Hummingbird Hawk-Moth - Macroglossum stellatarum L. This butterfly has relatively narrow and long forewings. The abdomen is thick, with antennae of a spindle shape. The forewings are brown with dark transverse lines, and the hindwings are orange-yellow. The body is covered with grayish hairs on top, and the end of the abdomen, which has white spots on the sides, tapers into a brush-like shape.
The Thistle Butterfly - Vanessa cardui L. The Thistle Butterfly is one of the day-flying butterflies of the brush-footed family, noticeable, beautiful, and very brightly colored. It is also known as the thistle butterfly. The wingspan can reach up to 60 mm. The forewings are black at the tips, with large white spots. The hindwings are slightly darker than the forewings, with rounded black spots along the edges.
Aglaia Pearl Moth - Speyeria aglaja L. One of the most beautiful butterflies of the genus Nymphalidae. This butterfly has optical coloration, with wings that shimmer like pearls. It is aptly named the pearl moth. When light rays refract in its scales, it is stunningly beautiful! The admiration for it is reflected in its name, which was given to these lovely creatures. Aglaia in ancient Greek mythology is the goddess of beauty and joy.
Machaon - Papilio machaon L. The Machaon butterfly is considered one of the most beautiful butterflies of the mid-latitudes. Due to its unique appearance, it is in high demand among moth enthusiasts and collectors. Almost everyone is familiar with this butterfly, which boasts its bright coloration and relatively large size. These butterflies belong to the family Papilionidae, and their existence became known thanks to the works of the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus. This occurred in 1758.
The carpenter bee - Xylocopa alga Gerst. This insect is one of the giant bees, about the size of a large bumblebee, with wings that have a dark purple sheen and a shiny black abdomen.
Apollonius - Parnassius apollonius Ev. This species of butterfly was first described in 1847 by the famous Russian entomologist Eversmann. The species is named after a Greek name. It is a large, beautiful butterfly with a wingspan of 51–72 mm. The length of the forewing is 37—45 mm. The main background color of the males' wings is pure white, while the females have gray scales. Along the outer edge of the wings, there is a row of black spots with clear outlines. The black spots at the
Mnemosyne, or Black Apollo - Parnassius mnemosyne L. The butterfly was described by Carl Linnaeus in 1858 in his famous book "Systema Naturae." It is named after the ancient Roman goddess of memory. Mnemosyne (Greek mythology) is the goddess of memory, the mother of the nine Muses, and the daughter of Uranus and Gaia. Wingspan up to 70 mm. The length of the forewing is 20–35 mm. The wings are rounded, covered with sparse scales. The marginal area of the forewing is semi-transparent,
Wiskott's Sulphur - Colias wiskotti Stgr. The species name is given in honor of the entomologist Ivan Ivanovich Wiskott. The wingspan of this sulphur butterfly is up to 50 mm. The coloration of males varies in shades from lemon-green to deep orange. A wide black border occupies almost half of the wing. Females are not as brightly colored.
Christoph's Sulphur - Colias christophi Gr.–Gr. This butterfly is named after the famous entomologist and tireless insect collector Christoph, who traveled extensively in Central Asia. It is quite deservedly considered one of the most striking species of sulphurs that adorn nature. Unlike other sulphurs, males and females of this species are very similar in appearance. Females are less active and are most often hidden in the grass. The length of the forewing is 20—24 mm. The wingspan is
Cabbage White Butterfly - Pontia daplidice L. This is a medium-sized butterfly with white wings, on which dark veins are clearly visible. Unlike females, males have a less developed black pattern on their wings. The wingspan is 30–50 mm, and when at rest, they fold vertically upwards over the back. The body of the cabbage whites is slender, and the antennae are club-shaped. All three pairs of legs are normally developed.
