal molt. They lay around 18 eggs in the ground five times at intervals of five to eight days. The subsequent egg laying takes place approximately every 10 days with only about 10 eggs left. The eggs can withstand temperatures of over 50 ° C for a short time undamaged. The larvae that hatch from it , after a total of five larval stages, molt into an adult animal, usually by the end of July, at the latest by mid-August. In extreme cases, larvae can still be found in mid-October. The adults are found in normal years from July to October.
Hazard and protection
The occurrence of the red-winged wasteland insect has been greatly reduced in large parts of Central Europe due to the destruction of their sensitive habitats. In particular, the loss of dry grassland areas , rubble heaps and the restructuring of traditionally managed vineyards to industrial cultivation, but also the destruction of secondary habitats in quarries and spoil heaps through work in areas that were once disused, has severely impaired the species' populations. In the meantime, it is classified in Germany in the Red List of Threatened Species as “critically endangered” (Category 1).
In addition to maintaining large areas of rubble and gravel, it is necessary to prepare suitable habitats for the species to survive. In particular, the felling of bushes and trees and the removal of the topsoil down to the rubble bordering on existing habitats can create new habitat for the species.
literature
- Bertrand, Hannes Baur, Christian Roesti, Daniel Roesti: The locusts of Switzerland . Haupt, Bern 2006, ISBN 3-258-07053-9 .
- Heiko Bellmann : The Cosmos Locust Leader . Franckh-Kosmos, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 3-440-10447-8 .
- Peter Detzel: The locusts of Baden-Württemberg . Ulmer, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-8001-3507-8 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d Peter Detzel: The locusts of Baden-Württemberg. Ulmer, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-8001-3507-8 .
- ↑ a b c S. Zöller: Studies on the ecology of Oedipoda germanica (Latreille, 1804) with special consideration of the population structure, the habitat connection and the mobility. In: 'Articulata.' 19, No. 1, 1995, pp. 21-59.
- ↑ S. Maas, P. Detzel, A. Staudt: Risk analysis of grasshoppers in Germany. Dissemination atlas, risk classification and protection concepts. BfN-Schriftenvertrieb in Landwirtschaftsverlag Münster, Münster 2002, ISBN 3-7843-3828-3 .
