The steppe cosas | Facts & Information

Origin

Popularly known as the steppe Grasshopper, this insect is atypical judging by the carnivorous lifestyle it leads.

Food of the steppe Cosas

Steppe grasshopper is a carnivorous insect.

It feeds on small insects that it cleverly catches.

Features cosas de steppe

The steppe shrew has an obtuse head, filiform and very long antennae (longer than the body) and a steep forehead.

The posterior margin of the protoracle shows a narrow border. The tibia of the anterior and middle legs are endowed with 10-11 spines.

The wings, anterior and posterior, are greatly reduced or even missing. Body very elongated, green, yellowish-brown, at the sides with a stripe lighter than the general background.

The length of the body is 53-80 mm; and the length of the ovipositor is 34-36 mm.

Breeding steppe Cosas

It reproduces by parthenogenesis (development from uninfected eggs). The female lays in the soil proximately 7 eggs, arranging them at different depths. Ovipositation occurs exclusively during the day.

The ovipositation period lasts until autumn. Larvae hatched from eggs go through 8 stages of development.

Both larvae and adults are polyphagous predators eating different species of insects (small beetles, bedbugs, etc.).