The origin of the long-necked beetle, features of its appearance, the process of procreation, behavior, advice on keeping the Madagascar insect at home. It is not a secret for anyone that the living inhabitants of our planet Earth are so diverse that no one can be sure that he knows them all by sight. Indeed, sometimes in different parts of our globe there are such living specimens that sometimes one can doubt the reality of their existence.
There are moments in life when you look at some picture in a book or encyclopedia and meet there a completely unfamiliar creature that looks as if it immigrated to this leaf from a book of fairy tales or stories about non-existent creatures.
It is these thoughts that visit a person when he has the opportunity to meet such a representative of the living world of the planet as the giraffe beetle. Its peculiar name speaks for itself. And having read or heard it, you can be absolutely sure that this is some kind of "animal" with a completely unusual, even peculiar appearance.
Speaking sensibly, it is quite understandable that our mother nature did her best, of course, to the glory: someone got good health from her as a gift, someone got a talent, and someone got an interesting and unique appearance. Here, as they say, to each his own. But what can you say about the fact that some people live with the dream of having such a peculiar specimen for themselves as a pet, instead of the usual kitten or puppy.
In this situation, everyone has completely different thoughts and opinions in their heads. Someone may think that this is nonsense and keeping a beetle in the house is already abnormal, even if it is very rare and thoroughbred, someone will think that this is really amazing and envy the decisiveness of this dreamer, but some do not think and do not reason - they take and start, putting all their courage and efforts into this.
Having acquired such a miracle of nature, you will undoubtedly be able to stand out among all the people of your environment and your pet will not only delight you every day, but will also cause a storm of various feelings and emotions in most of all your friends and acquaintances.
When it comes to choosing your smaller friend, then there is absolutely no need to follow the usual rules, because the choice of a friend is your personal and purely individual matter. And whether it is a beetle or a dog - it is absolutely not important, the main thing is that you two feel good, and you feel joy after meeting with your pupil, when you return home after a hard day at work.
Before you search all the sites of the Internet pet stores, you should get to know your extraordinary "little beast" better.
Family ties and homelands of giraffe beetles
In a large, friendly kingdom of living organisms that are inhabitants of our world, there lives a small creature, whose nature has presented a very bright and original appearance. This specimen is called a giraffe beetle (lat. Trachelophorus giraffa). Scientists-zoologists have attributed it to the family of tubovers, to the order Coleoptera and to the class of insects.
In the event that you have the thought that you want to see such a long-necked miracle in its native territory, then to make this goal come true, you should go to the large island of Madagascar. And to be more precise, in the southeast of the island there is a small province of Fianarantsoa, in which there is one picturesque place called Ranomafana National Park. It is in it, among the dense evergreen tropical forests, ferns and graceful orchids, that you can find this cute little bug. Although it is rarely possible to meet him when he slowly strolls along the paths of his native land.
This coleopteran insect got its name because it has a long neck in relation to the body, like a giraffe, so people, seeing this "similarity", named it a giraffe beetle.
If you trust some sources, the sight of these pretty bugs was discovered not long ago, only in 2008. There are not so many of these outstanding representatives of the close-knit family of pipe-workers in open nature. But no one can say for sure about their conservation status. Even on such a crucial issue, the opinions of scientists differed. Some scholars argue that they should be protected by law, as they can disappear from the face of the earth. But some of them are sure that the reason is not at all hidden in the fact that their limited number in living nature - the whole catch is that these creations of nature have not been sufficiently studied at all.
Description of the appearance of giraffe beetles
As for the exterior of this arthropod insect, in its creation, Mother Nature, of course, did a very good job and showed all her imagination and creative thinking. If we talk about this "giraffe" and the features of his appearance, then here you can firmly and very confidently say: "Once you see, you will never forget!" And indeed it is. Looking at his photographs on various pages of the World Wide Web or in books about animals, the thought naturally suggests itself that this is such a “super model” among the whole large world of entomology.
All shots with the participation of this beetle are a work of art. The intense colors of the insect's body, combined with the beautiful landscape in the photo, are simply mesmerizing and, willy-nilly, make them admire.
Probably the most visible and most publicized part of a giraffe-like bug's body is its neck. This attraction is not only a part of the body, but also a weapon, a tool that helps him in creating conditions of comfort in his daily life, as well as in the process of procreation. The length of the neck often exceeds the size of the entire body of the insect, but this happens only in males.
The structure of the neck, in these very extraordinary "bugs", is not quite elementary. They have it represented by two almost independent departments. The lower "floor" is the so-called prothorax, which looks a little elongated. The forelimbs are attached to this part. The upper part of the neck is a kind of continuation of the head capsule, a bit like a tube in shape. The neck of these arthropods ends with a completely small head, which, in relation to the size of the beetle as a whole, seems extremely tiny. It contains the oral chewing system, which provides the necessary processing of food products of the pipe giraffe.
After all, as scientists-entomologists say, these representatives of the living world of the planet are not born as such: the neck of males grows in the process of development, as a result of adaptation to the harsh conditions of the external environment. It is known that male beetles by their nature are real gentlemen and take all male work on their necks, in the truest sense of the word. It is the neck that helps them in building cozy nests for their family.
Another feature in the structure of the body of these mysterious creatures is the presence of an additional neck joint, thanks to which they can quickly bend up and down without much difficulty, which helps them in mating games and in the process of obtaining food.
Females, on the other hand, are more miniature and proportional, the size of their necks is approximately two to three times smaller. The total body length of the original Coleoptera is approximately 20–28 mm.
