Do grasshoppers have stingers

Do Grasshoppers Bite or Sting? Can it Hurt Humans?

About Katie Piercy

Katie Piercy has worked in the conservation industry for over a decade and has had a wide-ranging and varied career. She has spent time working in a number of different environments and with a range of different animals. Her roles in the UK have included rearing and releasing corncrake (Crex crex) chicks in the Nene Washes, a seasonally flooded area of wet meadows, chasing hen harriers (Circus cyaneus) in the Scottish Uplands and restoring areas of peatland in the West Midlands.

Grasshoppers really are the pacifist of the insects. They don’t have stingers and rarely choose to bite as a defence mechanism. Instead, their survival strategy is to hop or fly away, choosing flight rather than fight.

Contents

Do grasshoppers bite humans?
Does a grasshopper bite hurt?
What does a grasshopper bite look like?
Do grasshoppers have stingers?
A scrape is as good as a sting
The pacifist of the insect world

Do grasshoppers bite humans?

Grasshoppers are herbivorous insects, meaning they eat plant matter. They do have the mouthparts to bite, as they need them to rip off and chew their leafy meals. These are composed of mandibles that can grip and cut their meals, and then the maxillae behind, that help chew up and provide further cutting. Above and below are the labrum, the upper jaw, and the labium, the lower jaw. However, unlike some insects, like mosquitos or ticks, these aren’t adapted to eating meat or sucking blood. This means the only reason they would bite a human would be in self-defence.

So why would a grasshopper bite a human? In general, these insects have much more to lose than gain from a quick nip, unable to seriously injure their opponent but at significant risk of being squashed or eaten for the impertinence. Therefore they would only bother to try and bite us if they were desperate to escape. The most likely reason for this would be a human picking them up and holding on to them in a tight grip.

Their primary option for biting would involve using their mandibles to pinch our skin, however, as most grasshoppers are pretty small, often 1-2 inches long, these appendages would usually be too weak to even be felt and definitely too small to break through the skin.

There are some larger grasshopper species, such as the Eastern lubber, the female of which is 3 inches long. For some of these, it is possible that we would feel a slight pinch. However, most grasshoppers won’t even bother to try and bite.

Grasshoppers’ main defence mechanism is escaping. Their impressive hop is designed to get them out of danger as quickly as possible. Alongside this, they use camouflage, warning colours and sound to keep predators at bay. If all else fails, they may sacrifice their own limbs to get away from danger, disconnecting their legs and limping away without them.

Some grasshopper species, known as locusts, can become more aggressive and likely to bite if they enter their gregarious, swarming stage. This occurs during certain environmental conditions and results in large numbers of locusts gathering together, when they are generally solitary, and becoming eating machines, often decimating crops. During this phase, they may be more likely to bite if handled.

Also read: How do Grasshoppers Protect Themselves? (Explained)

Does a grasshopper bite hurt?

If the majority of grasshoppers were to try and bite you, you most likely wouldn’t even feel it. With larger species, you may feel a slight pinch. Of course, it’s never nice to be bitten, and it’s not particularly pleasant for the grasshopper to feel that it has to bite you to survive, so it’s best not to handle grasshoppers roughly or in a way that might damage them.

What does a grasshopper bite look like?

If you are bitten by a grasshopper, you’re likely to get a raised red lump like other insect bites. This should be washed with soapy water. If a reaction occurs, you should visit your doctor, though you are unlikely to have a severe reaction as grasshoppers do not have venom.

Do grasshoppers have stingers?

Stingers are sharp; hardened appendage used to inject venom into another living creature. While we refer to venom-injecting appendages in the mouth as fangs, those elsewhere on the body are generally called stingers or spines.

Bees and wasps are both famous for their stingers, but many other animals have them, such as stingrays and scorpions. Though the pointed nature of the stinger allows it to push into the skin, which itself causes a level of pain, it is the venom that increases this discomfort or even makes it deadly. Most bee species can sting multiple times without injuring themselves, though famously, the honey bee gets its stinger stuck in mammal skin, causing it to die.

