Some insects merely drop their eggs and fly away.Others the social insects build elaborate homes where colonies of relatives nurse eggs and young and defend them from enemies.Between these extremes lies a wide range of insects family behaviour.
Many species lay eggs where hatchlings have the best chance to survive.on food plants or in buried balls of food.A few insects live for a time in small family units-usually only a female and her offspring-in which the female keeps her clean and safe.but in several kinds of beetles,the males also share in the rearing of offspring.as in the bess beetle,dung beetle,and bark beetles.
Home in the log:
Bess beetle tunnel into fallen trees,where they live in colonies.The male and female,shiny black and anout 3 cm long.mix rotten wood with saliva to feed their grubs.
Buried with food:
Many dung beetles bury balls of mammal dung.The female lays an egg inside,giving the larva a safe place to grow and plenty of food.In some species the parents stay with the larva until it becomes an adult.
Bark tunnellers:
Bark beetle bore into the soft tissue under the bark of living or dead trees.There they mate and lay eggs.The female feeds the young on fungus grown in the tunnels,while the male guards the main entrance.
Leafy den:
Australian cockroach 7 and a half cm long pull leaves into their burrow to feed their young.Adults repel predators such as centipedes.
A wide range of family behaviour:
*The migratory grasshopper lays clumps of eggs in small holes in the soil.After laying the eggs,the female abandons them.
*The swallowtail buttetfly also lays eggs and then leaves.but she lays eggs only on plants .the young can use for food.
*The 1 and a one forth cm long female stink bug lays large groups of barrel-shaped eggs,then stays to defend them against predators.
Feeding and protecting young:
*Dung beetle prepare a nursery for their young.The female lays eggs in a ball of dung and oversees the feeding of the growing grubs.
*Burying beetles shape decaying flesh into balls to roll into their burrows.The young will hatch there,tended by the female.
*Honeybees,true social insects live in large families.The queen lays the eggs and workers bees care for her and the young.
Many species lay eggs where hatchlings have the best chance to survive.on food plants or in buried balls of food.A few insects live for a time in small family units-usually only a female and her offspring-in which the female keeps her clean and safe.but in several kinds of beetles,the males also share in the rearing of offspring.as in the bess beetle,dung beetle,and bark beetles.
Home in the log:
Bess beetle tunnel into fallen trees,where they live in colonies.The male and female,shiny black and anout 3 cm long.mix rotten wood with saliva to feed their grubs.
Buried with food:
Many dung beetles bury balls of mammal dung.The female lays an egg inside,giving the larva a safe place to grow and plenty of food.In some species the parents stay with the larva until it becomes an adult.
Bark tunnellers:
Bark beetle bore into the soft tissue under the bark of living or dead trees.There they mate and lay eggs.The female feeds the young on fungus grown in the tunnels,while the male guards the main entrance.
Leafy den:
Australian cockroach 7 and a half cm long pull leaves into their burrow to feed their young.Adults repel predators such as centipedes.
A wide range of family behaviour:
*The migratory grasshopper lays clumps of eggs in small holes in the soil.After laying the eggs,the female abandons them.
*The swallowtail buttetfly also lays eggs and then leaves.but she lays eggs only on plants .the young can use for food.
*The 1 and a one forth cm long female stink bug lays large groups of barrel-shaped eggs,then stays to defend them against predators.
Feeding and protecting young:
*Dung beetle prepare a nursery for their young.The female lays eggs in a ball of dung and oversees the feeding of the growing grubs.
*Burying beetles shape decaying flesh into balls to roll into their burrows.The young will hatch there,tended by the female.
*Honeybees,true social insects live in large families.The queen lays the eggs and workers bees care for her and the young.
