Insects can be found everywhere - in the urban stone jungle, in the meadow, in the forest, tundra, desert, and even where there is eternal snow and cold. Sometimes we do not notice how beautiful the world is. Millions of diverse living organisms live on the globe. In this article, we will analyze in detail what is hymenopteran insect. Consider all subspecies and their features.
general information
Hymenoptera category contains about 300 thousand subspecies of insects. Each of them has two pairs of transparent wings with very large cells. The blades that are in front are usually longer than the rear. All hymenopterans are divided according to their lifestyle into three species: predators, parasites, and herbivorous insects.
Hymenoptera insects include wasps, bees, bumblebees, ants and others. Few people know that they all live in separate groups, where there is only one main insect. Surprisingly, all their responsibilities are distributed evenly. In each collective, a certain insect is responsible for one action. It is believed that this particular category of insects lives in absolutely all corners of the planet.
Types of Hymenoptera insects vary quite a lot among themselves. There are only two varieties - Sidebelly and Stalker. The first includes more primitive insects that feed on organics.
Propagation Features
The order of Hymenoptera insects is distinguished by a kind of concept of establishing sex. Termites, for example, which belong to a different species, do not have such a feature. In the hymenoptera family, as a rule, there is only one uterus. In the first half of her life, she makes only one nuptial flight, stocking up seminal fluid for the entire period of her life, which is about 10 years.
The female uses the collected seminal fluid regularly to fertilize eggs that move along her genital tract. It is worth noting that not all eggs have a fertilization process. They can also have a single or double set of chromosomes.
Hymenoptera insect does not have a father. All members of the same family have the same set of chromosomes received from the female. Only the uterus itself has a paired number of them.
Structural features
As we said earlier, hymenoptera have two pairs of wings. Typically, the front is longer than the rear. The antennae are located on the head of the hymenopteran insect. Each subspecies has its own structural feature. Their number ranges from 2 to 70. The eyes are also located on the head, which have a rather complex structure. Surprisingly, some ants see absolutely nothing. They find their way to their anthill thanks to the scent of pheromones left behind.
Interesting facts about ants
An ant is a small hymenopteran insect. The number of their species is more than 8 thousand. It is believed that it is the ants that are most similar to humans.
Ants never eat what they find. They deliver food to the anthill. Those individuals that do not bring anything, insects kill. Ants regularly stock up on food for the winter. In the afternoon they take her out to dry, and at night they bring her back. Ants are thought to foresee the weather, as they never dry the blanks before the rain.
Few people know, but the American scientists found the oldest representative on one of the beaches. The body of the ant was located in amber. According to experts, the find is about 130 million years old. Surprisingly, ants are the only living organisms, with the exception of humans, that raise domestic animals, namely aphids.
It is believed that ants have the largest brain on earth in relation to their body. Another interesting fact is the lack of sleep. Surprisingly, the hymenopteran insect of the ant detachment does not feel the need for this.
Few people know, but working ants live up to 3 years, but females - up to 20. It is also known that they are able to lift a load that exceeds their weight by 100 times. When an ant dies of poisoning, it always falls solely on its right side.
Bumblebees
Bumblebees are also hymenopteran insects. Representatives of this subspecies are distinguished by a dense hairline on the body, which has a bright color. Bumblebees are divided into three categories: uterus, workers and drones. It is worth noting that the latter do not have the ability to sting. Unlike wasps, bumblebees use a sting only for self-defense.
The reaction of the human body to a bumblebee bite depends only on individual characteristics. Most often, it is not dangerous. An allergic reaction to a bumblebee bite is quite rare. Most often, only 1% of humanity is exposed to it, and, as a rule, this happens with repeated bite.
It is known that, unlike other Hymenoptera, bumblebees do not fly out in search of food in bad weather. They also have the most favorite plants. Bumblebees can pollinate inaccessible flower bowls that are not subject to wasps.
Unlike other insects, bumblebees have a body temperature higher by 20-30 degrees than the environment. This is due to the active work of the pectoral muscles.
