It is said that people in the north have recently been baked by the sun, in fact, when it does not rain in Guangdong, they also die of heat.
Last weekend, when Kotani was visiting the park, I saw a child curiously pointing to a leaf and telling his mother that the leaf was hairy, and I took a closer look, hey, this is not the egg of the grasshopper.
▲Although the pixel slag of the camera, you can still find it
The eggs of the grasshopper are very recognizable, and its iconic form is believed that you will never forget it once you have seen it. The oval egg about 1 mm wide is connected by a elastic silk handle, and the other end is attached to the leaves, branches, bark, etc., like a cluster of flower buds, and it is also a bit like the leaves "long hair", which is very recognizable. If you are lucky enough to see these little ones and gently touch their eggs with your hands, you will definitely feel that the seemingly weak silk handle is actually full of elasticity.
▲Eggs of grasshoppers
Grasshoppers generally lay their eggs in places where there are more aphids to ensure that the larvae can get enough food after hatching, but it is not excluded that some careless mothers who do not take the usual path will lay their eggs in some strange places, such as glass windows, car rearview mirrors, washing machines, water pipes, railings and so on.
▲ The next time you see it, you will know that it is not the glass window "long hair"
When the grasshopper lays eggs, it will first use the tail to lightly click on the spawning surface, and then pull out a silk, and when the silk handle becomes tough and elastic, it will lay an egg on the top of the silk stem, rest for a while, and then continue to "draw the wire" and lay eggs.
▲ The mother of grasshoppers who is working hard to lay eggs
Grasshoppers are predatory insects belonging to the order Phytophthora. There are 86 genera known in the world with a total of 1350 species, and the more common ones in China are the great grasshopper, the lisgrass fly (small grassfly), the Chinese grasshopper, the leafy grasshopper, the Asian and African grasshopper and so on.
Grasshoppers are completely metamorphosed insects, which means that it has gone through four stages of eggs, larvae, pupae and adult insects throughout its life, and the morphological changes at each stage are relatively large. Grasshopper was a fierce "ugly duckling" when he was a child, ugly in appearance, fierce in predation, and in amazing amounts, known as "aphid lion", which means "beast" that preys on aphids. Of course, in addition to aphids, grasshopper larvae will also eat shell worms, whiteflies, psyllids, leafhoppers, etc., so it is widely used to eliminate pests and is a good helper for humans.
▲ Aphid lion ready to prey
When they prey on insects, they will open their upper and lower jaws, bite the target prey desperately, and then flow the digestive juices generated on the upper and lower jaws to the fine grooves on the pest's body, and the tissues of the pest's body will be dissolved, so that they can be sucked by the aphid lion, and finally the pest is left with only an empty shell.
▲ Aphid lions that pile up the carcasses of aphids that have been sucked on their bodies for camouflage
After growing into adult worms, grasshoppers transform into "white swans", with beautifully colored exoskeletons, wings as thin as cicada wings, and slender antennae. At this time, some of the grasshoppers changed their feeding habits, and instead smoked pollen and honeydew from plants. Some continue the "eating meat" diet.
▲It seems to be a wing that is still permeated with blue light
There are two main explanations for why grasshopper eggs are so different, with a thread hanging in mid-air. One is to avoid the eggs of grasshoppers from being eaten by other insects, so they are hung high, and the other is to say that because the aphid lions are fierce and have the habit of cannibalism, especially in the case of insufficient food, there will be strong mutual interference and competition between grasshopper larvae in a small space. Therefore, the grassfly mother avoids the aphid lions from killing each other, so she has this wonderful plan.
Is it suddenly felt that the wisdom of nature is also very interesting, although the aphid lion is fierce and ugly, but people are a good helper to remove pests, the next time you see them, you may wish to observe quietly, don't mistake the eggs of grasshoppers as things "long hair".
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