Where did the roaches go – explains the entomologist
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Questions are actively spreading in social networks about why no one sees Khrushchev this year, because their absence has been noticed in various regions of Ukraine. “UP. Life” talked to Ruslana Drab, an entomologist of the Rivne Center for Disease Control and Prevention, who told about the reason for such rumors and dispelled myths about the disappearance of khrushch. Where did Khrushchev go? Social media users put forward their own theories about the situation: the COVID-19 pandemic; fire in the Chernobyl zone due to hostilities; cold spring Photo: imagebrokermicrostock/Depositphotos “There is no scientifically proven opinion that anything from this list has an effect on the disappearance of beetles. According to the fact that there are much fewer of them this year than usual. This is actually related to the peculiarities of the life cycle of the beetles,” – says the entomologist. According to her, the life of a roach lasts approximately 3-5 years, and they spend most of it in the larval stage in the soil. This is their natural annual cycle. For about 30-40 days, beetles live on the surface of the soil, where they reproduce. That is why the number of khrushch varies significantly from year to year. It all depends on when the larvae mature and the caterpillars from the pupae turn into adult beetles. There is also the concept of a population wave of insects, that is, a natural process when the number of insects is different in different regions of the country. The number of roaches in one or another region may also depend on climatic conditions, namely on temperature and humidity. “There are cases, in particular, like a few years ago, that the roaches simply did not fly in May because it was cold. They did it as late as September,” Ruslana Drab notes. Their number also depends on the composition of the soil in the region. It is difficult for them to lay larvae in clay, unlike sandy. The entomologist adds that there is also an assumption that intense floods in different parts of Ukraine this year could have influenced the decrease in the number of beetles. Those insects that were in the pupal stage then found it difficult to fly away due to the soil being washed away by water. Despite the fact that the larvae themselves are almost invisible, there are many larvae in the soil. This shows that they exist and will not disappear anywhere. These beetles adapt very easily to any conditions and quickly restore their population. “Crushes are pests. Their adults eat the leaves of trees in gardens and parks. The larvae feed on the roots of plants, which leads to their death. However, they pollinate plants. Many birds, lizards, reptiles and hedgehogs eat them. Because they have contains a lot of protein, so it is quite a nutritious food. Larvae of roach are an excellent bait for fishing. Therefore, of course, they also bring a lot of benefits to nature,” the entomologist adds. Previously, we explained why some people are bitten by mosquitoes all the time, and others are not. . Read also: Life cycle of berries, plants and insects. PHOTO
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