The butterfly was discovered in 1758. This small-sized butterfly stands out well against the background of flowers, as it has a black body and wings with scarlet spots. The antennae are thickened towards the end in a spindle shape, the forewings are elongated, and the hindwings are twice as short. The forewings are dark, with a greenish or bluish tint. There are 4 large round red spots on the wing, and at the base of the wing, there are 2 elongated spots. The hindwings are red with a black
Ascalaphus varius - Libelloides macaronius Scop. It is commonly referred to as "club-tailed." Ascalaphids are large insects resembling butterflies. The body length is 25-30 mm, and the wingspan is 35-40 mm. Their antennae have a club at the tip and are slightly longer than the body. The wings are yellow, transparent at the tips, with dark spots. It combines morphological features of a butterfly, dragonfly, and beetle: its head has club-shaped antennae like those of day-flying
Ant Lion - Acanthaclisis occitanicus Vill. The ant lion is a net-winged insect, closely related to osmylids, ascalaphids, and lacewings. It has four long, pointed, almost identical net-like wings. The body is dark gray, with yellow spots on the head. The round, undivided eyes of the ant lion protrude significantly. About 10 species are known in Kyrgyzstan. Adult individuals externally resemble dragonflies, but unlike them, they fold their wings differently at rest — roof-like over their
Camel Cricket - Raphidioptera Camel crickets are externally distinctive; they are humped in profile. They are named for their elongated body, extended head, and prothorax, which resemble the shape of a camel's head and neck. The appearance of this small insect (body length is 7-9 mm) is very unique. The camel cricket has a flattened, elongated oval head and an elongated, movable prothorax. Its mouthparts are of the chewing type. In addition to well-developed compound eyes, there are three
Colorado Beetle - Leptinotarsa decemlineata Say. It is called the scourge of potato fields. The native land of this leaf beetle is North America, where it has long inhabited, feeding on local weeds. Later, when colonists began to cultivate potatoes in large quantities, the beetle switched to feeding on the leaves of potato plants. The abundance of food inevitably affected the increase in the reproduction of this beetle. Its harmfulness was first noted in the state of Colorado, from which the
Silky Cryptocephalus - Cryptocephalus sericeus L. The name comes from its ability to retract its head, covering it with the first segment of the thorax. This beetle has a cylindrical body shape, and its head appears to be lowered beneath the thorax. It can be golden-green, blue, purple, or copper-red. The overall coloration is metallic. The beetle is covered in dense dots. The wrinkles on the elytra give it a silky, almost matte sheen. Hence the name of the beetle. The lateral edge of the back
Asian Leaf Beetle - Chrysochares asiaticus Pall. One of the largest and most colorful leaf beetles. The body of the beetle is stout, measuring 13–17 mm in length. The pronotum is wide, with rather sparse, shallow punctures; the largest of them is slightly ahead of the middle. The back and elytra are green with a purple sheen. The clypeus is wide, not separated from the forehead, with sparse punctures, bare or with rare hairs; the first segment of the antennae has sparse hairs. The elytra have
Smooth Leaf Beetle - Clytra laeviuscula Ratz. The smooth leaf beetle has orange-red elytra; there is a large rear spot that almost reaches the side edge and the seam; very rarely this spot may be split into two or may be absent. The back of the leaf beetle is convex, almost completely smooth, with a very narrow and smooth groove-like border, highly shiny. The body length is about 12 mm. The head and legs of males and females are of the same size. The legs are short, with thick and straight
Black Pine Longhorn Beetle - Monochamus galloprovincialis Oll. The body of the beetle is thick, black with a bronze sheen, and has a reddish hairy covering on the pronotum and the underside of the body. The head is covered with closely set reddish hairs, with a narrow longitudinal groove in the middle. Near the antennae, there is a spine-like protrusion on the inner side.
