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Autohaemorrhaging
Autohaemorrhaging, or reflex bleeding, is the action of animals deliberately ejecting blood from their bodies. Autohaemorrhaging has been observed as occurring in two variations. In the first form, blood is squirted toward a predator. The blood of these animals usually contains toxic compounds, making the behaviour an effective chemical defence mechanism. In the second form, blood is not squirted, but is slowly emitted from the animal's body. This form appears to serve a deterrent effect, and is used by animals whose blood does not seem to be toxic. Most animals that autohaemorrhage are insects, but some reptiles also display this behaviour. Some organisms have shown an ability to tailor their autohaemorrhaging response. Armoured crickets will projectile autohaemorrhage over longer distances when attacked from the side, compared to being attacked from an overhead predator. Insects Six orders of insects have been observed to utilize this defence mechanism. *Beetles **Meloidae ( ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Antipredator Adaptation
Anti-predator adaptations are mechanisms developed through evolution that assist prey organisms in their constant struggle against predators. Throughout the animal kingdom, adaptations have evolved for every stage of this struggle, namely by avoiding detection, warding off attack, fighting back, or escaping when caught. The first line of defence consists in avoiding detection, through mechanisms such as camouflage, masquerade, apostatic selection, living underground, or nocturnality. Alternatively, prey animals may ward off attack, whether by advertising the presence of strong defences in aposematism, by mimicking animals which do possess such defences, by startling the attacker, by signalling to the predator that pursuit is not worthwhile, by distraction, by using defensive structures such as spines, and by living in a group. Members of groups are at reduced risk of predation, despite the increased conspicuousness of a group, through improved vigilance, predator confusion ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phrynosoma Orbiculare
The Mexican Plateau horned lizard (''Phrynosoma orbiculare'') is a species of horned lizard in the family Phrynosomatidae. The species, also known commonly as the Chihuahua Desert horned lizard, is endemic to Mexico. There are five recognized subspecies. The specific epithet, ''orbiculare'', comes from the Latin adjective ''orbis'', meaning "circular". Description ''P. orbiculare'' has a characteristic single row of lateral abdominal fringe scales. This "horned toad" also has two short occipital horns. Geographic range ''P. orbiculare'' is found only in the high plateau country of central Mexico. Specifically, it is found in the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Durango, Morelos, Nuevo León, Puebla, and Veracruz. Habitat ''P. orbiculare'' occurs in a wide range of primary habitats (dry scrubland, pine-oak forest, oak forest, juniper forest) and secondary habitats (agricultural land, and agave and '' Opuntia'' fields). Subspecies Five subspecies of ''P. orbiculare'' are recogn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lepidoptera
Lepidoptera ( ) is an order (biology), order of insects that includes butterfly, butterflies and moths (both are called lepidopterans). About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera are described, in 126 Family (biology), families and 46 Taxonomic rank, superfamilies, 10 percent of the total described species of living organisms. It is one of the most widespread and widely recognizable insect orders in the world. The Lepidoptera show many variations of the basic body structure that have evolved to gain advantages in lifestyle and distribution. Recent estimates suggest the order may have more species than earlier thought, and is among the four most wikt:speciose, speciose orders, along with the Hymenoptera, fly, Diptera, and beetle, Coleoptera. Lepidopteran species are characterized by more than three derived features. The most apparent is the presence of scale (anatomy), scales that cover the torso, bodies, wings, and a proboscis. The scales are modified, flattened "hairs", and give ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Enyaliopsis Nyala
