A larva in which larvae live. Matryoshka of the insect world (5 photos)

It’s hard to pass up a photo like this, and I, of course, didn’t. This creature looks alien enough to inhabit this canal, doesn't it? And I think you can’t wait to find out what this wonderful and wondrous miracle is. So I won’t waste time and get straight to the point.





This unusual creature is, in fact, quite common and is found everywhere in grain fields, being a known pest.

The scientific name is red-breasted leopard (Oulema melanopus). I understand that the name does not particularly suit this wonderful creature, which looks more like a transparent self-moving bag of excrement.



In fact, the name is quite appropriate if you look at an adult animal. Meet the fierce enemy of humanity, who destroys the crops of any grain crops.

Moreover, leaves are loved both by larvae, which skeletonize them, gnawing out the most tender parts and leaving veins, and by adult beetles, which gnaw right through the leaf along with the veins.





You're probably wondering why the larva looks like a clear bag of feces? In general (in the broad sense of the word) almost any organism fits this definition, but why is it transparent and flaunts its goodness?

Everything is very simple. This is such a defense mechanism. It’s not for nothing that there is a proverb about what you don’t need to touch so that it doesn’t stink ???? Actually, for this species this is not a proverb, but a life credo - to be as unattractive as possible to predators. And the drunkards have someone to fear.



If you look closely at the first photo, you will notice another larva inside the larva. The thing is that there are several species of wasps that parasitize this species. If we make a pun (however, the pun is dubious), then we can say that wasps lay larvae in larvae that lay larvae.

These wasps include Tetrastichus julis. It is she who stands guard over our fields, destroying up to 90% of the pest population in the place where she lives.