Features of the order Coleoptera

Lumberjack beetles, or longhorned beetles, have been studied much better than many other families of Coleoptera. Barbels are intensively collected by amateurs - collectors attracted by their beauty; this family is dealt with by practical foresters, since longhorned beetles are dangerous forest pests; utility workers also know the longhorned beetle as a destroyer of wooden buildings and furniture, and theoretical biologists, using the example of longhorned beetles, study the patterns of insect adaptation to life in such a special environment as wood. In total, more than 1,500 species of beetles have been described by lumberjacks. Our work will focus on a small number of species we encountered in the Kondinskie Lakes natural park. What are the main distinguishing features of barbels?

The Park territory is located in the middle taiga subzone. It occupies the left bank of the Konda River in its upper reaches, directly adjacent to the lands of the Verkhneye - Kondinsky reserve, located on the right bank. The northern border of the Park runs at latitude 61002′, and the southern border corresponds to 60045′. The westernmost point has a longitude of 63025′, and the longitude of the eastern border is 63048′.

The entire territory of the Park belongs to the northernmost part of the vast Kandinskaya Lowland. The slopes of the southern spurs of the North Sosvinskaya Upland extend directly to the northern border of the Park.

The relief of the Park territory was formed under the influence of the activity of flowing glacial waters of the Upper Quaternary period. According to geomorphological studies (Zemtsov, 1968), the northern part of the West Siberian Plain was subject to repeated glaciations. It is believed that the boundary of the maximum Samarov glaciation extended to 610N latitude. (Natural conditions…., 1963). This means that the area in which the Park is located was located right on the edge of the glacier. However, the researchers did not find any glacial landforms on the daytime surface. It is believed that they were washed away during the development of ancient river valleys. As pointed out by the largest specialist in geomorphology of Western Siberia A.A. Zemtsov (1968) the formation of the Quaternary cover and relief of the plain is associated not with the consistent evolution of relict lakes of the Neogene and not with the process of development of extensive periglacial and marine basins, but with the activity of ancient rivers. The paleo-rivers were distinguished by exceptionally high water content and maximum activity in the direction of intense erosion of tertiary geological formations and the formation of river valleys filled with a thick layer of alluvial formations.

The following methods for studying invertebrate animals are described in the literature:

Inspection of forest vegetation

Upon entering the forest, you must carefully examine the trunks and branches of trees and shrubs, paying attention to both the upper and lower surfaces of the leaves. On the trunks you can find animals that sit or move along the bark, and you can also find traces of the activity of some insects. Detecting them does not seem to be a particularly easy task, since in general it is not easy to notice a small animal among the irregularities of the bark, and in particular also because many animals are colored to match the color of the bark.

Air net fishing techniques

Air net fishing requires some skill. General rules: having caught an insect on the fly, you need to quickly turn the net so that the bag rests on the hoop and a bend is formed, as a result of which the gap in the net closes, and the prey can no longer get out of the net. If you manage to cover a sitting insect, then press the hoop to the ground and at the same time pull the bag up; in this case the insect usually takes off. Then they intercept the material of the bag with their hand so that the insect does not fly out.

Finding animals under the bark of stumps and lying trees

In order for the study of a stump to give good results, it is necessary to find a fairly old stump with more or less lagging bark, under which various animals would have time to settle. As for tree species, you should pay attention to the stumps of both coniferous (pine and spruce) and deciduous trees (mainly birch).

Lost pine or spruce trees are particularly valuable material that requires special attention. Here it is convenient to count the number of burrows (nests and families) of bark beetles, longhorned beetle larvae, elephant beetles, golden beetles, moths and ground beetles that have found shelter for the day. Let's try to tear off part of the bark of a fallen tree. Look, there’s a whole city of passages here. This is the work of bark beetles. Many species of these tree enemies are found in our forests. But there are also hunters among them: among the birds there are woodpeckers, and among the insects there are the riders already familiar to us. Another wood consumer is crawling along a nearby tree - a long-horned barbel - a woodcutter. Grab him carefully by the back so that he cannot pinch your finger with his strong jaws. The beetle vigorously moves its chest, emitting a characteristic creaking sound. This is a form of protection - in case someone gets scared!

The spruce longhorned beetle has a slender body and huge mustache. Its length is up to 3 cm. The female gnaws a hole 5 mm deep in the wood, where she lays up to 50 eggs. The larvae first feed on bark and then wood.

