Find out what the grasshopper is eating

One of the most famous and favorite childhood songs of many was "There was a grasshopper in the grass". Children joyfully sang a simple motive, learning from simple words that, it turns out, the insect is green, that they do not even mind eating ordinary frogs. But what a grasshopper eats, for many of us and in adulthood remains a mystery. As well as what in general eat many of the representatives of insects. Let's learn more about the menu of grasshoppers.

This insect is common on all continents of the world except Antarctica. There are more than 6,800 species of grasshoppers of various colors and sizes - from very small to large giant specimens in Africa. I wonder what eats a grasshopper so huge?

Those who consider representatives of these species as whole herbivores will not be entirely right. Because grasshoppers eat not only leaves and grass, although they also enter the diet of these winged insects. But, as it turned out, it's not for nothing that grasshoppers are related to such dangerous creatures as mantis. Everyone knows an interesting fact that the female of this insect eats a male after mating. So, we must tell you that a grasshopper does not always eat vegetarian food. Simply put, many of the representatives of this species are of a predatory temper.

What do grasshoppers eat? The basis of their diet is made up of smaller insects, larvae, small butterflies, bugs. A funny story is connected with this food passion. Moldovan scientists somehow noticed that on the experimental beds with potatoes on which the Colorado beetles were fierce, there appeared empty chitinous shells left from these pests. Naturally, scientists are interested in who eats the main enemies of any agronomist? As it turned out, the most common gray grasshopper was the thunderstorm of the Colorado beetle. Thus, unlike the locust locust, which destroys the fruits of agriculture, this insect brings real benefits. As we see, the list of what the grasshopper eats is such a wrecker as the well-known Colorado beetle.

However, it is unlikely that insects are characterized by the concept of ethics in matters of food preferences. Harmless in appearance grasshopper, as it turned out, sometimes even trades cannibalism. In those conditions when it was problematic to get other food, it turned out that grasshoppers and their own kind were eating. To check it is very easy: it is enough to put several representatives of this species in a closed container and not put any food to them, and after a few days (three to four) you will miss one of them.

So it is not worthwhile to idealize the grasshoppers, considering them to be cute and harmless representatives of the class of insects . They can easily stand up for themselves and occupy in the food chain far from last place, eating not only grass and flowers, but also other butterfly beetles, not abhorring acts of cannibalism against their own brethren. However, it's still not worth while to tell the children singing a song about a small grasshopper.