5 kinds of giant longhorn insects, the world's largest pseudo-cockroach

Seeing the amazing photo on today's cover, do you think I'm about to introduce giant monsters and insects?

That's right, and there is more than one giant monster insect today. In addition to the giant insect with strange patterns and double foreheads on the cover, there is also this oversized pseudo-cockroach, the largest beetle in the world, and even mysterious larvae that scientists have not discovered so far, you know? The above types of creatures and descriptions are not only real, but they are also likely to be from the same type of creature, that is, the bull demon king beetle among the insects. The truth of this creature is likely to exceed your imagination.

Today, I would like to introduce to you several incomparably gigantic bull demon kings.

1. Representative of pests - longhorn beetle

What is your impression of the beetle? Honestly, a lot of people don't have a good impression of this creature, right? Myself, I still remember the first time in my life I saw this as if I was in middle school. It was a black and white most common star beetle. is a bit of an inexplicable fear;

A picture like this would give me goosebumps, but I know humans hate this creature, not primarily because of his looks, but because he's a terrifying, natural tree-killer, not just an adult, Trees cause damage, and larvae are even more destructive. It takes about a year for the vast majority of long beetles to complete a generation. Most adults complete their emergence between April and July. After that, they will bite the tree with their mouthparts at a distance of about 50 cm from the ground. The bark lays its eggs inside the tree. After hatching, the larvae will first gnaw on the inner side of the cortex, then eat the xylem, and attack the base of the trunk from top to bottom.

We all know that the xylem that transports moisture can be said to be the lifeblood of trees, so much damage is likely to be fatal. Longhorn beetle larvae may be more dangerous to trees than adults, but to eradicate these larvae, of course, we must start by killing the adults, so many people will use the phototaxis of some adults to trap this creature, or use traditional insecticides Lime milk control, it is said that using fishing line to wrap tree trunks can also effectively trap these invading adults, but sometimes even a bunch of cute beetles are trapped, which shows that humans are indeed a waste of food. It's hard to make a good impression. But as a biological person, I must say that aside from the dangers of living things to human beings, the beetle is quite attractive in the eyes of many entomologists.

Not only are the beetles of various types, but their body shapes and patterns can be said to have changed greatly, especially their body shapes are indeed beyond the imagination of many people. What did I worry about when I wrote this article? When I saw a photo of the beetle, I suddenly got inspiration, so I would like to introduce some of the most conspicuous beetles.

2. Long-armed beetle

The reason why this beetle made me notice him, at first sight, is that it is different from other beetles, with incredible forelimbs; it is distributed in Latin America, and it is called the long-armed beetle in the tropical rain forest. Commonly known in English as harlequin beetle or funny beetle, it has such a common name because the pattern on its carapace is a bit like the clothes of a clown. I think I will be very curious when I see this beetle, why do its pliers need to be It looks so exaggerated, right? The long-armed long-armed long-armed long-armed long-armed long-armed long-armed long-armed long-armed beetle can reach about 7.6 cm;

However, its forelimbs can be even longer than its body, or even twice as long, but the function of this arm is unexpectedly simple and simple. In addition to attracting the opposite sex, it is probably the function of climbing trees and even preying No effect. Because although he looks domineering, he is a vegetarian who eats tree sap. Although he is also like other long beetles, the larvae can cause damage to trees, but it is one of the few long beetles that has contributed to human beings.

Because in 2003 French scientists isolated a new type of antibiotic from his body, which can be used to deal with a variety of fungi, the new drug produced can reduce the mortality rate caused by drug-resistant Candida and yeast infections; although it does It is beneficial to human beings, but if you want to catch it with your bare hands, you need to pay special attention. Often people will be frightened by the uninvited guests on him, and some people even think that he is a kind of beetle that can give birth to scorpions;

What the hell is going on? This creature thought to be a scorpion is a scorpion or a pseudo-scorpion, because he looks a lot like a scorpion, so it's no wonder so many people are scared by him. However, it is obvious that he does not have a scorpion's tail and poisonous needle, so it is just an arthropod that looks like a scorpion, and it is a very close creature with a long-armed beetle.

