There are about 4000 species of soft cells. These are beetles with relatively soft body covers: very weak and bent in soft-water bodies, even the elytra, which are usually hard and highly sclerotized in most beetles. Mustaches are usually thread-shaped and consist of 11 segments.
Beetles are armed with sharp jaws and lead a predatory lifestyle. An additional source of food for them is the fleshy parts of flowers, which they often chew out. Soft-cells are not afraid of birds of prey and insects, from the attack of which they are reliably protected by the poison produced in their body (cantharidin). Soft-well larvae are usually found in soil and forest litter. Most of them are dark-coloured, and the body is covered with short, thick hairs. These larvae are also predators. Inside their sharp sickle-shaped or dagger-shaped jaws there is a special channel.
These jaws are not suitable for chewing food and are mainly used to hold prey. In this respect, they resemble the teeth of poisonous snakes. The resemblance becomes even more complete because, like snakes, the larvae of soft-water larvae are bitten through channels in the jaws and injected into the victim's body poison - saliva and digestive intestinal juices, immediately killing the caught animal. Then the digestive fluid is poured onto the body through the mouth, the tissues are softened and dissolved, and the semi-liquid porridge is sucked up by the larvae. The red-legged softball is nicknamed for its coloring by a firefighter.
The family of crack beetles is quite extensive, with a number of species exceeding 10,000). Its representatives are usually beetles of medium size, 10-20 mm long, with an elongated body and short legs. Their antennae are serrated or combed, rarely thread-shaped; pronoun corners are slightly elongated and pointed.
The most characteristic feature of clicks is the adaptation to jumping, the main part of which is the growth of the prothoraxum, which is in a hole in the middle chest pair. When the beetle falls on its back, it is unable to flip overusing its short legs. He has a special way to do this. With his legs pressed, the clicks bend so that the pro thorax process comes out of the middle thoracic cavity and rests on its edge.
When then the clicks bend sharply, the process bounces off the stop and the beetle gets a strong push, jumps up and usually bounces on its legs. If the first attempt to flip over was unsuccessful, it is repeated n again, the clicks' ion but succeeds. Each time a dry click is heard - a blow of the prothorax to the bottom of the middle thoracic hole. Adult clicks are common in summer on grass or leaves of trees and shrubs. Many species fly, especially in the morning and evening. They eat plant foods.
Indeed, their thin, elastic, cylindrical bodies in red and brown resemble pieces of wire. The shape of their bodies is well adapted to the movement in the thickness of the soil. The front crack of their head together with their jaws forms a loosening wedge, the thoracic and abdominal segments are distinguished by very strong covers, and at the end of the body, there are different kinds of supporting outgrowths and tires, which do not allow the larvae to move backward.
But not all larvae of clicks are like this. Some of those who prefer loose, hollow soils have adapted to a different way of moving around. The body covers of these larvae are less hard, and each segment is additionally divided into two parts. This additional division of the body allows the larvae to bend many times, breaking through but bizarre walking, which is formed from natural cavities that are always present in the structural soil.
Mustache whiskers have a slender elongated body and unusual, typical only for this family of antennae, the length of which in many species can significantly exceed the length of the insect itself. Mustache beetles can be thrown on the back, but never mustache them under themselves - a feature that allows you to quickly distinguish them from the representative of a close family of leaf-eaters.
Mustache bases are usually covered my eyes, which for this reason have more or less kidney shape. These beetles are quite large, usually more than 20 mm long, but there are also very small species. Many mustaches, if taken in hand, make sharp squeaky sounds that occur when rubbing a rib on the back edge of the prothorax against the rough surface of the middle chest. Some Havana mustaches are able to make sharp noises by rubbing the thighs of the hind legs against the elytra.
Mustache larvae have a white or yellowish flattened body with a well-developed prothorax is, in which the head is partially retracted. Their legs are underdeveloped, and larvae crawl with the help of Umozoleif, a special bloating, located in the middle- and posterior chest and most abdominal segments. Some have a thorn or two small hooks at the end of the body, making it easier to move backwards. Powerful larval jaws point straight ahead.