Luckily for us, grasshoppers do not possess a stinger or venom, though some are themselves poisonous if eaten. What many people confuse for stingers is the long pointed appendage on the end of the abdomen of some grasshoppers. This is an ovipositor, the part of the female grasshoppers used for receiving the male’s sperm and for egg-laying. In some senses, they do use the ovipositor a little like a stinger, using it to press down into the soil or a plant stem to lay their eggs.

There’s a good reason why the two would be confused though, as the stings of bees and wasps are actually ovipositors that have evolved over time to become stings. It’s for this reason that only female wasps and bees have them. Truly the female of the species is much deadlier than the male.

Also read: How do Grasshoppers Reproduce? (Eggs & Mating Explained)

A scrape is as good as a sting

When handling grasshoppers, something that many people mistake for a sting is the sensation of the grasshopper’s skin scraping across theirs. As grasshoppers are athropods, they have a hard exoskeleton rather than an internal spine. This means that when we handle them, ridges and sharp points on their bodies may scratch us as they try to get away.

In particular, they have raised ridges on the backs of their hind legs. These are designed for them to be scrapped across their wings to create that characteristic grasshopper song. One grasshopper defence mechanism can be to kick out their feet to ward off danger. This is harmless enough to us humans, but if your skin happens to interact with the grasshopper’s legs, the hardened raised ridges may scratch.

As with all scratches, there’s likely to be some discomfort, raised lumps and redness. However, a little soapy water and some antihistamines are a good cure-all in cases like this. Perhaps in the future, it might be worth wearing gloves if you need to handle large grasshopper species.

The pacifist of the insect world

Insects get a bad name for irritating or hurting human beings. Wasps are hated for their stings, ants for their bites and spiders feared no matter what size they are. Yet the majority of insects are simply getting on with their day, barely aware that we exist, and certainly not planning to get on our bad side.

Grasshoppers live relatively short lives, emerging as nymphs in the spring, feeding and growing throughout the summer, and then singing their songs into the evening air as they try to romance the opposite sex. As winter comes, the adults have passed away, and the young are tucked up safe in their egg sacks.

Throughout all this, there are a hundred hungry predators keen to get a mouthful of grasshopper, from birds to mammals, even to other insects. Without venom, a stinger, or even fangs, the grasshopper doesn’t have much to defend itself with, so its best bet is to hide as best as it can and escape when it’s found. So the fact is that, like many insects, grasshoppers really are much more scared of us than we are of them, and their fear is much more justified.

Do Grasshoppers bite or Sting humans and are they poisonous?

Grasshoppers are commonly found in all parts of the world. They have more than 11,000 known species most of them just eat green grass.

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They need warm weather to live. This is the reason you will not find grasshoppers in hard cold areas like Antarctica or on snowy mountains.

Generally, female hoppers are large in size than male grasshoppers. Their size varies from 1 inch long to 3 inches long depending on the type of species.

Grasshoppers have two long jumping legs, two antennas, and large eyes. They have flexible bodies all made of muscles.

They are herbivorous insects that eat leaves. Hoppers use their strong jaw and teeth to damage plants.

Now the question is do grasshoppers bite or sting humans? This post will answer all the common questions related to Grasshoppers like what they eat, how they live, how to get rid of them, etc.

Let’s start

What attracts grasshoppers to residential areas?

Grasshoppers are travel insects means they do not build their permanent home like most insects.

They continuously travel in the search of good healthy food.

Because grasshoppers like to live in dry areas they often come to residential areas. Your lawn grass, small flower plants, and many vegetable plants attract them to your backyard.

The Lawn grass is their favorite food but they can also eat flower plants, growing green leafy vegetables.

They chew the plant leaves to eat.

Moreover, for breeding, they need a safe place to lay eggs. The female grasshoppers lay eggs on the soil underneath the grass planting.

In some parts of Africa and Asia, grasshoppers are declared as crop pests. Because in those places they come in groups and destroy the valuable crops of farmers.

