Lung beetle or alfalfa bug. Belongs to the family Slenyaki detachment of semi-rigid. The family numbers about 11 thousand. species. Body length up to 1 cm. It feeds on plants of the legume family, sucking the juice from the leaves, buds, tops of the stems. The female begins to lay eggs in 5-7 days after winging, if the temperature is below +18 degrees, the female's formation of sexual products is suspended. On average, 80-120 eggs are laid. On average, the development of the embryo lasts 8-12 days, under adverse conditions is delayed. The larval stage lasts 20-30 days. Only eggs overwinter.
In my opinion, this is one of the most amazing and significant photos of me. Because on it I was able to capture in a very large (26-fold) magnification and show you a very small representative of our fauna, which most of us would hardly just see in life, nor to see it in detail. Personally, this photo causes a storm of emotions that still overwhelm me, but in the next photo I will show you the same comrade in his real size, as we would see him in life.
For a long time I could not understand what it was, but with the help of several people, we first realized that it was an aphid, and then identified it to the species.
In the photo aphids Sipha elegans, which belongs to the family of real aphids.
It feeds on plants of the cereal family.
Size 1.4-2.1 mm.
Aphids feed on vegetable juices rich in carbohydrates. Undigested sugars dissolved in the juice are excreted undigested, resulting in droplets of so-called paddy or honeydew. Bees, wasps and ants feed on these secretions. Ants often "graze" aphids, protecting their flock from enemies. They tickle aphids with their antennae, resulting in a drop of padi that they swallow.