In tropical rain forests, fig tree long-armed beetles often hide their larvae in these trees, and there are often many scorpions wandering around on fig trees and feeding on other small arthropods, but scorpions do not Without wings when the food is eaten, it needs to move long distances to find habitats, which becomes a problem for scorpions. Luckily their transportation is in the tree below. That's right when the long-armed beetle larvae climbed out of the tree hole and emerged as adults, these scorpions would gather in a swarm and use their pliers to clamp the belly of the beetle. These beetles don't know if they are born drivers or what. , and will deliberately bend his abdomen to make room under the wings for the little scorpion to get on.

But the interesting thing is more than that. Because the seats of the Tianniu bus are limited, one Tianniu can take about 30 passengers. Not all the scorpions can get on the bus, so there will be a very interesting scene at this time. Male scorpions will try to prevent other males from getting on the bus, and only welcome beautiful females to get on the bus so that when they reach their destination, the male scorpion can lead his harem to live an emperor-like life.

This is treating our Tianniu brother as a love bus, and other males with smaller body sizes can only watch the bus leave with tears, which is quite pitiful.

The long-armed beetle will take off and land on other trees, and the scorpion will also achieve the purpose of foraging and breeding on different trees. Isn't it really interesting?

3. Big Mac

Let's pick the big and outrageous guy. He is in this photo. He is simply a giant in the beetle and dominates the audience.

But this is of course because it is one of the largest beetles in South America. The South American long-winged beetle is usually 7-8 cm in size, and there are also rare individuals over 12 cm. Although I have not found clear actual records, But it is rumored that the largest individual is 15 cm, which is quite amazing.

Unlike other beetles, its chest is thorny, like a thorny necklace around its neck. Furthermore, its tentacles are particularly long, it is also segmented, and it also has wings to fly. Although he looks big and scary, he is harmless to humans, only harmful to trees, but if he is oppressed, he will still bite people in self-defense;

Do you think such a huge monster will be the No. 1 on the beetle size list? I think the answer should surprise many people because such a big guy is only the third largest beetle.

4. Bull Demon-Titan Beefeater

Now I'm not going to give a shit, let's directly see where the world's biggest bull devil is. This Bull Demon is the super-large pseudo-cockroach mentioned earlier;

When a Japanese entomologist Sori Maruyama was studying insects in South America, a huge cockroach accidentally hit the curtain behind him, so she was captured and photographed. Naturally, such an amazing photo caused a heated discussion on the Internet. I have to say it looks like a cockroach, right? Especially when viewed from below. This bull devil from the South American rainforest, the giant beetle is 16.7 cm long, which is completely different from the cockroach. Although this site is nothing in the entire animal kingdom, if it is compared with the creatures in the class of insects, it is as huge as an attacking giant. For example, the common star bull is only about 5 centimeters, and the Titan is more than three times that, and this is only the length. If you want to calculate the volume, it is an exponential gap. But honestly, not all creatures are bigger the better. From the point of view of species survival, some scholars believe that the giant titania beetle is a kind of beetle with a relatively failed evolution, and it can even be said that they are not as good as ordinary-sized beetles, for example, their too large size makes them fly It is more difficult to fly, and the movement speed is not fast. This is far less free than the small beetles. They can fly if they want. In addition, the South American jungle is relatively humid and rainy. Retain your power, fly only at critical moments, find a mate, and complete the task of multiplying the next generation.

