Funny holiday - June Bug Day

In the first month of summer, beetles from the family of lamellar beetles of the genus Bronzeweed appear on the surface of the earth after having overwintered in the ground The insect owes its name to the iridescent emerald coloring of the elytra Their colors are very reminiscent of gasoline spilled in a puddle Light rays are refracted in porous elytra with an uneven microstructure, creating beautiful iridescent reflections through an optical illusion Bronze beetles replace May beetles, which die after a short period of life and reproduction Their June congregants love warm and sunny weather, so they appear in the summer In total, there are about 4 thousand species of bronzebacks on the planet, 33 of which live in Russia, the rest in other regions of Eurasia In honor of one of the representatives of arthropods, a holiday was established - June Bug Day, which is celebrated on June 7 The June beetle, like its “relative” the May beetle, is an agricultural pest Thus, an adult individual of the species Cetonia aurata mercilessly destroys the ovaries, the larvae feed on dead parts of plants Bronzeworts eat the bark, leaves and roots of fruit trees, beech, poplar and pine The food used is shoots of cereals and flowers - roses, chrysanthemums, phlox, iris, dahlias and lilacs The smooth bronzovka feeds on rotten berries and fruits, acting in the garden and vegetable garden as an orderly The June beetle, black in color with white markings, lives in southern Russia and neighboring countries and eats plant pollen This type of bronze is called stinking because of the pungent odor that the insect’s body emits Protaetia marmorata lives in forest-steppes and feeds on the sap of wood dust Marbled and stinking bronzes are harmless because practically do not harm agricultural land The life cycle of the June beetle is 2 years, of tropical species - only a couple of months The female lays from 20 to 30 eggs at a time in compost heaps and anthills, from which larvae up to 2 cm long hatch after 14 days The natural enemy of the beetle at the breeding stage are foxes and badgers They rummage through the ground and anthills in search of a delicacy - bronze fly larvae Adults are eaten by jays, jackdaws, orioles and other birds Which sex of bronzefish emerges from the larva first depends on the ambient temperature Males hatch from cocoons in cold weather, while females hatch in sunny and clear weather Physiological features do not allow caterpillars to move using their legs Before the onset of the adult stage, they move along the ground on their backs June Bug Day is dedicated to the study of these and other features of the life, reproduction and nutrition of bronze beetles