Damalacantha vacca [1] ( Damalacantha vacca ) is a species of Orthoptera insects from the family of Sharogolovye grasshoppers . The only representative of the genus Damalacantha in the territory of the former USSR [1] .
Damalacantha Wakka | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scientific classification | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Latin name | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Damalacantha vacca ( Fischer von Waldheim , 1846) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Synonyms: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Content
- 1 Description
- 2 Area
- 3 Biology
- 4 Thermoregulation
- 5 Security
- 6 notes
Description
Large wingless grasshopper with a massive stocky body. Coloring yellowish with dirty brown and dark pattern on pronotum and abdomen. The body length of males is 28-30 mm, females 35-40 mm. Elytra underdeveloped, no wings. Antennae attach below eye level. On the front tibia there are slit-like openings of the tympanic auditory organ [1] .
Range
Distributed in the desert zone of Kazakhstan . It lives on rocky-solonchak areas of deserts with rare hodgepodge [1] .
Biology
It feeds on hodgepodge . He moves slowly, runs on the ground. During the breeding season, representatives of the species, especially males, chatter loudly. Eggs are laid by the female in the soil. In case of danger, he becomes in a pose of threat, tilts his head to the ground and raises his abdomen [1] .
Thermoregulation
It has complex thermoregulatory behavior, which is associated with the use of temperature heterogeneity of habitats and with behavioral reactions. The species has a specific thermoregulatory posture - insects use the protrusion of the pronotum as a kind of umbrella that protects most of the body from sunlight. In hot weather, grasshoppers of this species are able to maintain their body temperature for a long time below ambient temperature by evaporating water from the body.
Eating succulent plants allows them to use part of their water resources to cool their bodies in the desert [2] [3] .
Security
It is listed in the Red Book of Kazakhstan [1] .
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 6 Red Book of the Kazakh SSR. Ed. second, revised and supplemented. T. I. Animals. Alma-Ata: Gylym
- ↑ Toms S.V. Water evaporation as a method of thermoregulation in the desert grasshopper Damalacantha vacca sinica (Orthoptera, Tettigonioidea) Zool. Well .. 1991. 70, N 2, p. 30-39. Rus .. SU. ISSN 0044-5134
- ↑ Water evaporation for thermal regulation in Damalacantha vacca sinica (Orthoptera, Tettigonioidea). Zoologichesky Zhurnal. 1991; 70: 30-39. Toolson EC.