Every year, they destroy 20% of the world’s crops, which puts huge economical losses on the farmers. The good news is there are many methods that you can use to keep them away from your field or garden. I will discuss them later in this post.

What do grasshoppers eat and drink?

90% of their population eats grass leaves but the remaining 10 % can eat anything green. In Africa, they chew on everything like lather bags, grain crops, vegetables, flower plants, etc,

The grasshopper that we find in the USA usually eats green grass and flower plant leaves.

They also get most of the water from the plant tissues.

Remember that a hungry grasshopper can eat any plant and vegetable. They are more destructive when they come into a large group.

When they suck the water from plant cells the plants become unhealthy, nutrient deficient, and die in a few days.

If your garden is infected by the grasshopper then you need to act fast to save your plants and lawn grass from them. Read the last section of the article to get a quick solution.

Do grasshoppers bite or sting humans?

First of all, I want to make it clear that grasshoppers do not have stingers like bees. They do not sting.

Grasshoppers do have strong teeth and they can bite you only if they feel threatened or when you grab them tightly between your fingers.

Handle them carefully with a soft grip and they will not bite you.

Every insect has their self-defense mechanism. They use it when they feel their life is in danger. Grasshoppers have teeth they do not understand why you pick them from the grass.

Do not understand our language or gestures. They suddenly feel threatened and to save their life they bite on your finger or hands.

Their bite is not very painful and they do not tear your skin. Grasshopper bite feels like a strong pinch on the skin.

If you find them in your garden my advice is not to touch them if you never handle them before. Teach your kids how to handle a grasshopper gently.

You May Also Like: How to get rid of Thrips?

What to do if a grasshopper bites you?

Let’s say you are bitten by the grasshopper on your skin. Then follow the below steps to avoid any infection.

Grasshopper contains a lot of debris on their body. First of all, remove all the debris that they left on the place where they bite.

Take an antiseptic soap and wash the area.

If there is swelling then apply an ice pack to reduce the redness and swellings.

If you feel itching then apply Calamine lotion or use antiseptic lotion.

In case you feel pain with swellings then take over-the-counter medications.

Let’s say after taking the medicine the pain and swelling won’t go away then immediately contact the nearest doctor. This condition may occur in sensitive skin people.

Do not scratch the bite heals or this will leave a permanent sign of bite on your skin.

Do Grasshoppers spit?

Yes, Grasshopper spits on humans but only when they feel threatened. This is their natural defense system.

They through what is in their stomach or what they eat in the last few hours along with digestive juices. They spit it through their mouth and this substance is not poisonous to humans and pets.

But it releases a bad smell which is somewhere tolerable.

There this technique is called Defensive Regurgitation and is used by almost every grasshopper to escape enemies.

Grasshoppers have spiked legs

Grasshoppers have long jumping legs with fold knees. Their big legs have spikes on them that they can insert into your skin when feeling threatened.

These spikes are not dangerous but because they carry debris on their body, they can spread viral infections.

Are grasshoppers poisonous?

When people ask us do grasshoppers bite their next question is are they poisonous? Now they will know the answer.

The good news is grasshoppers are not poisonous and they do not carry any poisonous material or defense mechanism.

Their bite and Regurgitation are the only tools that they have to protect themselves from other threats.

How to get rid of grasshoppers in a day?

The first thing you need to do is inspect the damage caused by grasshoppers and find their eggs. They lay their eggs on the base of the plants.

Also, look for grasshopper damage signs for example ragged shaped holes in the plant leaves.

They are most likely to be found in summer till the first frost. They start feeding and multiplying their population from the first week of summer to the first day of the frost. On cool days they try to enter your home for warmth. Therefore, you need to get rid of them before frost hits.

Treatment

Once you find their colonies and eggs, the next step is to choose the right treatment method.

Here you have 3 options: Natural method, the second is organic and the third is taking the help of other animals.

Organic Solution

In this method, you use organic deterrents like Diatomaceous earth.

All you need to do is sprinkle the powder on all the plants that grasshoppers are eating. This powder will kill them in a few minutes.

DE is safe to use on vegetable plants and flower plants because it is made by using food-grade material.