Spanish fly - Lytta vesicatoria L. A metallic green beetle measuring 12–20 mm in length, with two orange longitudinal stripes. The body is covered in short, sparse hairs. The antennae are long and thread-like. The mouthparts of the Spanish fly, like those of all other representatives of beetles, are typically chewing. It develops in one generation and exhibits hypermetamorphosis. Beetles appear in the second half of May and can be found in June and July. The flight and feeding period lasts
Schrenk's Blister Beetle - Mylabris schrenki Gebl. They are easily recognized by their characteristic and bright appearance. The beetles are of medium to large size, usually brightly colored, with a head that is lowered and narrowed towards the back, with 11-segmented, less often 8-10 segmented antennae, a narrowed first segment of the thorax, flexible elytra that are wider than the first segment of the thorax and often do not cover the entire abdomen, split bones, and large touching
Blaps deplanata - Flat-headed beetle The body of this beetle is usually large, bare on top, with elytra featuring a long tail-like projection at the tip. The coloration of the beetles is mostly black. During the day, they hide in pits or burrows of rodents and are active at dusk.
Seven-spotted ladybug - Coccinella septempunctata L. The beetle is black, with bright red elytra adorned with black spots. Everyone remembers this. There are three spots on each elytron and one common spot on the pronotum – a total of seven. Upon closer inspection, we can see two whitish spots: they are located on the forehead. The body length of the beetles can vary from 5 to 8 mm. This does not necessarily mean that a small beetle is young, and a large one is old. In the first case, the
Pistachio Goldbug - Capnodis cariosa Pall. These beetles are called goldbugs due to their bright metallic shiny elytra, which many of their representatives possess. In folk terms, these beetles are referred to as "children of the sun." They are so incredibly beautiful that humans have used them as decorations. Brooches, bracelets, and other trinkets are made from the elytra of goldbugs. The bright elytra of goldbugs are sewn onto women's dresses. The pistachio goldbug is a large
Striped Wax Beetle - Trichius fasciatus L. The beetle is black, almost matte, covered in dense and long grayish-white or yellowish erect hairs. The body length is 10–13 mm. The female has typical chalky-white spots on the sides of the pronotum, while the male occasionally has a similar transverse double spot on the underside of the abdomen. The outer black spots and bands on the elytra may connect and merge, completely displacing the yellow color. Despite this variability in coloration, this
Rhinoceros Beetle - Oryctes nasicornis L. This beetle is characterized by a large, strongly convex body of dark brown color, with a shiny sheen on top. The rhinoceros beetle (Oryctes nasicornis), an insect of the Scarabaeidae family, is found everywhere except for the tundra and taiga.
June Beetle - Amphimallon solstitialis L. A beetle whose body length does not exceed 20 mm, predominantly pale yellow in color, with a slightly darker abdomen. The head and elytra are covered with sparse hairs. The pronotum has wide stripes of black-brown color, divided in the middle by a narrow longitudinal line of yellow color or with dark spots. The seam of the elytra is narrowly darkened. The abdomen is black or, as in southern forms, brown-yellow. The antennae are nine-segmented with a
Golden Bronze Beetle - Cetonia aurata L. The beetle is magnificently colored. Under the bright rays of the sun, the bronze beetle shines like a precious stone, sparkling like gold. The body is wide, with a golden-green color on top and a copper-red color underneath. There are white transverse stripes on the elytra. Its length is up to 20 mm. The bronze beetle is often mistaken for the common May beetle, as they belong to the same family. These insects can be distinguished by their bright
Fragrant Calosoma - Calosoma sycophanta L. The name "Calosoma" translates from Latin as "beautiful beetle," and it is aptly named. It has a remarkably beautiful dark blue coloration, while its elytra are golden-green with a metallic sheen. The ability of the Calosoma to move well among trees distinctly sets it apart from other predatory ground beetles.
