Tip 1: How to identify an insect

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Tip 1: How to identify an insect

Insects belonging to the group of arthropods,the most diverse group of living beings on Earth, in which only more than a million species are described. And the total number of their varieties, together with those who do not yet have a description, according to scientists, is 6 to 10 million. The size of the smallest insect is the firefly Dicopomorpha echmepterygis - 0.14 mm, the largest - Phobaeticus serratipes - more than 55 cm.

You will need

- 7-fold magnifier or binocular microscope.

Instructions

To identify an insect, you must know itbasic signs. His body consists of three parts - the head, chest and abdomen. The eyes of the insects are located on the head, equipped with a pair of antennae, on the lower side of the chest are three pairs of legs. All insects are six-legged. To the upper side of the chest is often attached a pair or two pairs of wings, which can be covered with hard chitinous elytra.

Carefully study the structure of the capturedof an insect. Handle it with care when looking carefully so as not to damage the feet or wings. If the first sign - head, chest and abdomen are present, pay attention to the head of the insect, its antennae, which serve it as organs of smell and touch.

Antennae are an important feature in determiningof an insect. They are: filiform, clavate, spindle-shaped, serrate, cristae, lamellar, pinnate and cranked. Similarly, the types of legs differ. Describing an insect, use the definition of his limbs: walking, jumping, digging, swimming and grasping.

To learn about an insect, usespecial edition - the determinant of insects, consisting of the corresponding tables, in which the insect species is classified by the totality of its external characteristics. According to the tables, you can easily determine the insect's belonging to the detachment and the family. The tables, however, take into account the signs of only large insects, the size of which exceeds 5 mm.

Each table describes the characteristic featuresgroups of insects and their numbers. The numbers in brackets indicate the opposite signs. For example, two groups: 1 (6) There are no wings or their rudiments and 6 (1) Wings or their rudiments are present. Begin the definition by examining insect and passing from the sign to the sign. If there are no wings, look for his description in group 1, and then go to group 2, if there are any - in group 6 and then - to the next item in the table.

Consistently choosing the presence or absencethis or that external sign, you will reach your ultimate goal - read the description of the insect in Latin, and next to it in Russian the name of the detachment or family will be written. Click on the link to the page where there is a series of color drawings, and specify the species name of the insect. If its shape, color and size coincides with the image in the atlas, the definition of an insect can be considered complete.

Tip 2: How to Draw Insects

In ordinary life, insects, as a rule, causedislike. But, paradoxically, they can be useful in creativity. The unusual and complex structure of the body of these creatures makes them an interesting object for drawing.

You will need

- paper;
- feathers;
- Ink;
- a simple pencil;
- The eraser.

Instructions

Unusual body structure insects help transfer mascara that will make the drawinglaconic and at the same time expressive. Choose the paper suitable for this material. It should be quite dense (not thinner than watercolor), but at the same time smooth, so that the line turns out to be clear and even, and the pen does not scratch the sheet.

To draw different parts of an insect to youThere are three kinds of feathers - bamboo, bird and metal. The first will give a wide saturated band, the second will allow you to make longer and lively strokes, and the third will ensure a responsive response to hand movement and fine lines.

Drawing an insect is better from nature. Copying from photos will interfere with the work with the volume of the object. Choose the angle from which you will look at the "model". Since it is non-standard, you may be interested not only in the full face and profile view, but also the drawing on the abdomen or the view of the open wings from above.

Make a pencil sketch of the creature. Do it with thin, very light lines. The main part of the body is constructed according to the principle of a similar geometrical figure, the small details are indicated by approximate strokes.

Since the drawing will be executed in one color,determine on the body of the insect areas with different tone intensities. First, paint the brightest elements with mascara, then gradually pick up the tone, making new strokes over the dried out previous layers of the carcass.

First, color the body of an insect,then focus on small parts of it - paws, antennae, etc. For large areas, use a bamboo feather. To draw thin lines of paws and a pattern on the shell, take the metal. Try to spend the entire segment in one touch. In this case, the thickness of the line can be increased by pressing the pen more strongly. Also remember that at the beginning the line will be brighter and thicker than at the end.

To draw translucent wingsinsect, take a soft brush of squirrel hair. Dilute mascara in a palette with a small amount of water and apply it on a sheet in broad strokes. The boundaries of the smear can be corrected immediately after application. In a split second, the ink will soak into the paper and attempts to correct the errors will be noticeable.

If the insect is covered with a shiny shell, leave the flare on its torso uncovered.

Tip 3: Which insects are the smallest

How can it seem at first sight,The smallest insect is the miniature fly of the fruit fly flying over the fruit in the summer. But, in comparison with some microscopic insects, Drosophila appears as a giant.