It is safe for pets and humans.

You can easily buy DE at a low price from Amazon.

The second organic formula is to mix neem oil and vinegar in a spray bottle and uses this spray on all plants.

This method is less effective than the DE formula. You may need 2 or more applications to get rid of all grasshoppers. This formula is cheaper than buying DE.

The third method in this line is commercial pesticides. These are harsh chemicals that are also harmful to human beings. You need to cover your face and wear gloves before use.

Animal Help

Do you know some pets eat grasshoppers and, in their presence, grasshoppers never dare to enter your backyard?

Birds like Chicken and Guinea fowl like to eat insects like grasshoppers.

The downside is chickens also eat various vegetables that you grow in your garden. Therefore, you need fencing for your plants to save them from chickens.

You can also use a grasshopper trap to catch them if they are in a limited number.

If there are few grasshoppers you can wear gloves and catch them. Collect all the hoppers and then free them in the jungle because they also have the right to live.

How to prevent grasshoppers?

Prevention is better than cure therefore use DE powder in advance to prevent them from entering your garden. When they smell the DE, they left your backyard and jump to the next garden.

You can also grow Cilantro and Calendula on the borders of your garden. They are very helpful in preventing grasshoppers.

I hope you enjoy the do grasshoppers bite article. To read more related articles go to our home tab.

What is the difference between grasshopper and locust

The annual locust invasion becomes a real disaster for some Russian regions. However, many city dwellers do not even know what this insect looks like, or even completely confuse it with a grasshopper. In fact, the difference between a grasshopper and a locust is noticeable to the naked eye.

From a biological point of view, the locust belongs to the locust family, suborder of the short-whiskers, and the grasshopper belongs to the family of grasshoppers, the suborder of the long-whiskers. Based on this, we can conclude about another difference - the length of the mustache. Grasshoppers use their whiskers for orientation and touch. Their length can reach 2/3 of the length of the entire body. Locust whiskers are shorter and perform an exclusively decorative function. nine0003

An important difference between the grasshopper and the locust lies in the diet. Locusts prefer plant food, however, without restrictions on quality and quantity. For this reason, these insects easily adapt to any changes in the environment. In turn, the grasshopper is a predator. Its diet mainly consists of other small insects. Occasionally, grasshoppers eat flowers and some fruits.

Locusts are considered a pest, and the vital activity of grasshoppers is beneficial. So, eating various small insects, a grasshopper can protect a garden or vegetable garden from damage to the crop. Locusts, on the other hand, are capable of destroying huge crops and multiplying rapidly. nine0003

The difference between a grasshopper and a locust also lies in the period of wakefulness. The peak of activity of grasshoppers occurs at night, when insects hunt and make characteristic sounds - chirping. Grasshoppers move among bushes and tall grass in search of sleeping prey. Light sources attract their attention by analogy with other nocturnal insects. In turn, locusts are active during the day. She lives in flocks in the ground or low grass and is practically not interested in light sources. Locusts also make chirping sounds, but more muffled. nine0003

Outwardly, grasshoppers look more mobile. These insects have a small muzzle, narrow abdomen and large hind limbs. Grasshoppers practically do not use their front paws. The locust has a more massive body and huge jaws. The limbs are shorter than those of a grasshopper and are intended only for support.

Differences can also be traced in laying eggs. Grasshopper females lay their eggs using a special ovipositor that looks like a sword. Insects hide their eggs inside plant stems, under tree bark, or other secluded places. The female locust lays its eggs directly into the soil. nine0003

Pins:

The locust belongs to the locust family, suborder of the short-whiskers, and the grasshopper belongs to the family of grasshoppers, the suborder of the long-whiskers.
The whiskers of grasshoppers are longer and are the organ of touch. Locust whiskers are short and have a decorative function.
Locusts prefer plant food, grasshoppers are predators.
Locusts are considered a pest, and the vital activity of grasshoppers is beneficial. nine0026
The peak of activity of grasshoppers occurs at night, locusts sleep at night.
Grasshoppers are attracted to light sources, locusts are not.
Grasshoppers make chirping sounds at night and more loudly, locusts - during the day and muffled.
Outwardly, grasshoppers look more mobile. Locusts are more massive and larger.
Female grasshoppers lay their eggs in secluded places, locusts - directly into the soil. nine0026

Grasshoppers

Grasshopper Romalea microptera ejects foam from its windpipes to deter predators. Chlorphenol proved to be very active in experiments on ants. It is possible that this chlorine derivative comes from industrial insecticides absorbed by the grasshopper.[ ...]