''Enyaliopsis'' is the largest genus in the subfamily Hetrodinae and typical of the tribe Enyaliopsini (family Tettigoniidae: the bush-crickets or katydids). It is made up of 24 species found from east-central to southern Africa. *'' Enyaliopsis binduranus'' Peringuey, 1916 *'' Enyaliopsis bloyeti'' (Lucas, 1885) *'' Enyaliopsis carolinus'' Sjostedt, 1913 *''Enyaliopsis durandi'' (Lucas, 1884) *'' Enyaliopsis ephippiatus'' (Gerst., 1869) *'' Enyaliopsis guilelmi'' Sjostedt, 1926 *''Enyaliopsis ilala'' Glenn, 1991 *'' Enyaliopsis inflatus'' Weidner, 1941 *'' Enyaliopsis jennae'' Glenn, 1991 *'' Enyaliopsis maculipes'' Sjostedt, 1926 *''Enyaliopsis matabelensis'' Sjostedt, 1913 *''Enyaliopsis monsteri'' Glenn, 1991 *''Enyaliopsis mulanje'' Glenn, 1991 *'' Enyaliopsis nyala'' Glenn, 1991 *''Enyaliopsis nyasa'' Glenn, 1991 *''Enyaliopsis nyika'' Glenn, 1991 *''Enyaliopsis obuncus'' (I. Bolivar, 1881) *''Enyaliopsis parduspes'' Glenn, 1991 *''Enyaliopsis patruelis'' Peringuey, 1916 * ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Armoured Ground Cricket
The Bradyporinae are a subfamily in the family Tettigoniidae (bush crickets or katydids), based on the type genus '' Bradyporus''. First described as a family, "Bradyporidae" (Burmeister, H., 1838), the first use as Bradyporinae was by Brunner von Wattenwyl in 1878. Genera in this subfamily are mostly distributed in Europe, North Africa, through to temperate/subtropical Asia. Tribes and genera Bradyporini Auth.: Burmeister, 1838 * '' Bradyporus'' Charpentier, 1825 * '' Pycnogaster'' Graells, 1851 Ephippigerini Auth.: Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1878 * '' Afrosteropleurus'' Barat, 2012 * '' Albarracinia'' Barat, 2012 - monotypic ''A. zapaterii'' (Bolívar, 1877) * '' Baratia'' Llucià Pomares, 2021 - monotypic * ''Baetica Hispania Baetica, often abbreviated Baetica, was one of three Roman provinces in Hispania (the Iberian Peninsula). Baetica was bordered to the west by Lusitania, and to the northeast by Hispania Tarraconensis. Baetica remained one of the basic di ...'' Bolivar, I. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Katydid
Insects in the family Tettigoniidae are commonly called katydids (especially in North America), or bush crickets. They have previously been known as "long-horned grasshoppers". More than 8,000 species are known. Part of the suborder Ensifera, the Tettigoniidae are the only extant (living) family in the superfamily Tettigonioidea. They are primarily nocturnal in habit with strident mating calls. Many species exhibit mimicry and camouflage, commonly with shapes and colors similar to leaves. Etymology The family name Tettigoniidae is derived from the genus ''Tettigonia'', first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758. In Latin ''tettigonia'' means a kind of small cicada, leafhopper; it is from the Greek τεττιγόνιον ''tettigonion'', the diminutive of the imitative (onomatopoeic) τέττιξ, ''tettix'', cicada. All of these names such as ''tettix'' with repeated sounds are onomatopoeic, imitating the stridulation of these insects. The common name ''katydid'' is also onomatop ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Milkweed
''Asclepias'' is a genus of herbaceous, perennial, flowering plants known as milkweeds, named for their latex, a milky substance containing cardiac glycosides termed cardenolides, exuded where cells are damaged. Most species are toxic to humans and many other species, primarily due to the presence of cardenolides, although, as with many such plants, there are species that feed upon them (e.g. their leaves) and from them (e.g. their nectar). Most notable are monarch butterflies, who use and require certain milkweeds as host plants for their larvae. The genus contains over 200 species distributed broadly across Africa, North America, and South America. It previously belonged to the family Asclepiadaceae, which is now classified as the subfamily Asclepiadoideae of the dogbane family, Apocynaceae. The genus was formally described by Carl Linnaeus in 1753, who named it after Asclepius, the Greek god of healing. Flowers Members of the genus produce some of the most complex flowe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Glycosides
