The bronze beetle is an insect belonging to the order Coleoptera, the family of the lamellar mustache, the subfamily of beetles. His body is oval-flattened, far from grace. The head is small, slightly lowered.
The bronze beetle is amazing in flight in sunny weather. It sparkles all over, shimmers like a precious stone. The insect now flashes like fire, then becomes fiery red, like hot metal. And in cloudy weather, its color is rather dull. But as soon as the sun comes out and it takes off, it becomes unusual again. Its amazing modulations and brightness are associated with the refraction of sunlight on the back of the insect. In principle, optical coloration is unusual for beetles - it is inherent in butterflies and dragonflies.
Most often, the insect can be seen on the flowers, which can be seen in the photo. The bronze beetle is not one of the shy ones, it is in no hurry to fly away, so there is an opportunity to examine it well. If necessary, take off, he can do it instantly. Some beetles need to raise their elytra before flying, others need to spread their lower wings. The bronze beetle does not need to be prepared for flight, as it has special incisions on the sides of the elytra, into which it inserts the lower wings and takes off without lifting the upper ones. This structure allows him to quickly overcome certain distances, because the rigid wings are not spaced and do not impede flight.
Mostly bronzes, and there are about 4,000 species of them, live in the tropics. In our country, there are about several dozen species of them. The most common is the golden bronze beetle. It is quite large, its body length is almost 2 cm. The elytra are emerald-metallic in color. Sitting on a flower, it can stay on it for up to two weeks if it is not disturbed
The bronze beetle feeds on juicy and rotten fruits, flower petals and juices flowing from plants. Eggs are laid in the second year of life in the adult stage (adult insect), usually in July. After about a month, the eggs hatch into larvae, which immediately begin to feed.
The larvae are large, thick, whitish, slightly hairy, similar in shape to the letter C. They do not have claws on their legs, they can move on their backs. They live, feed and develop in the forest floor, compost, rotten wood, etc. They are very voracious, reach half of their final size in a month, eating hundreds of times their weight. With their strong jaws, they chew on plant remains, turning them into excellent black soil.
After a certain time, the larvae are going to pupate. In the construction of the cocoon, small legs play an important role, which are practically not used for movement. Cocoons are erected from feces, which the larva accumulates inside itself in advance. By secreting a sticky substance that hardens over time, the larva forms a cocoon with its rounded back. Inside, it seems to be polished and very durable.
The ripened bronze beetle is in no hurry to leave its shelter - it is waiting for the chitinous cover to get stronger. This can take a lot of time. Only after that he gets out to the surface of the earth.
This family includes not only brightly colored insects. Among them there are dark, chocolate, striped, speckled, etc. The bronze beetle brings little practical harm, and there is a lot of joy from its contemplation.