The grasshopper Romalea microptera emits foam from its trachea, which scares off predators. Chlorphenol proved to be very active in experiments on ants. It is possible that this chlorine derivative comes from industrial insecticides absorbed by the grasshopper. [ ...]

Grasshoppers can be stored in a special box, in which half of the drawer is sealed with thick paper with a small hole in the corner. You can store I in wide-mouthed bottles (for example, from milk), putting a little grass on the bottom. Before placing a grasshopper in a storage container, “long hind legs must be removed”, otherwise insects will easily jump out of a box or bottle.[ ...]

On a cold morning, grasshoppers expose their sides to sunlight, and daytime butterflies spread their wings. In the midday heat, they, folding their wings, are parallel to the rays.[ ...]

The song is like the chirping of a grasshopper — monotonous “zer-zer...” or “zere-zere...”, flowing in an almost endless stream, with only occasional small pauses. It differs from the songs of common, spotted and nightingale crickets in the relatively slow pace of alternation and the distinctness of each syllable. In addition, a continuous high-pitched metallic sound is heard from a short distance, similar to the squeal of a drill or a cutter in a machine tool, the illusion is complemented by the fact that this sound slightly “beats”. For singing, the male has several favorite bushes or small trees, on which he climbs from below, from the grass, sits while singing in place for a long time and almost motionless. The disturbed hides in the bushes and grass, but soon crawls out again. He sings round the clock, especially diligently at dusk. The cry of alarm at the nest is a sonorous “pink”, similar to the cry of a great tit or a finch.[ ...]

The song is similar to the chirping of a grasshopper and sounds like a very long and even "buzz..." or, rather, "rrrrr...". It differs from the song of the river cricket in the rapid tempo of the constituent elements and their fusion, the absence of a “metallic ringing”; from the song of a nightingale cricket - a great resemblance to the chirping of a grasshopper, the "dryness" of the sound. It is most similar to the song of the spotted cricket, with skill it can be distinguished by a clearly more “dry”, not ringing chirp. Because the bird turns to one side or the other while singing, the song either fades or becomes louder. They sing most actively at dusk and at night, during these hours the male often sings, sitting openly on a stem or branch above the thickets. In case of danger, the bird hides, but if you act carefully, you can approach it at a distance of several steps. In daylight, it can sing for a long time in the thick of grass.[ ...]

Food objects are large insects: grasshoppers, locusts, beetles, bears... In addition, they catch lizards, amphibians, chicks of small birds, rodents. They can eat fruits and berries. Prey is usually taken on the ground, having looked out for it from a perch on a tree, pole, wire, cliff or on another elevation.[ ...]

Grasshoppers, locusts, crickets and bears belong to this order. They are characterized by gnawing mouthparts and two pairs of wings. The top pair is denser and leathery. Various outgrowths are visible at the end of the abdomen.[ ...]

Of the grasshopper superfamily, the most common are the green grasshopper - Tettigonia viridissima L. and the long-tailed grasshopper - Tettigonia caudata Charp. Both species are distributed throughout the steppe zone of the European part of the USSR. Harm seedlings of corn, sunflower, tobacco, gourds and other crops. Sometimes unripe grains are eaten away in ears of cereals.[ ...]

The song doesn't sound like a grasshopper chirping at all. The male sings in the grass or above it, on stems and bushes protruding from the thickets. In the midst of song activity, it makes current flights: it takes off several meters, hangs with flutter for some moments and falls down or glides steeply in the thicket. Songbirds, like other crickets, hide if approached without precautions. They sing at different times of the day, most actively in the morning and evening. The singing season is long - almost from arrival to departure. [ ...]