Is Hymenoptera insect useful?
Perhaps everyone knows that all living organisms on our planet are interconnected. Each insect brings certain benefits to the globe and to man himself. No exception is the order of Hymenoptera. For example, ants, as we know, build houses not only on the surface of the soil, but also under it. Thanks to this, the soil becomes more loose and is filled with a large amount of oxygen. Also, ants annually destroy a huge number of pests.
Hymenoptera insects - bees, wasps and hornets - are of great benefit. Thanks to the products of their processing, a huge amount of medicines was created. For example, many drugs contain honey and propolis.
An interesting fact about the representative of Hymenoptera
In the XX century, a famous scientist conducted a number of interesting studies. It is known that a bumblebee has rather small wings (relative to its body). The scientist applied to the insect the calculation of the lifting force of the aircraft. He found out that a bumblebee flies against all the laws of aerodynamics and physics.
Today, a lot of debate is underway on this topic. Many scientists disprove the hypothesis and prove that the bumblebee flies quite reasonably. However, these versions are still not fully understood.
Hymenoptera and education
As we found out earlier, Hymenoptera insects are of great benefit. Pupils of the 7th grade at school tell about the features of their structure and vital functions. The purpose of the lesson is to show how important the order of insects Hymenoptera is. Grade 7 after the end of the lesson should know the structural features of this species and their role for the human body and nature. The responsibilities of the teacher include checking the assimilation of material about Hymenoptera insects after some time.
Parasitic properties. Nutcrackers
Like many other insects, some subspecies of Hymenoptera have parasitic properties. One of the representatives that have this property are nut growers. Most often, they lay their eggs on oak or shrubs. By their appearance they resemble small nuts. The insect lays its eggs directly in the bark or leaves of plants. Subsequently, white larvae hatch from them, which disrupt the vital activity of trees and shrubs, parasitizing on them.
Ichmonmonoids
Another parasitic species of hymenoptera is ichneumonoids. Representatives of this subspecies differ in color and size. Female ichneumonoids have a not pronounced filiform ovipositor. They sit on other insects from above and inject their eggs into their body.
In some queens, the ovipositor is filled with poison. Due to this feature, they destroy pests of crops. A larva hatches from an egg in the body of another insect. At first, it feeds on the body fat of the victim, and when their supply comes to an end, it begins to eat vital organs. By the time the larva begins to create a cocoon, as a rule, the victim is dying.
Chalcides
Chalcides are another parasitic subspecies of Hymenoptera. They are quite small in size. Like most other parasitic insects, chalcides live in the body of other representatives.
Curious is the fact that chalcides are able to parasitize even in water bodies. It is believed that the most ancient representatives of the parasitic subspecies of hymenoptera lived in the Cretaceous.
There is a special subspecies of chalcides - Costa Rican. They can parasitize not only on animals, but also on people. It is known that a farmer in New England was bitten by such an insect by the ear. The man walked with unbearable pain for two weeks and complained of hearing loss. Three weeks after the bite, the farmer’s wife found small insects crawling out of his ear. The man was urgently hospitalized. Doctors performed an operation and seized more than 300 grams of chalcides from his auricle.
Among chalcides, there are also species that parasitize only on plants. They perform their activities inside the galls (areas of leaf tissue growth). Few people know, but there is a subspecies of chalcides, whose representatives lay their eggs in the fruits of ficus, which are just beginning to form. Without these insects, the plant could not be pollinated. Also, thanks to parasitism, ficus forms seeds.
To summarize
Almost every hymenoptera insect strikes us with its quirkiness and uniqueness. Each species has its own characteristics. In our article, we showed how incredible insects are. We found out that ants never sleep and, like us, raise domestic animals, and some parasitic hymenopteran insects can be beneficial. Unfortunately, more often than not, people themselves destroy the surrounding world and its inhabitants. We strongly recommend not to harm our nature, so that not only hymenoptera, but also other representatives of the fauna feel comfortable and do not disappear from our land after a couple of years.