Stick bug
| Stick bug | ||||||||||||
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Stick bug ( Ranatra linearis ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Ranatra linearis | ||||||||||||
| ( Linnaeus , 1758) |
The stick bug or water needle ( Ranatra linearis ) is a bug from the family of scorpion bugs (Nepidae). Besides the water scorpion ( Nepa cinerea ) it is the only representative of the family in Central Europe.
features
Without their breathing tube, which is around 20 millimeters long, the bugs can reach a body length of 30 to 35 millimeters. In contrast to the water scorpion, their physique is very delicate. Their yellowish-brown body is very slender, they have long, thin legs, and the forward-facing canine legs are just as thin. The webbed hairs on the tibiae of the middle and rear pairs of legs allow them to swim very well and their fully developed wings make them fly very well, especially in the midday heat.
Occurrence
The animals occur throughout Europe and North Africa and in Asia east to Siberia , in the Middle East and to China . They occur everywhere in Central Europe, but are much rarer than water scorpions. They live in well overgrown standing water with a certain water depth.
Way of life
Stick bugs predatory feed on a variety of different small animals. They eat larger, defensive animals such as back swimmers and also larger water beetles on the one hand, as well as very small animals such as water fleas and mosquito larvae . They lie in wait for their prey motionless in the water and breathe through their breathing tube, which is adjacent to the surface of the water. The females pierce their eggs in plant material, especially in the stems of aquatic plants. Rows of up to 10 pieces are usually laid. The eggs have two respiratory processes. The overwintering takes place as an imago in the water, only rarely on land. Occasionally there is a second hibernation, after which the animals are no longer able to reproduce. A natural enemy of Water stick is the wasp Prestwichia aquatica whose larvae feed on parasites of the eggs of stick bugs.
literature
- Ekkehard Wachmann , Albert Melber, Jürgen Deckert: Bugs. Volume 1: Dipsocoromorpha, Nepomorpha, Gerromorpha, Leptopodomorpha, Cimicomorpha (Part 1) with Tingidae, Anthocoridae, Cimicidae and Reduviidae. Goecke & Evers, Keltern 2006, pp. 19-22, ISBN 3-931-37449-1 .