Food - almost exclusively insects: dragonflies, grasshoppers, beetles, etc. Dragonflies and other large flying insects are caught in the air, grasshoppers are deftly grabbed on the fly from the grass or taken on the ground. Occasionally and briefly hover in place, like kestrels. They like to sit on poles, wires and other elevated open places, waiting for the victim. Quite rarely, lizards, voles, frogs, small birds become prey.[ ...]

Where there are no apiaries and anthills, flies, grasshoppers, butterflies "give" the weather forecast.[ ...]

Female insects that lay their eggs inside any substrate: grasshoppers (Tettigoniidae) - into the soil, horntails (Siricidae) - inside plants, ichneumon parasites (families Ichneumonidae and Braconidae, etc.) - inside the body of their hosts, have an ovipositor of the appropriate length (ovipositor).[ ...]

The ecological pyramid, which is a food chain: cereals - grasshoppers - frogs - snakes - eagle, is shown in fig. 4.[ ...]

Sphex, grabbing his victim by the chest shield, inflicts two successive injections with a sting, first from below in the chest to hit the middle and posterior ganglions, and then into the throat to hit the prothoracic ganglion. When the caterpillar is paralyzed, the sand ammophila sequentially stings it from below into each segment, gradually intercepting it with its jaws and moving from the head to the rear end.[ ...]

The song is very similar to the song of an ordinary cricket, it is just as similar to the chirping of a grasshopper, it sounds like an almost continuous “buzz ...” with a very frequent rhythm, but the sound “b” is heard more loudly, more clearly. They sing most actively at dusk and at night, and at this time they climb bushes, high stems, low trees, where they sit motionless, only slightly turning from side to side. In case of danger, the singer falls silent, falls into the grass and runs away. But if you lie low, it soon crawls out again onto the same branch or somewhere nearby. During the day they sing less actively and more often in the grass. The season of singing lasts from arrival and almost until departure, but after the middle of summer it clearly weakens.[ ...]

In those cases when Fabre removed the sphex, which had begun to seal the hole, and removed the grasshopper with the egg laid on it, the sphex again entered the hole, corrected it, and then, as before, carefully walled up the entrance. If the mink is dug, the grasshopper is pulled in, the egg is laid, then the mink should be closed, and in comparison with the usual situation, only an additional inspection of the hole was superfluous. Fabre spoke of the wasp's behavior as the "wisdom" and "ignorance" of instinct.[ ...]

snails. In Central Europe, vegetable products are used for baits, such as sugar peas and cherries. We fish eel and bream for peas.[ ...]

It is in a unidirectional sequence along the food chains from producers to decomposers (for example, "grass - grasshopper - frog - heron - kite" or "clover - cow - man - worm - dust") that the stepwise transfer of biomass occurs, which ensures a constant flow of free energy through the ecosystem and its participation in the circulation of substances (see Fig. 2.1 and 2.2).[ ...]

They catch grayling with fly fishing, a boat, float and wire rods for a worm, sea mouse, caddis flies, bark beetle, grasshopper, ant , various flying insects, an artificial fly (dry and wet), spinning, a path to small (often rotating) spinners, and after rolling into deep places for wintering - plumb to a spinner and mormyshka. Leoka is used with a diameter of 0.2-0.25 mm, hook No. 4-6.[ ...]

The most widespread lower insects with incomplete metamorphosis are cockroaches, dragonflies, orthoptera (grasshoppers, locusts, crickets), hemipterans (bugs).[ ...]

etc.), a predator is well caught on a grasshopper, pieces of meat. Channel catfish are rather indifferent to vegetable baits, but still (of course, noticeably weaker) they are caught, for example, on porridge (cool pearl barley, wheat). Since the tastes of channel catfish are still poorly known to our amateur anglers, when catching it, you should experiment by trying different baits.[ ... ]

A separate group consists of artificial baits made of soft plastics, which imitate insects (grasshoppers, locusts, beetles, flies, larvae, spiders), crustaceans, worms, mollusks, fish, frogs, etc.[ ...]