Singing cicada dimissa - Cicadetta dimissa Hag Like other equal-winged insects, the singing cicada dimissa is characterized by four wings of equal density and a proboscis that replaces its mouthparts. The proboscis contains long, thin, and very sharp bristles. With their help, the cicada easily pierces the bark of plants and sucks the sap, which is the only food for these insects. In German, "cicadas" translates to "singing grasshoppers." They are called this because the
Singing Cicada Querula - Cicadatra querula Pall. Cicadas are mostly large insects that predominantly inhabit hot countries across all parts of the world. They live on trees and shrubs and fly quite well. These insects are of medium to large size (in temperate climate countries, body length ranges from 23 to 55 mm). They have a short head with prominently bulging eyes; on the crown, there are 3 simple eyes forming a triangle; the short bristle-like antennae consist of 7 segments; the mouthparts
Spittlebug - Philaenus spumarius L. The spittlebug is an insect from the family of froghoppers, and it is relatively smaller than singing cicadas. It is a polyphagous pest. The adult spittlebug has a wedge-shaped body, measuring between 5 to 7 mm in length, with variable coloration: it can be solid-colored; with black or light brown patterns; with longitudinal stripes or transverse streaks; spotted (light cream spots on a dark background); with a dark rear and a light front. Its mouthparts are
Migratory or Asian locust - Locusta migratoria L. The Asian locust is a large insect, reaching a length (excluding wings) of 50—55 mm (females), with males being somewhat smaller; the folded wings of the locust noticeably extend beyond the end of the abdomen, making the locust appear even longer. It is a dirty green or brownish color, with brown spots on the forewings, and the hind wings are transparent, slightly greenish or yellowish. The upper jaws are blue, the hind shins are yellowish or
Melon Grasshopper - Thisoicetrinus pterostichus F.-W. A desert species of Central Asia, usually found in river valleys. In appearance, grasshoppers are similar to crickets, but at first glance, a significant difference is noticeable: grasshoppers have short antennae, usually less than half the body length. The body is of various colors, but always without a black longitudinal median stripe. The antennae are short, not reaching the base of the hind femora or just reaching it. The cerci of both
Steppe Black Cricket - Melanogryllus desertus Pall. A large insect, 12-19 mm in length, black in color, with a round hypognathous head. The mouthparts are chewing, and the antennae are longer than the body. The thorax is large, with a well-developed pronotum that covers most of the thorax from above; the lateral parts of the pronotum form lobes that cover the prothorax from the sides. The mesothorax and metathorax are closely fused, their pleural sections sharply divided by oblique or vertical
One-spined mole cricket - Gryllotalpa unispina Sauss. Large brown insects with velvety bodies, small heads, short antennae, and digging front legs that resemble the front paws of a mole (the literal translation of the Latin name for mole crickets is "cricket-mole"). Mole crickets are capable of flying, but they need sufficiently warm air to take off; otherwise, their wing muscles cannot function, which is why they fly rarely. They swim well. During the day, mole crickets hide in
Common Trumpeter - Oecanthus pellucens Scop. The trumpeter is a relative of crickets and grasshoppers. Its body is narrow and elongated; it can be greenish-yellow, yellow, or light brown, with no black stripe on the underside. The body length of males is 10.1—12.8 mm, and for females, it is 11.3—13.8 mm. The head is narrower than the pronotum, usually with two sharp narrow black spots behind the eyes. The length of the pronotum in males is 2.1—2.3 mm, and in females, it is 2.2—2.4 mm; its
Green Grasshopper - Tettigonia viridissima L. The body of this grasshopper is almost entirely green, sometimes with brown spots on the chest and wings. The wings are very long, extending far beyond the end of the abdomen. The antennae are very thin, longer than the body. The body length can reach up to 40 mm. This is the grasshopper referred to in the famous song: "There sat a grasshopper in the grass... he was green..." Grasshoppers produce their chirping by rubbing their forewings