Insect, even smaller than amoeba

The microscopic wasp of the megafragm, in proportionsizes, even more tiny than the unicellular organism of amoeba or infusoria shoe. It belongs to the genus of thrips - miniature insects, whose size does not exceed a length of one millimeter. Some representatives of this genus are even more tiny. The size of the megaphragm is 200 micrometers, it's only 5 part of a millimeter. But this is the third smallest insect on the planet.

Beetle feather

Refers to the order of coleoptera. By right is considered the smallest beetle on the planet. Its size, depending on the species, ranges from 0.3 to 1 millimeter. Their paws are so small that they seem to be undivided. Beetles do not usually live more than 1 year, but some can survive without food for 10 years. Their larvae feed on mushrooms or humus. They live mainly in a humid environment.

The smallest spider

The smallest representative of arachnidslives on the coast of West Africa. Its size is only 0.37 millimeters. The scientists named him patu digua and carried it to the family of Simphytonous spiders. The first specimen was found in moss at an altitude of more than 600 meters above sea level.

In this small spider, the brain is so large that the nerve tissues that escape from it are even located in his legs.

Little Ants

In the US state of Ohio were foundspecimens of ants of the Leptorothax species, whose size did not exceed 3 millimeters. They live in groups of 50-100 individuals and can be housed in one acorn or nut. It is interesting that the uteri of these ants penetrate into the colonies of other species and attach themselves to the uterus of the hosts.

Little Hunter

Even smaller insects live in the CentralAmerica. It is a parasitic rider of the wild-seal. Males of these insects are smaller than females, their length is 0.14 millimeters. The length of their antennae exceeds the length of the entire body. They live and parasitize on eggs of larger insects. According to scientists, the nervous system of these insects consists of 7400 cells, while in ordinary flies or bees, this indicator is measured in hundreds of thousands.

Male dikopomorfy have no wings and are completely blind. They are guided only by smells.

Record Champion Alapthus

Alaptus magnatimus is the smallest insectplanets for today. The length of his body does not exceed 0.12 millimeters. Refers to the detachment of parasitic riders. It lives on eggs and larvae of larger insects.

Tip 4: How insects differ from arachnids

Some living beings, living on the planet,cause people to have conflicting and ambivalent feelings. These include spiders and insects. Observing the behavior of these many-legged creatures, few people notice the differences between them. But insects differ significantly from representatives of the class of arachnids.

Spider is easy to recognize by four pairs of legs

Spiders and insects: representatives of the arthropod type

Differences between small creatures that havea few pairs of legs, are reflected in the classification adopted in zoology. Insects belong to the same class of arthropod type. Spiders belong to the class of arachnids and the same type as insects. You should know that not only spiders, but also mites and scorpions, are related to arachnids. But between these animals there is a significant difference in body structure and behavior. Today there are more than forty thousand species of spiders on the planet. They can be found almost everywhere. Almost all spiders feed on other living organisms, such as insects. But the insects themselves can be seen in all corners of the earth. And the number of their species that have been classified and described in science is about one million.

The science that studies insects is called entomology. The other branch of scientific knowledge is arachnology.

Of course, both arthropods differ from each otherother structure of internal organs. But the arrangement of the organisms of these babies is quite complicated, so a person who is not a specialist in biology will find it difficult to understand the fundamental differences between a spider and, for example, an ant. Therefore, the most reliable way to determine who you met on the forest path, you can by the characteristic external signs.

The difference between spiders from insects

The body of any insect has three main departments: head, chest, and also abdomen. The eyes of representatives of this class can be different: simple or faceted. Oral apparatus also has several types: piercing, gnawing or licking. One of the most important distinguishing features of insects is the three pairs of articulated legs that connect with the breast. But that's not all: some insects have additional useful elements of the body - the wings. But the body of spiders can consist only of a pair of departments - the abdomen and the cephalothorax, connected by a very thin jumper. On the cephalothorax, you can notice a small furrow, which conditionally divides this part of the body into the cephalic and thoracic parts. The oral apparatus is located in the spider also directly on the cephalothorax.

In order not to make a mistake, it is necessary to count the number of legs of the small animal that interested you. A spider, unlike an insect, has not three, but four pairs of articulated legs.

Insects are almost omnivorous and not particularlypicky in food. They gladly eat parts of plants, although they do not disdain the corpses of their relatives. Spiders are notorious predators. Many have certainly seen how skilfully a spider weaves its snare networks and how patiently awaits another unlucky victim. And more often than not, innocent insects become the prey of the hiding spider. In the struggle for the right to exist, a spider usually wins.

Tip 5: How to overcome the fear of insects

Fear of insects is insectophobia. This mental disorder affects a huge number of people around the world. In principle, the age here does not have any special significance, but statistics say that most often this disease affects children.