In insects of some species, only embryonic development takes place in the soil: for example, in locusts (Anchylea), crickets (brypoedea) and grasshoppers (Tell-G0rmishlae).[ ...]

In insects of some species, only embryonic development takes place in the soil: for example, in locusts (Anchylea), crickets (brupoliea), and grasshoppers (Mem-G0rnc1ae).[...]

They catch roach with float, wire, bottom rods, in a plumb line on a mormyshka. At the beginning of the season, the best baits are worm and bloodworm, in the summer - maggot, grasshopper, steamed cereal grains, greens, bread, dough, cereals and other vegetable baits. In autumn, when the roach rolls into wintering pits, it is again caught mainly for worms and bloodworms. When catching roach, bait significantly improves the bite, and in permanent places - a bait. When catching this fish, a fishing line of 0.08 mm (in the dead of winter) - 0.2 mm, hook No. 3-4 is quite sufficient.[ ...]

In connection with the different way of life, the limbs of insects are modified into running (cockroach), burrowing (bear), swimming (beetle), jumping (grasshopper).[ ...]

.), consisting of a quick repetition of one syllable: “zer-zer-zer ...” or “tser-tser-tser ...”, is not at all like the chirping of a grasshopper and crickets (birds) in its loudness - this is clearly a bird song . When singing, the male sits on top of a tree or flies in the branches of the crown. Inserts the same sounds one or more into the intervals between songs. Sometimes there are individuals who, when disturbed, emit a nasal “drink, drink ...” - the same as when a cuckoo appears.[ ...]

Some animals (such as bipedals and moles) escape predators to some extent by living in burrows. Others (such as the opossum, the African ground squirrel, many beetles and grasshoppers) can "feign" dead and thus avoid the "killing reaction" from predators. Animals hiding in pre-prepared shelters (rabbits and prairie dogs in their burrows, snails in their shells) or curling up in a ball to cover vulnerable parts of the body with a well-protected back (armadillos, hedgehogs, nods) thus reduce the likelihood of being captured predator. Once, however, a rabbit or an armadillo closes in the walls of its "fortress" - and its life depends entirely on whether the enemy can overcome these walls (the rabbit hole will not save, for example, from affection). As a sacrifice of his relative safety, such a serf inmate also brings the opportunity to be aware of what is happening outside. Other animals behave as if they are trying to get away from trouble with the help of swindle - "threatening behavior." An example of this behavior is the “startle reaction” in butterflies, which suddenly show eye spots on their wings. There are other examples as well. The African porcupine, when threatened, rattles its quills, and the skunk raises its tail like a pipe and stamps its paws. [ ...]

Catch with a weight float in shallow water overgrown with aquatic vegetation, as well as on the main stream from spring to autumn - chub, ide, asp, grayling and other fish for dragonfly, beetle, gadfly, grasshopper, butterfly, bumblebee, fly , caterpillar, small frog.[ ...]

In many cases, competing individuals do not directly interact with each other, but react to a decrease in the resource level due to the presence and vital activity of other individuals. So, grasshoppers competing for food are not directly affected by other grasshoppers, but through a decrease in the amount of food and an increased difficulty in finding good-quality food from those left by competitors. Similarly, herbaceous plants in competition are adversely affected by the presence of nearby neighbors, because the zone from which this plant obtains resources (light, water, nutrients) is overlapped by the "resource withdrawal zones" of neighboring plants. In all the cases considered, competition is called exploitative, since each individual receives the amount of resource that remains after the withdrawal of this resource by competitors. [ ...]

The vertical change of stations is similar to the zonal one, but it manifests itself in mountainous conditions. Its most common form is the transition of populations to more xerophytic stations as the level of their habitat increases.[ ...]

us to understand the temporal confinement of events and, consequently, the dynamics of populations of ectothermic organisms. In nature, the mass hatching of grasshoppers and butterflies, mentioned in Fig.[ ...]