In chemistry, a glycoside is a molecule in which a sugar is bound to another functional group via a glycosidic bond. Glycosides play numerous important roles in living organisms. Many plants store chemicals in the form of inactive glycosides. These can be activated by enzyme hydrolysis, which causes the sugar part to be broken off, making the chemical available for use. Many such plant glycosides are used as medications. Several species of ''Heliconius'' butterfly are capable of incorporating these plant compounds as a form of chemical defense against predators. In animals and humans, poisons are often bound to sugar molecules as part of their elimination from the body. In formal terms, a glycoside is any molecule in which a sugar group is bonded through its anomeric carbon to another group via a glycosidic bond. Glycosides can be linked by an O- (an ''O-glycoside''), N- (a ''glycosylamine''), S-(a ''thioglycoside''), or C- (a '' C-glycoside'') glycosidic bond. According to th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phymateus Leprosus
''Phymateus'' is a genus of grasshoppers of the family Pyrgomorphidae. Description Species of the genus ''Phymateus'' are African grasshoppers about long. Some species at maturity are capable of long migratory flights. They raise and rustle wings when disturbed and may secrete a noxious fluid from the thoracic joint. These locusts feed on highly toxic plants and usually congregate in large numbers on trees and shrubs, arranged in such a way as to resemble foliage. Females of the species ''Phymateus morbillosus'' are unable to fly, despite fully developed wings. Distribution Species of this genus can be found in Southern, Central and East Africa, through Somalia and Madagascar to India. List of species The ''Orthoptera Species File'' lists: ;subgenus ''Maphyteus'' Bolívar, 1904 # '' Phymateus baccatus'' Stål, 1876 # '' Phymateus leprosus'' ( Fabricius, 1793) ;subgenus ''Phymateus'' Thunberg, 1815 # '' Phymateus aegrotus'' (Gerstaecker, 1869) # '' Phymateus bolivari'' Kirby, 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phymateus Viridipes
''Phymateus viridipes'', also known as the Green milkweed locust or African bush grasshopper, is an African locust in the family Pyrgomorphidae (gaudy grasshoppers). Body characteristics It is about long at maturity and capable of long migratory flights. Its body and fore-wings are green in colour while the hind-wings are bright red and blue, presenting a striking appearance in flight. The pronotum, or dorsal area immediately behind the head, is covered in spines or carbuncles which are often tipped with red. Development The nymphs or hoppers are bright yellow and black and highly gregarious, forming large groups during this growth stage and are more or less polyphagous. Behaviour As with other ''Phymateus'' species it raises and rustles its wings when disturbed and may secrete a noxious fluid from its thoracic joint.''Field Guide to Insects'' - Picker, Griffiths & Weaving (2004) This locust feeds on highly toxic plants such as ''Acokanthera oppositifolia'', ''Cascabela t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dictyophorus Spumans
''Dictyophorus spumans'', the koppie foam grasshopper or , is a species of grasshopper in the family Pyrgomorphidae indigenous to Africa. The name "foaming grasshopper" derives from the insect's ability to produce a toxic foam from its thoracic glands. It is closely related to ''Phymateus''. It grows up to a length of . The neck shield has a warty surface, and their color is highly variable. It is toxic due to the poisons that it sequesters from its diet, which includes a large number of toxic and distasteful plants such as milkweed ''Asclepias'' is a genus of herbaceous, perennial, flowering plants known as milkweeds, named for their latex, a milky substance containing cardiac glycosides termed cardenolides, exuded where cells are damaged. Most species are toxic to humans .... Races * ''D. s.'' subsp. ''spumans'' – South Africa * ''D. s.'' subsp. ''ater'' – northern South Africa and Zimbabwe * ''D. s.'' subsp. ''pulchra'' – eastern South Africa and Mozambique * ''D. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