The second name of insectophobia is entomophobia. Often, this ailment covers a person so much that it is enough for the patient only to hear the sound of some buzzing flying insect as he falls into a panic and loses his composure.

What is the fear of insects?

Any contact with flies, mosquitoes, bees,spiders, beetles, etc. turn into a serious test for the patient. It can go so far that a beautiful country trip to a picnic will turn into a real nightmare for him! Such a person is afraid to sit down on the grass, get out of the car, come closer to the trees, etc.

The clinical picture of fear of insects

If next to the insectophobe is found, eitheranother insect, then the consciousness of the patient begins to restrained by irrational fear. Even if any bee flies by and already flies away, the insectophobe will still panic. The changes occurring at this moment in the patient's body are not much different from the symptoms of any other phobia. The back muscles are straining, there is an incredible desire to leave this place as soon as possible. The insectophobe begins to wave arms, scream, etc. Can reach that the patient will run into a hysterics and will start to cry! The behavior of such people can not be controlled, becoming unpredictable.

In the fight against fear of insects, you canuse auto-training: you need to ask yourself how dangerous all these tiny insects are to life? After that, you need to understand that ordinary beetles and spiders are not killers.

How to overcome the fear of insects?

Psychologists and scientific minds recommend to lookfilms, which in childhood seemed to the patient rather scary. In addition, you can try the "wedge-wedge" method. To do this, you need to catch an insect (for example, a beetle) with someone, put it in a transparent jar. If everything goes quietly, then you can touch the insect with your finger or at least some object.

Scientists do not exclude the possibility that insectophobia- these are echoes of the memory of generations. The fact is that the ancient ancestors of a person with great apprehension related to different types of insects, not knowing in fact, whether those are any threat.

If independent ways of overcominginsectophobia do not bring desirable results, it is necessary to seek advice from a psychotherapist. Often doctors recommend to buy an encyclopedia of insects with large and vivid photographs (not pictures!) Of these creatures. It will be necessary to gradually consider these photographs, getting used to the idea that insects are the most interesting and sometimes beautiful creatures. In addition, for the treatment of this exotic species of phobia, behavioral therapy is used, which often gives excellent results. Success is also enjoyed by so-called confrontational therapy, during which the insectophobe is forced to directly contact the object of its fear.

Council 6: The most terrible insects of the planet

According to the calculations of entomologists, at presenton Earth there are about 10 quintillion insects. Many of these people have never been seen, because they are negligible miserable creatures. But among them there are also such individuals, whose appearance is so terrible that it causes disgust, and sometimes even real fear!

The Brazilian hunchback is one of the most terrible insects of the planet

Instructions

Peacock eye, satin First of all, it's a butterfly. It's hard to believe, but even such beautiful creatures as butterflies can also frighten! The fact is that the color of its wings is truly unique. The front ends are very much like the head of a snake, preparing to make an attacking throw! For this, the peacock-eye was called "cobra", which, as is known, is the most terrible venomous snake and queen among them. In addition, the wingspan of this butterfly reaches 25 cm, for which it is by right considered the largest on earth.

Bogomol Bogomol is not dangerous for humansinsects. Rumors that the praying mantis allegedly are poisonous, did not find their confirmation. Mantis, rather, a terrible and unpleasant looking insect, rather than dangerous for humans, but characterized by a rather aggressive behavior. It should be noted that this creation is a predator. He fiercely fights for his prey with other insects, and female mantises generally devour their partners after mating, eating their heads. The most terrible is a species called "flower of the devil". It is one of the largest mantises in the world: females reach a length of 13 cm. Curiously, evolution has turned this kind of insects into real flowers: natural petals, similar to the "flower of the devil" (orchid), grow on the body of females. Nevertheless, the "flower shell" does not make these creatures more beautiful, but, rather, only frightens them.

Brazilian GorbatkaSon of Reason breeds monsters! These words are excellent for characterizing the next representative of ugly insects - the Brazilian humpback. This unpleasant creature can rightly be called one of the most terrible insects on the planet. His body is surrounded by different processes, spines, outgrowths, knolls, performing a sensory function. Chitinous cover protects this "monster" from the attack on him of various predators. The outgrowths on the back of the humpback can be the most incredible and varied form: horns, crests, balls, thorns, etc. And it's not just that! As mentioned above, all these chitinous growths perfectly protect the humpback from attacking various predators. The principle of survival says: the more ugly you look, the more likely you are to survive.

Scolopendra Second name - armorcentipede. If we talk about a separate species called giant scolopendra, then this ugly creature reaches a length of 26 cm! It attacks mice, toads, lizards and even birds. Toxic are females. Curiously, the scolopendra does not bite by itself, but it can creep into people's homes (for example, in tourists' tents), run around people's skin, leaving traces of scorching mucus on it. In some cases, such a burn can be fatal to a person.

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