Rider is an insect that differs from other representatives of its class in the place where eggs are laid. When the time comes for reproduction, the female looks for a prey. Noticing a suitable larva, she sticks an ovipositor into the body of the victim and instantly lays an egg. One attempt is not enough - and she has to attack several times, withstanding an open dangerous battle, which a clumsy victim, as a rule, loses to a nimble opponent.
Insect rider can infect both openly living larvae and those leading a hidden lifestyle, for example, in wood or stems. In such cases, the female pierces the obstacle with her ovipositor, like a drill. Some riders lay their eggs not in the body of the victim, but on its surface. The emerging larva, firmly holding on, gnaws through the outer shell of the victim and feeds on its juices.
Rider - an insect with a thin body, with an elongated abdomen, with a long needle-shaped ovipositor at the end. The thickness of the ovipositor is comparable to that of a horsehair. Inside it there are three thread-like villi, with the stirring of which the egg moves. A distinctive feature is the long antennae, whichthe rider (insect) probes the surface and catches the slightest vibrations. The photo shows it well.
Interesting behavior is Dinocampus coccinellae (a parasitic insect with a size of about 4 mm, belonging to the braconid family), which parasitizes a seven-spotted ladybug. The laid egg begins to develop in the body of the victim. Egg Larva
coming out in a few days. She begins to feed on adipose and connective tissues, without affecting the internal organs of the cow, which does not seem to notice the changes that have occurred. This continues for about 25 days.
When it's time to leave the host's body, the wasp larva gnaws through the nerves leading to the cow's limbs to prevent it from escaping. Having got out of the body, the larva is located between the legs of its “canned food”, i.e. under her body, weaves a cocoon in which it develops further. Amazingly, the ladybug is alive all this time. The pupa grows for about a week and then leaves the cocoon. Scientists from the University of Montreal have proven that in every fourth case the carrier remains alive, moreover, after this incident, he returns to his normal life.
Currently, about 40 thousand species of riders are known. Despite their abundance, people rarely encounter them. This is due to the fact that
Insects choose sparsely populated, calm habitats. They differ in size (from a few millimeters to 5 cm), habitat, color and behavior. Their victims are also different. They can be asparagus rattlesnakes, bedbugs, cotton weevils, apple codling moths and many others. But no matter how the rider behaves and wherever the rider lives, the insect always provides its offspring with food. Given that the vast majority of their victims are insect pests of agricultural crops, destroying them, riders provide undoubted help to humans, preventing their spread. It is on this unusual method of reproduction that the biological method of combating many pests is based.
