anne.w.51
Ant Bag Beetle - Ameisen-Sackkäfer
Clytra laeviuscula is a beetle of the family Chrysomelidae and has a length of 7 - 11 mm. They occur almost throughout Europe and can be found in various habitats like forest edges, grassland, dry slopes and wet meadows. Adults can be found from May through August. These beetles mate near ant hills. Females coat each egg with particles of feces and drop them in the vicinity of the ant hill. The ants eventually carry them to their nest where the beetle larvae feed on the food of the ant brood as well as waste and sometimes on the brood. They build a shell of feces around themselves which protects them from the ants.The young imagines do not leave the nest before their chitin shell has hardened.
Ant Bag Beetle - Ameisen-Sackkäfer
Clytra laeviuscula is a beetle of the family Chrysomelidae and has a length of 7 - 11 mm. They occur almost throughout Europe and can be found in various habitats like forest edges, grassland, dry slopes and wet meadows. Adults can be found from May through August. These beetles mate near ant hills. Females coat each egg with particles of feces and drop them in the vicinity of the ant hill. The ants eventually carry them to their nest where the beetle larvae feed on the food of the ant brood as well as waste and sometimes on the brood. They build a shell of feces around themselves which protects them from the ants.The young imagines do not leave the nest before their chitin shell has hardened.