Interview
Bugs gone astray
Actually, they feed on plants, but now a Wanzenart to attack more and more people. What’s behind it? We ask the biologists and bugs experts Wolfgang Dorow.
Many types of Bugs prefer plant – like this green stink bug
Mr. Dorow, plant suckers infested suddenly people. What exactly happened?
Wolfgang Dorow: people in the room Fulda have been stung by several animals, and had strong allergic reactions. At a snack stand, a woman should have worn even 30 stitches. It has brought me specimens of this insect in the past, and I’m determined to be the animals last weekend.
And, what kind of animals are these?
It is the kind of Psallus varians. There is not a common German name, although she has time, someone called the many-coloured forest bug, but the term has never. The Name is also not good, because the bug is not really colourful.
A bug – and what for?
The species is widespread across Europe, even in the North of Iran is demonstrated. I work in the Hessian natural forest reserves, the species is very common. Especially in may and June, it is represented there in spades. She lives mainly on Book, but also on oaks. There, they sucked the pollen is actually Tree. Older animals also suck Blattläuseaus and probably also other small soft-skinned animals, and insect eggs.
This is the culprit – in addition to the Euro coin: Psallus varians
So people, these bugs have not sold out yet?
Anyway, I’m has never been bothered. However, it is known that certain bugs – also Psallus species -that do not suck actually, to humans and other vertebrate animals, stinging a human. But it was then too. The stitch reddens. It is so amazing that so many people have been stung, as well, that so many people have strong allergic reaction.
Why suddenly so many bugs missed?
We don’t know.
Do you have a guess?
Yes, but no sound. It is known that insects are often faced with a Storm of annoying. On the coast of mass ladybug occur already times that can use a tweak also. In case of a thunderstorm flying, it seems to be like that before a Thunderstorm, the electric field changes greatly, and therefore, many of the small animals are no longer able to fly and, towards the ground.
It is also known that after heavy rain and storms many of the animals from the tree crowns to be rained down or voluntarily flee there. It could also be that the aphids that eat the bugs – rained down-or even destroyed – because for a lot of small insects a death is such a big rain drop, Yes, judgment. But these are all wild theories. In particular, none of what has brought the bugs to white, suddenly a large number of people disorder.
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Useful Creepy Crawlies
Without it, nothing goes
They eat aphids and mosquitoes, pollinate fruit trees and vegetables and dispose of waste. And some even lose their terror if you answer close enough.
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Useful Creepy Crawlies
Hardworking Helpers
The most famous example of good and useful insect, the bee. It produces honey, and without their pollination of arts, fruit trees and vegetable plants would bear no fruit. But bees worldwide are threatened. In some regions of China and even already extinct. Blame pesticides and a mite.
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Useful Creepy Crawlies
Popular Wolverine
Ladybugs are especially useful. Worldwide, there are many different colored variants from red through brown to yellow and black. Also, the number of points varies. Some beetles have two other 24 points. They eat mainly annoying sheet and mealybugs. A beetle eaten 50 aphids a day, in his beetles of several thousand lives.
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Useful Creepy Crawlies
Voracious Semi-Strong
Ladybugs are popular helpers in the biological pest control. You will be exposed to in large quantities on fields or in greenhouses. Without the use of chemicals, it create farmers to keep harmful leaf – and-shield lice from the body. Also the – rather scary-looking larvae are cheerful louse killer.
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Useful Creepy Crawlies
Parade-Parasite
For human parasitic wasps are completely harmless, for certain harmful insects, the ends meet brutal fatal: parasitic wasps like it, your huge put sting in moths to drill beetles or aphids. There the female lays an Egg. This results in a hungry baby hatches a larva, and undermines the host animal from the inside.
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Useful Creepy Crawlies
Significant Robbers
Beetles live predatory and mainly hunt animals, we like to get rid of. For example, woodlice, caterpillars, or snails. Even nimble and resistant Colorado potato beetle against his strong Clamps no Chance. They occur everywhere in the world, many of them are under protection.
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Useful Creepy Crawlies
Dark-Crawler
This is a beetle, even if he at first glance looks more like a worm. Short-wing aircraft have to cover very short wings, of which are quite complicated folded skin wing hide. Worldwide, around 50,000 species are so far known. The animals like bark beetles and fly maggots, and disinherit them, and even decayed animal and plant remains.
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Useful Creepy Crawlies
Peaceful Giants
The sight of a hornet instills respect, their venom is less dangerous than a common wasp. Adult animals sipping on a favorite plant juices, but the brood is fed with all sorts of fresh meat: Up to half a kilogram of insect is a hornet’s people captured each day.
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Useful Creepy Crawlies
Finally,….
… the many, many spiders. Not, with their eight legs to the insects, but they are very useful! Because they catch and eat in large quantities, all that is troublesome for us. Mosquitoes, moths, flies, and aphids are food for you delicate. Good!
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Useful Creepy Crawlies
Spiders can live
Therefore, do not disdain, not crushed, not killed, but are happy when you are there!
The plant bugs utilize blood?
Probably not. The sucking probably no blood, but the cell fluid. Often it means that they just want to absorb moisture. All of this is based on individual observations. These animals have never been investigated in the laboratory.
The bites to humans are dangerous?
Only in the sense that some individuals have hypersensitive reacts. A woman wrote that she even had to see a doctor. But it is unlikely that these bugs transmit diseases.
Bed bugs like to suck on people
Hurts the throat?
The stitches are more unpleasant than a mosquito bite, because the types are not designed to not sting so that you notice it, like a mosquito does. We are a dead end host for the. This, then, is like a pin prick.
What about other types of Bugs, are the most dangerous?
In the tropics this can occur. In Central and South America there are, for example, the Chagas disease, which is transmitted by bugs. The are, however, other bugs, large predatory bugs living in the crevices in the huts and come out at night. In Germany, 891 types of Bugs are known, only five types of Bugs suck blood from Vertebrates, and only a kind of assaults on people – namely, the bed bug. The but has become extremely rare. All other species feed on plant SAP or insects.
Wolfgang Dorow is a biologist and, since 1985, at the Senckenberg research Institute in Frankfurt am Main.
The interview was conducted by Brigitte Osterath.