Barbel family, or woodcutters

These are medium or large beetles: the body length exceeds 20 mm. Their antennae are very long, often much longer than the body, usually directed to the sides, and if very long, then directed back, over the body. Most often they stay on bushes and trees, but many visit various flowering plants to feed on their pollen. The larvae are fleshy, with a large, seemingly swollen chest and a long, relatively thin abdomen, usually legless. They live in wood or under the bark of trees (some in herbaceous plants), where they gnaw wide tunnels, feeding on wood. Most species of longhorned beetles live in growing, usually weakened trees, but some species can live in harvested logs and even wood products. About 20,000 species of woodcutters are known, in Russia up to 900, in the European part about 300 species.

Long-whiskered gray barbel. Flat, wide, 13–20mm long, light gray beetle. The elytra are light and variegated. The antennae of the male are 3–4 times longer than the body, and those of the female are 2 times longer than the body. Adult beetles are found in early spring and then late summer on pine stumps and timber. The larvae are legless, slightly flattened, 30–35 mm long, pale yellow. They develop under the bark of coniferous trees, most often pine; inhabit weakened trees, windfall, unbarked timber and stumps.

Pine barbel. Body black; antennae, bases of femurs, tibiae and tarsi red-brown; body length 8.5–15 mm. The larvae live in pine trees.

Spruce longhorned beetle. Elytra with distinct transverse depression; apex of elytra with light hairy pubescence; the entire surface of the scutellum is evenly covered with light hairs; body length 15–35mm. The larvae live in the wood of weakened spruce trees, less commonly in fir and other coniferous trees, and in the wood of birch trees; dangerous forest pest.

Leptura red. Slender beetle 12-18 mm long. Males with brown-yellow elytra. Adult beetles live on the flowers of various herbaceous plants. The larvae make passages in the wood of coniferous trees, most often pine and spruce, which are in a state of decay, as well as in logs or old stumps lying on the ground

Aspen creaking. Large, 22-28 mm in size, black beetle. The top of the body is covered with short and thick, felt-like hairs. There are large, black dots on the elytra. The beetle, taken in hand, creaks. Lives on aspen, poplar, and willows. It feeds on leaves, gnawing round holes in them, and makes circular gnaws on young shoots.

The larvae, 35-45 mm long, inhabit aspen and poplar; in their habitats, swellings form on branches and trunks. Lives in extratropical Eurasia.

Results and discussions

At the beginning of the expedition we did not encounter any longhorned beetles, most likely this was due to the low air temperature. But we found their larvae in the trees and traces of their vital activity: gnaws on wood, larval passages under the bark of a fallen pine tree, under the bark of an old stump. In addition, we encountered the gouges of the black woodpecker, great spotted woodpecker, lesser spotted woodpecker, and three-toed woodpecker; they corresponded to the passages of the larvae.

After the temperature increased, single individuals of long-horned beetles began to be found: black pine long-horned beetle, spruce long-horned beetle, gray long-whiskered long-horned beetle. On July 12, when the weather was warm, there was a mass emergence of black pine long-horned beetle on Lake Pont-Tur.

I believe that longhorned beetles are part of the food chain. Longhorn beetle larvae feed on spruce, pine and aspen wood. And woodpeckers, black grouse, nuthatches, crows, magpies, small mammals feed on barbel larvae, and bears can also feast on barbel larvae.

Village near Lake Aran - tour (near cordon of the Kondinsky Lakes Natural Park).

During the excursion, walking along the road near Lake Arantur, observing traces of vertebrate and non-vertebrate animals.

Traces of vital activity of vertebrate animals: bear, viviparous lizard, viper, shrew, mouse mouse, shrew, hare, partridge, black grouse, ducks with ducklings.

Traces of vital activity of invertebrate animals: cockchafer, earthworm, gray grasshoppers, dragonflies, ants, wood borers. Spiders: leopard spider, field spider.

The excursion along the ecological trail from the station of the Akh River Natural Park took place on 12.07. 2010. The excursion took place in the following biotopes: raised bogs, the foot of a moraine hill, meadow, floodplain forest of the Akh River. We encountered invertebrates: turf ant, carpenter borer, leopard spider, flower spider, crab; we did not encounter any beetles. Vertebrates: bear, fox, lynx.

Excursion near Range - the tour took place on 07/14/10. Traces of invertebrate activity: ants, wolf spiders, caterpillars, mosquitoes, midges, woodworms. Traces of vital activity of vertebrates: bear, elk, viper, fox, sometimes badger, woodpecker.