Bugs

Until today it is not completely clear to me, what English people understand by a bug. Some relate bugs only to one group of insects, which are called “Heteroptera” in science. Some associate bugs with pest species feeding on their food or worse biting them. And some see it even more broadly and include any small, primarily terrestrial invertebrate including insects, spiders and others.

However, I am fascinated by those little crawling, jumping, swimming and flying animals with an external skeleton, a segmented body and paired joined legs, also called arthropods. As the most successfull multicellular group of organisms they contribute to vital ecological functions such as decomposition, pollination and pestcontrol. Here I want to share my fascination and arouse curiosity for these animals.

Did you know...

... how many arthropds species live on this Earth?

I don't know either. Estimates go from a few million to over 30 millions. So far humans already have described about 1.3 million arthropod species, which account for about 80% of the total number of species described in the whole animal kingdom. (Zhang 2013)

... that after introducing cattle to Australia, the farmland was covered in a large number of dung pads. 55 different species of dung beetles were introduced to overcome the problem. (CSIRO 1986)

... that a 0.2g heavy dung beetle can move 80g. This is 400 times its body weight! (Klausnitzer 2002 et al.)

You found some bugs running in and around your house or crossing your way during a walk through the woods? You want to know more about these small organisms? Send us a photo with a general description where you found it. Ideally add an indicator (ex. a coin) for the size. The photo might be published (if you wish with your name) with some additional information about the bug on this site.

Your bugs

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Rhinoceros Beetle

Rhinoceros Beetle

Scientific Name Oryctes nasicornis

Information Their original habitat is heavily decomposed wood, which you find in the inside of trunks or thicker branches of deciduous trees. In Europe’s primeval forests this was a common habitat before humans started to exploit them intensively. While a lot of threatened species lost their habitat, this species managed it to switch to human made substrates. Probably first human-made substrate was in the residuals of oak wood from tanneries. Today you can find them for example in piles of sawdust or bark mulch from sawmills, but also in composts which provide fibrous material, or as it is the case here, obvisouly in olive wood chips ;-). So, I would say they are quite beneficial organisms for decomposition and preparing nutritious soil for plant growth. They are not known to feed on any living plants. By the way, in Germany and Switzerland they are protected by conservation law.

Location found in a pile of olive wood chips in the south-west of Portugal

Sources

CSIRO Australian Dung Beetle Program 1966 - 1986
Klausnitzer, B., & Förster, M. (2002). Wunderwelt der Käfer. Spektrum, Akad. Verlag.
Zhang, Z. Q. (2013). Phylum arthropoda. Zootaxa, 3703(1), 17-26. (DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3703.1.6)