It is impossible not to mention the unusually beautiful body coloration of the giraffe bug, which is made by nature with special sophistication and the correct combination of shades. The entire body of the coleoptera specimen of the genus, including the head, neck, abdomen and limbs, is painted in a rich coal-black color. But the elytra appear before our eyes in a beautiful noble bright red color scheme. Another characteristic property of the colors of the body of this arthropod is the glossy shine of almost the entire body, one cannot but pay attention to how its color shimmers in direct sunlight.
Insect breeding method
These fabulous living creatures are not only the happy owners of an outstanding appearance, but they also managed to stand out in an extremely original way of reproduction.
The thing is that the female representatives of these pretty insects prefer to create "new cells of society" only with the most worthy and strong "men" - bugs. For this, among the strong half of the beetles, so-called battles are held for the right to mate with a female giraffe beetle. No matter how this or that male craves victory, in these bloody battles there is still one rule that they do not violate under any circumstances. It implies that in no case should any participant lose their life, they simply choose the strongest among the participants. And the entire period of this action, the female observes the course of these military actions, just as the emperors of Ancient Rome admired the battles of gladiators.
The whole point of the battle is to knock your opponents down. But there are various situations, even in the life of insects. In the event that the battle continues for a long period of time, and the strengths of the long-necked competitors are equal, then the right to choose goes to the "woman" - zhuku herself. When the fight is over or stopped by the female, a mating process soon takes place.
Also, the winner male is not only the strongest, but also caring and prudent and treats his future offspring with special trepidation. First, he looks for the leaf he needs for a long time, then with the help of his unusually long neck he folds it into a small bundle that looks like a small tube or barrel. Then the expectant mother lays her only egg in this "cradle".
Practically all representatives of this family do this, from which the name "tube-runner" comes from.
But not all tube-spinning giraffes are decent and caring husbands. Most of them leave their chosen one almost immediately after the end of the mating process. After all, the female lays the egg after a while and already alone packs it into a special leaf.
But there are also exceptions to all patterns. It is believed that if the male remains in the family, then he carefully protects the egg from various disasters. These include various flies, wasps and other parasites that can also afford to lay their eggs inside a constructed leaf tube. Often, the larvae of these pests eat the larva of a fragile and vulnerable bug.
If everything went without any special problems and the enemy individuals did not get to the future giraffe beetle, then after a few days its larva begins to gradually make its way out of its small shelter. In the event that the "baby" does not quite have the strength to get out of his house, then the maternal instinct of the long-necked female does its job, and she independently cuts a way out for her baby.
Features of the behavior of insect giraffes in an open environment
Talking about these extraordinary living creatures, we can say that they are inveterate couch potatoes. After all, they do not tend to leave their habitat, and besides, they rarely even go out for a walk.
They spend most of their free time from sleep in trees. There they construct nests for themselves, where they live, or simply on the surfaces of the leaves. In these places, weevils can bask in the sun for hours, taking sun baths. But in the trees, they are not only lazy, but also get food. The thing is that they feed on the hard leaves of only a few species of trees, most often they live on them.
If someone is very lucky, then also occasionally there is an opportunity to meet them on the roads. There they can walk or just relax on the sidelines.
Giraffe beetle nutrition
In the event that it comes to the diet of this representative of the world fauna, then it can with complete confidence, throwing away all unnecessary doubts, be called that still a gourmet. Indeed, as you know, this cunning giraffe beetle eats only leaves that grow on only two types of trees - these are Dichaetanthera cordifolia and Dichaetanthera arborea. It is on these representatives of the flora that they live, they feed on them, and their baby bugs are born and grow on them. So, in principle, these two trees can be conventionally called the homeland of the fabulous giraffe beetle.
Keeping the Madagascar beetle at home
Keeping various bugs as pets is not quite common, but even today, it is absolutely not surprising. But as for this particular type of insect, due to the fact that their population is relatively very young and has been studied only in general terms, the acquisition of such a long-necked friend and comrade is a rather difficult task, one might even say that almost impossible.
In the event that fortune has turned to face you, and you eventually managed to acquire such a cute creation of nature, it is perhaps too early to rejoice. The whole problem is that, as we already know, these arthropods are very demanding on the diet, and these trees, unfortunately, do not grow in our area. Perhaps, in the near future, scientists will nevertheless find some alternative to the favorite leaves of these insect-like "geraphics", but if you are not going to move to hot Africa, then you should postpone the establishment of such a pet.
Many, of course, may think that this is not a serious problem, because you can try to give him a variety of leaves, maybe something will come to his liking, and then everything will be fine, but do not forget that a completely innocent living creature may die, whose relatives are not so many on our big planet. Perhaps you are sure that you can provide your little friend with good nutrition, then you might think about where to settle him.
Usually, terrariums or insectaries are used for a comfortable stay of various insects. For such a pet as the giraffe beetle, enough space is required so that it can safely walk through its possessions without feeling any oppression.
The approximate dimensions of the insectarium should be approximately 50x50x100 cm.
As for the flooring, finely ground untreated peat may be suitable for it, only it should not be dry. It will also be good to equip his personal apartment with various twigs, twigs and pieces of wood or bark. This will allow the landlord to maintain his physical strength and just sometimes have fun.
In the house of your African giraffe-like insect, you must maintain a constant temperature level, which should range from 22 to 28 degrees. An equally important condition is the coefficient of air humidity. It is impossible to allow the air to dry in the bug's housing, therefore the humidity indicator should not be lower than 70%. To prevent this, it is necessary to carry out daily spraying.
It is extremely difficult to name the price of this giraffe beetle, since it is not available on free sale.
What a giraffe beetle looks like, see this video:
