Bug Beetle: Features and Appearance

The beetle is a brightly colored insect of medium size. Its quaint look attracts children. They may want to touch this insect. However, it must be remembered that the bug beetle is toxic and, under certain conditions, can be dangerous.

Description

These insects are characterized by a bright color with a metallic outflow, a narrowed head with antennae, the presence of flexible elytra. The beetle has a body length of about two centimeters. The insect conducts a daily life, eats soft leaves of grasses, bushes, cultivated plants. These beetles (photo gives an idea of the variety of their colors) are very voracious. They are able to absorb in a day the amount of food, eleven times greater than their own weight.

Depending on the species to which the bug beetle belongs, its mating season may occur at different times of the year. These insects do not build their own nests, but find ready-made locust nests and lay eggs there. Some species lay eggs in the larvae of bees and do not lead a parasitic lifestyle for long. But in the adult stage, they all turn to eating leaves of shrubs and trees.

Beetle: pictures and habitat

Although most of these insects live in the subtropics, in Russia there are also about one hundred and fifty species. Not very euphonious name of the beetle is associated with its significant species trait. The insect's blood contains poison cantharidin, which, if struck on the skin, causes a chemical burn, and then the appearance of an abscess. Pets that accidentally swallowed a beetle along with grass, can get very sick. However, chickens, swallows, and hedgehogs are immune to the poison of the syringe and can eat these insects without any consequences for themselves.

A large number of these beetles can harm agriculture. For example, in Kazakhstan there are about forty kinds of poisonous blisters. They live in deserts, steppes and foothills of the plains of the republic. From May to August, during the period of greatest activity, these insects form huge clusters. They feed on such crops as alfalfa, soybeans, melons and cotton. Can cause great damage to plantations if they breed in large quantities. The larvae of the syringe are called triungulins (because of their triangular shape). In some species, they feed on locust larvae. These blenders partly compensate for the harm that adults do to the plantations. Such a sight as Frolov's scimitar is distinguished by a particularly bright coloration - the round wings of this beetle have a rich scarlet color with black spots.

Danger to humans

The properties of the syringe toxin are known from ancient times. Nomadic peoples noted an increased likelihood of loss of livestock in those places where these beetles were abundant. The formula of venom poison was studied by French scientists. It is so toxic that it can even cause the death of a person if it is synthesized artificially. The beetle emits a poison if you touch it. Getting on the skin of a person, this substance causes the appearance of a blister. When the integrity of this formation is disturbed, pain and itching appear. With extensive lesions, ulcers develop and are treated symptomatically.