White-fronted Grasshopper - Decticus albifrons F. A large insect of brown or green color, blending in with the vegetation. Very light front part of the head. Size: 50—60 mm. Antennae are very thin, longer than the body. The female is easily distinguished from the male — at the end of her abdomen, she has a long, sword-like ovipositor measuring 20—25 mm. The larvae hatch in spring and molt from 4 to 6 times throughout their life cycle. After the first molt, wing buds appear as elongated lower
Tree Mantis - Hierodula tenuidentata Sauss. The tree mantis is very similar to the common mantis. This species can be distinguished primarily by the presence of a sharp opaque white spot on each forewing. In the common mantis, this spot (stigma) is not pronounced and is light green. The tree mantis, as its name suggests, is associated with woody and shrubby vegetation and is most often found in river floodplains, climbing high into the mountains — up to 1700 m above sea level. The hatching of
Fedchenko's Earwig - Oreasobia fedtschenkoi Sauss. The body is narrow and long; the head is well-defined, with forward-directed chewing mouthparts; the pronotum is flat, the elytra are short, leathery, and devoid of veins, the wings in a folded state protrude from under the elytra as short triangular wing plates, or the wings, and sometimes even the elytra are absent; the legs are short, running with 3-segmented tarsi; the abdomen at the end has a pair of strong, hard pincers, which are
Common Mantis - Mantis religiosa L. In translation from Latin, "Mantis religiosa" means "divine prophet." In African and Asian countries, these insects were considered sacred. Mantis have elongated bodies, a large mobile head with prominent eyes, and an elongated prothorax. Their strong, serrated forelegs are the main weapon of this ambush predator. When at rest, these legs are folded in a position resembling a praying person, which is how the mantis got its name.
Dusky Darner - Sympycna fusca V. d. Lind. The body of this dragonfly is mainly brown-bronze in color, with a stripe on the thorax. The body length is up to 35 mm, and the wingspan is up to 45 mm. Adult dragonflies fly around water bodies from late June to October. The lifespan of dragonflies is up to 10 months. Darners fly poorly and therefore often sit on coastal plants. Females lay up to 350 eggs, placing them in dead tissues of sedges, reeds, bulrushes, and other plants directly at the
Karakurt - Latrodectus tredecimguttatus Rossi The Karakurt is the most venomous of spiders. Its Latin name means "13-spotted," which is associated with superstitious fear of it, supposedly having a warning of deadly toxicity on its body — the unfortunate and fateful number of bright spots. The female typically eats the male after mating, which is why the Karakurt is colloquially referred to as the "black widow." Female Karakurts can reach sizes of up to 2 cm, while males
Black Thickhead - Eresus collari Rossi The most beautiful spider on the planet — this is what most arachnologists believe. And it really is true! By the way, this is a rare, endangered species. The thickhead has eight eyes arranged in three rows. Males have an orange-red abdomen on top, with four round black spots and usually two small black dots. Females have a completely velvety black abdomen. The legs are thick and hairy; the front two pairs of legs in males are black with white rings,
Dzhungarian Tarantula - Lycosa singoriensis L. Like most arthropods, the body structure of the tarantula, covered with the finest tiny hairs, is divided into two main parts: the cephalothorax and the abdomen. At the top of the cephalothorax, the tarantula has 8 eyes, four of which form a straight line, while the others, larger in size, are arranged in a trapezoid. Thanks to this arrangement of the visual organs, venomous tarantula spiders can observe their surroundings in a 360-degree view. In
Taiga Tick - Ixodes persulcatus Schul. The taiga tick is one of the ixodid ticks, which are exclusively blood-sucking parasites that feed on the blood of large animals, as well as humans, and live in coniferous forests. The body of the taiga tick, like all ixodid ticks, is divided into a head, or proboscis, and a body. The head of hungry ticks is directed forward and pointed (wedge-shaped), which creates a streamlined shape and facilitates the movement of ticks in the fur and feathers of their
Fang, or Solifuge - Solifugae The appearance of the fang is frightening. Its body, 5–7 cm long, is usually brown-yellow in color and covered with numerous tactile hairs. The first two head appendages, which are used for grasping and grinding food, are well-developed in solifuges and resemble large pincers or claws. In total, solifuges (fangs) have 10 legs. Unlike the front legs, which serve a tactile function, the hind legs of the solifuge are equipped with sticky claws, between which are
