In this article you will learn about who the common drupe is, where it lives, what it eats and other interesting details of its existence. Very often people are afraid of insects. It is said that this fear has been preserved on a subconscious level since ancient times, when these representatives of nature were huge and could really frighten. If you look closely at insects, for example, through a microscope, it turns out that they look like monsters. The common drupe is no exception.
Don't be afraid
It has a brownish body color (reddish individuals are also found), 15 pairs of long legs, 40 convex eyes located on the sides of the head. The common drupe is a centipede, as is the centipede, so they are somewhat similar. Therefore, when you meet her, you might think that she can sting, but this is not so. The common drupe feeds on insects and does not touch a person, even if he tries to catch it. In spring, this centipede begins to show activity earlier than other insects. Therefore, she has the opportunity to enjoy such a delicacy,like caterpillars, spiders and other large insects, which she would not have coped with in the warm season, have not departed from the winter stupor. What else does the common drupe have in common with scolopendra? Respiratory system. These insects have lateral spiracles located in special segments of the body through which air enters the trachea.
What it looks like
The body of the drupe is flat. In length, it reaches about 3 cm. The nimble and flat centipede quickly hides from danger in the narrowest cracks. Moreover, she sees the world around her poorly, despite the large number of eyes. Best of all, the drupe is guided by touch, and for this there are many tactile hairs on its limbs. She also feels the surrounding space with the help of antennae. Interestingly, the last two pairs of legs of this insect play the role of antennae when it has to move backwards, running away from enemies. They feel the way. An additional sense that the centipede uses to move around and get food is the sense of smell. Like other insects, the common drupe has respiratory organs.
Natural conditions
You can meet this insect both in nature and in homes. Moreover, they can start up not only in private ownership, but also in an ordinary apartment, in which there is high humidity. The neighborhood is unpleasant, but not dangerous, since the drupe is a weak insect and is unable to injure human skin. In nature, they live in rotten stumps, in a litter of leaves and grasses, under the bark of logs, understones. That is, where it is damp. Here they also hunt other insects. The drupe does not burrow deep into the soil, but it does not come to the surface either. Prefers to be nocturnal. To survive the winter, these centipedes gather together in large groups. To defeat another insect and then eat it, the drupe uses the poison that is in its jaws. To escape from the enemy, the centipede is ready to sacrifice its limb, like a lizard with its tail.
Unusual pets
Interestingly, despite the fact that the drupe is not pretty, some people catch it and keep it as a pet. Perhaps they have some kind of scientific, research interest, or maybe simple human curiosity. Caring owners are trying to create suitable conditions for the drupes. Planted in a special container filled with peat and equipped with rotten driftwood. Experts recommend providing one drupe with an area of \u200b\u200b9 centimeters. They are fed with available insects. Some owners even manage to achieve such favorable conditions that the drupes begin to multiply.
Waiting for the babies
In nature, mating of these insects occurs after hibernation. The initiator of the relationship is the male. He preliminarily prepares the "marriage bed" in the form of a web woven by himself, on which he lays the spermatophore. Now it remains only to invite the female. The male drupe "invites" her to the nest,flapping his mustache. Moving along the web, the female collects the spermatophore on the legs, from which it enters the genital opening. After laying eggs, the female takes care of them. She curls up into a ring around future offspring and secretes mucus that protects them from drying out. Babies are born with only 7 pairs of legs, but grow quickly and soon reach the size of their parents.
In this article we talked about how the common drupe lives. Breathing can be intercepted by someone who sees this insect at home. But if you know that these centipedes are useful, for example, by eating cockroaches, then you begin to treat them completely differently.
