Hello everyone
today I am very excited to share an extraordinary discovery I found while exploring the forest near my house, I discovered a new type of insect in the forest and it has a striking resemblance to Hylobius abietis, or more commonly known as the large pine bark beetle.
I found this insect making love with its partner on a weed plant, a few days ago I also found it and I didn't have the opportunity to take more photos because it avoided me, and today I feel lucky because I have the opportunity to observe more details about the insect this new type, I spent more than four hours to find this type of insect but unfortunately I did not find a single reference that supports my discovery, and there is only one on Wikipedia which looks slightly similar but from the explanation there is a difference in the size of the insect's body, this is a very important discovery for me since I started to like observing nature.
The following is the only scientific explanation about insects that is similar to my discovery today, but I am not sure that the insect I just discovered today is the same type, but this insect has similarities, however this explanation can help me to understand more about insects;
Hylobius abietis or the large pine weevil is a beetle belonging to family Curculionidae. This species is widely regarded as the most important pest of most commercially important coniferous trees in European plantations. Seedlings planted or arising from natural regeneration (germinated seed-fall) after clear felling operations are especially at risk. The adult weevils cause damage by eating the bark of seedlings around the 'collar' of the stem, thus 'ring-barking' the tree seedling which usually results in its demise. Wikipedia
This insect has the following characteristics;
Body size: This insect has a body size of around 8-12 millimeters, and this is very different from the body size of the Hylobius abietis insect which has been described by experts on Wikipedia.
Color: The body of this insect is blackish brown with yellowish white spots.
Body shape: this insect has a cylindrical body with strong legs, perhaps it has some similarities with the large pine bark beetle.
Habits: I found this insect for the second time today, and every time I found them at the top of weed plants, and this is what differentiates this insect from Hylobius abietis, if this insect is at the top of weed plants then Hylobius abietis is at the base of the pine tree, so this indicates different habitat preferences between the two.
This discovery is very important because it can increase our understanding of forest biodiversity and the role of these insects in forest ecosystems, therefore my desire drives me to publish it in the @stemsocial community for scientific analysis and scientific classification, if any of you have ever found or have deep knowledge about these insects feel free to tell me, let's together we learn more about new types of insects in our city and preserve this amazing biodiversity.
and currently I can only differentiate between males and females (based on assumptions and the sexual position of the insects), and now I want to invite you to take a closer look at a new type of insect that I found in the forest;
after observing carefully I tried to catch the insect, and it turned out that this insect was not wild if it was having sex, he was playing on the palm of my hand and did not feel threatened in the slightest, and I identified this as a male, I said that because the position of this insect was in behind when having sex with their partner, and I think this is normal and rational thinking, if we study further we will find the fact that on average animals have sex in this position, and usually the male will be behind the female, so I concluded that this insect was male.
and the other most interesting thing to prove that this is a male insect is, the state of this insect remains strong after having sex, and look at the insect is still able to walk on the palm of my hand and you will find the difference in the next picture of the insect.
female insect
female insect
female insect
female insect
have you found the difference?
in the two photos above you will see the male insect in good health and strength after having sex, while in the 4 images of the female insect you will see that this insect looks helpless, all its legs become stiff and its body just droops, but you need to remember this insect is still alive but she is in a very weak state after having sex with the male, and after observing more of the range of these insects and now I have returned them to their natural habitat so they can reproduce and live their life as they should.
the most important thing to understand is; Discoveries like this show how many species are still waiting to be discovered and studied by all of us, each new species will certainly provide valuable insight into evolution, ecology and even potential benefits for humans, for example in the world of medicine or agriculture.
I would like to thank all my friends in the @stemsocial community who will support my exploration activities in the forest, and also to the experts who are willing to help me in further identification and analysis, your support is very valuable for me in my efforts to preserve and protect the nature around you.
but for those of you who are curious or want to know more about this discovery process, I always use comments as a place for question and answer sessions, so don't ever hesitate to ask and I will give you the best answer possible, so once again I want to say thank you. very deep to everyone who has helped me in forest exploration, any support is always valuable to me.
Thank you very much for visiting my blog and reading about today's insect discoveries, see you in the next post with a different topic & I hope you always have a nice day:)
I really can’t stand to see insects near me I would scream I don’t know why even though insects are very small. You seem to have great knowledge about insects as you can recognise the female one. I wish I also could bear to hold one in my hand.
I think you need to try it, and don't be afraid it will be fine ☺️☺️🙏🙏
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