The adult Titan beetle is almost non-eating. Some scholars have captured a Titan beetle for several weeks. It did not eat the sugar water and fruit provided, but it still maintained a certain amount of water. vitality;

This energy is accumulated in its larval stage, but this also means that adult life is not only limited, but also very short, only about a few weeks; so before the energy is exhausted, it only focuses on one task, that It is to inherit the lineage, the Titan beetle will judge the possible position of the female according to the pheromone in the air, and when it is ready to take off after confirmation,

Due to its large size, it is a little difficult to take off in place, so it usually climbs to high branches and trees to take off. The female Titan beetle will not have any behavior of searching for males, but will just stay in place and wait. Ambitious Titan beetles will start the mating process after they find the female through flight. Since the number of Titan beetles is scarce, the energy spent by males to find the other half can be imagined, so the Titan beetles will reduce all kinds of energy consumption. Non-essential activity and flying. But this also means that he is a piece of slow-moving meat in the eyes of predators. Fortunately, there are not many predators who are interested in the titan longhorn in the tropical rainforests of South America. Their hard shells are not very This kind of appearance makes all kinds of birds or arboreal animals have little interest in them, and it is good to be ugly;

Therefore, for the Titan beetle, the most dangerous period is the larvae period that stays in the tree. Compared with the super-large cockroach, the plump and intelligent larvae look delicious in the eyes of birds.

But what is quite interesting is that this plump and juicy larva has never been discovered by humans. That's right, so far, scientists have not found the larvae of the Titan beetle. This is because the biological distribution area is relatively narrow, which has something to do with scarcity. Some of you may have seen a photo in National Geographic of a larva that claims to be a giant beetle, but that photo has another engine, what is the truth? You wait and see.

According to the huge size of the Titan beetle, scholars have judged that the body diameter of this mysterious larva can reach 5 cm and the body length can reach 30 cm. By measuring the larger cavities on the dead trees, it is speculated that the larvae feed on rotten trees on the ground. And may spend years in trees accumulating energy. Not only are the larvae undetected, but females also are not easily caught either. Males are phototaxis and are easily attracted to bright electric lights, but females do not have this behavior and are therefore less likely to be found.

Although the Titan beetle has no obvious aggressiveness to humans, if you deliberately provoke him, he will expel air through the air holes on both sides to give a hissing warning, and even use its huge jaws to bite humans. It is easy to bite a pencil in half, so it is normal for him to bite and see blood, so be careful.

This is the true identity of the world's largest long beetle, but although he is the world's largest long beetle, will he be the world's largest beetle? This is a very interesting topic. If you search the Internet for the largest beetle in the world, another figure will appear quite often, which is this Hercules halberd large beetle;

Since it is not the protagonist of today, I will not introduce it in detail, but it is quite famous in the beetle circle. Sometimes beetles must know that its highest record is 18.1 cm, but some people think that it is the champion Insufficient gold content, why do you say that? After reading this photo, you can understand. Who do you think is bigger? It's obvious that Heckley is a long-term heavyweight with a chest and feet that are a little higher than the Titan Hall.

Of course, the chest and feet are indeed part of the body, but this is a bit like the feeling that you and others have a little longer hair than others, and sometimes the horns of the worm are longer than his body. If you just look at the size, it's clear that Taitans do carry weight, so that's why you search for the world's largest beetle, and both types of beetles are likely to appear, and each has its advocates.

5. Giant crocodile big beetle

There are more than two competitors for the world's largest beetle. Don't forget the behemoth that hurts people on the cover of the article. I still remember the first time I saw a picture of a creature, I thought it wasn't a real creature because of its special patterns, huge size, and terrifying predators, but I think you all should be in this photo too Found it, yes, although it looks very unsocial, it is indeed a beetle, you can call it a long-toothed beetle or a giant crocodile beetle, and the special patterns on its body look a bit like Indian style, so also has the nickname, Indian Shield.

It has a giant crocodile that is quite rare in the beetle, and its length can reach 5 cm. It is said that it can use this weapon to clamp thick branches and cut them by rotating its body, but this weapon is also unique to males, and females The evil is much less. Therefore, scholars believe that this exaggerated weapon is the same as the long arm of the long-armed beetle in front. The main function may be to attract the opposite sex, and the second is to compete for territory.