And...
#amazingnature
#insectsoftheworld
#fastinacinginsects
#proofofbrain
#haveyoubeenhere
As well as colleagues who are members of this great community, of course on blogs that have scientific insights for all of us.
In accordance with the explanation in the previous post, that when we know the character of each object, especially the species that are often the source of destruction, then we will know all the actions and weaknesses of an object. Although sometimes we find the advantages that exist in them, then we are able to make decisions based on human will in all actions.
Talking about grasshoppers is closely related to every plant, so when talking about plants it is bound to be tied to farmers and farmers are a source of service providers (food) for humans. This means that their presence is something we need to pay attention to from all the complaints they experience. Thus the presence of grasshoppers becomes an obstacle in the success of all its appearances, if its performance is hampered then the food supply will decrease. So talking about the whereabouts of grasshoppers and knowing their weaknesses is very important.
Here I am interested in the performance of grasshoppers starting from the initial process to becoming adults and knowing all the characters in each plant is very important because it can fortify its presence in the life of plant farmers. Especially around the Asian region, people make their staple food is rice, while grasshoppers really like to be in rice plants that will be processed into rice (beras).
Before we know its performance on each rice plant, let's first look at the performance or life process that starts from beginning to end.
🦗 Peuphoem awal...
Grasshopper metamorphosis or life cycle
Do you know, what is meant by grasshopper metamorphosis?
Or do you know about the process that grasshoppers go through from childhood to adulthood or when they reach their limit of life?
Then if someone asks whether the grasshopper metamorphosis is perfect or not? And why does the grasshopper metamorphosis not go through the pupa stage and so on?
The three questions above will be answered in this post, although they are not entirely complete and accurate, but at least they have some reasons for observing and reporting on all the problems above.
Alright... Let's take a look one by one...
Experts say that the process of the occurrence of grasshoppers in terms of metamorphosis or the reproductive process that always changes from small to large, or simply it can be concluded that metamorphosis is a process of shape changes that occur during postembryonic development. Which starts from the beginning and reaches the peak of maturity.
Whereas grasshoppers also have metamorphosis marked by changes in physical forms in the form of stages, such as :
1. Adult grasshoppers ready to lay eggs
2. Egg
3. Nimfa
4. Imago (Adult grasshopper)
The illustration is as follows 👇
If you look at the illustration above, you don't see the pupa process or it's called a cocoon (butterfly), then this is what is called imperfect metamorphosis. While the butterfly is called a complete metamorphosis because there is one more stage in the form of a cocoon.
The time span or age of the grasshopper and its behavior
| Ordinal | Stages-designation | Behavior and character |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Egg or The forerunner of grasshoppers | Placed by the mother, above the ground about 3 to 4 cm from the surface |
| 2 | Nymphs or tiny baby grasshoppers that usually have a white color | This process, which generally lasts for approximately 25-40 days, then begins to consume the leaves |
| 3 | Young grasshopper-Entering the stage of maturity | In the longest span of time is about 10-11 months. Adult grasshoppers reach sexual maturity within 15 days and survive for a span of about 30 days, and that too depends on the type of integrity of the initial egg |
| 4 | Adult grasshopper | If calculated and confirmed in general, the age of the grasshopper itself lasts 12 months and has eaten a lot of leaves during the process of becoming a baby grasshopper, a young grasshopper, and an adult grasshopper |
| 📗 | Source of knowledge | 9th grade biology teacher handbook and local observation team experience |
When the grasshopper is in the nymph stage, then drips onto the young grasshopper, it does not mean that it will live smoothly and easily, which is in accordance with the number of eggs, here there will be massive slaughter and will become fugitives, the predators (according to the explanation above). This, according to the observations of the local observer team, almost 50% of them do not survive because some of them will also be hunted by their body lovers, meaning the grasshoppers will be hunted by every predator such as:
- Rat
- Lizard
- Bird
- and, several other predators that rule the area.
Well, here lies the weakness, when a plant area is occupied by several of the predatory species mentioned above, they can suppress the numbers, automatically their presence will become food for them as well as narrow their growth rate.
Especially if in areas such as rice fields, they will also be hunted by every duck that plays in the area. When young grasshoppers are hunted by rats, birds, and lizards, then when they are adults they will be hunted by several birds such as ducks. So farmers don't have to worry about this, because there are other animals that can handle it.
If we calculate roughly, the birth of grasshoppers per year, generally adult female grasshoppers are able to lay from 10 to 300 eggs in one fertilization. If your area has 10 adult female locusts, each fertilization will produce 3000 eggs, and if they continue to live you can be sure that the grasshoppers will fill every plant in their respective areas. But what happened was not like that, and it looks like the growth rate of grasshoppers is still standard. So where is the big number? It turned out that the population was suppressed by every predator from the egg stage, nympha, young grasshoppers, and adult grasshoppers.
Moreover, in our area, both in plantations and in the wild, their presence is still visible, but in standard numbers, although a bit difficult to find, they still exist, except in inhabited areas such as predatory animals (mentioned above), the population is decreasing, and still in a state of convenience for each farmer's harvest.
So, where to look for it when the local teams research its development? And where is the large population?
The local team found an area far from residential areas and farmers' crops were being cultivated, in that area a large population of locusts, one of the islands separated from the village of Pusong Lama Lhokseumawe Aceh or called Pulau Dareut.
If you want to see the area you can see in the map below.
In this area there are many protected animals and this location is the location of a small research on animals including insects by the local Lhokseumawe research team (I happened to be in it).
However, to visit this area, you must invite local people because the terrain is a bit dangerous, coincidentally the location is located in the Indian Ocean ocean area right on the outskirts of residential areas.
To be continued
In the next post, of course, we will discuss some other unique things about insects and other wild habitats.
𝔗𝔴𝔢𝔱𝔱𝔢𝔯
𝔉𝔞𝔠𝔢𝔟𝔬𝔬𝔨
𝔏𝔦𝔫𝔨𝔢𝔡𝔩𝔫