The length of the animal, together with the arrow, corresponds to the length of the period during which adults of each of the five species are found in the pond. The time of the pond drying up and the appearance of terrestrial organisms is indicated by the drawing of the juvenile stage of the grasshopper (VI), / - tiger ambistoma; // - cyclops; ///— gilliog; IV - dnaptomus; V is a flatworm.[ ...]

The main chain of reflexes, which constitutes the instinct of the females of this insect during puberty, consists of the following successive links. Sphex seeks out a female grasshopper of a certain species, paralyzes it with a sting in the thoracic ganglion, then finds a suitable place nearby for digging a mink, pulls it out, drags the grasshopper by the antennae into the mink and lays an egg on it; the entrance to the spanking bricks up. The larva that emerges from the egg will feed on the paralyzed grasshopper.[ ...]

A mother kangaroo with a cub "in the bosom" runs away from the chase with big leaps. In critical situations, a lizard pays with its tail, a grasshopper with its foot, an octopus with its tentacle, and a kangaroo ... with a kangaroo, its only one.[ ...]

The origin of predation is also not homogeneous. In a number of cases, predation apparently originated in insects from phytophagy. Thus, for example, the bug Camptobrochis punctulatus Fall., found in masses in the alfalfa fields of Central Asia, feeds on plant juices, but, in addition, attacks the aphids Aphis laburni Kltnb., Therioaphis ononidis Kltnb. , Acyrthosiphon onobrychis Fons. Some other bugs of this genus lead a constantly predatory lifestyle. Optional predators are some earwigs (Dermaptera) and grasshoppers (Tettigoniidae).[ ...]

Food is very specialized. The basis of the menu of adult birds and chicks is wasps, but not adult insects, but larvae that develop in earthen or “paper” wasp nests suspended on trees. Honey beetles skillfully find such nests, patiently tracking down wasps. The found nest is torn apart or dug up. Hard plumage protects the bird from wasp stings. The honey buzzard grabs them with its beak, crushes their belly and throws them in the place of the robbed nest. Less commonly, nests of bumblebees or wild (non-honey) bees become prey. With a lack of donkeys, they catch frogs, lizards, small birds, rodents, large insects - beetles, grasshoppers, etc.[ ...]

The degree of temperature variability is extremely important for ecology. Temperatures ranging from 10 to 20°C with an average of 15°C do not necessarily act on organisms in the same way as a constant temperature of 15°C. It has been found that organisms that are normally exposed to varying temperatures in nature (which is the case in most temperate regions) tend to be less tolerant of constant temperature. Thus, in his first study in this field, Shelford (1929) found that the eggs and larvae or pupae of the apple codling moth develop 7 or 8% faster under conditions of fluctuating temperature than at a constant temperature equal to the average temperature in the experiment. In another experiment (Parker, 1930) using a variable temperature, it was possible to accelerate the development of grasshopper eggs by an average of 38.6%, and nymphs by 12% compared with development at a close constant temperature.[ ...]

In Table. 4.2 shows another cohort table of survival and the corresponding age table of fertility; this time they refer to a population of the annual Phlox drummondii from Nixon County, Texas (Leverich and Levin, 1979). The main difference in Table 4.2 from table. 4.1 becomes apparent when comparing their first columns. Leverich and Levin divided the phlox life cycle not into a number of developmental stages, but into a number of age classes. Even before germination, they counted the seeds more than once, and after germination, at certain intervals, they counted the plants; counting continued until all the phlox had faded and withered. The advantage of identifying age classes is that it allows the researcher to study in detail the dynamics of hatching and death of individuals within the same developmental stage; the disadvantage is that the age of an individual is not necessarily the best or even a satisfactory indicator of its "biological status". In grasshoppers, for example, the rate of development depends on body temperature, which they cool down by exposing their body to direct sunlight. As a result, in a cloudy summer, a 20-day-old grasshopper may be in the second nymphal stage, and in a sunny summer, in the fourth. In the same way, in many long-lived plants (see below), individuals of the same age can actively reproduce, they can grow (vegetate), but not reproduce, or they may not grow and not reproduce.