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Diamphidia
__NOTOC__ ''Diamphidia'' or Bushman arrow-poison beetle, is an African genus of flea beetles, in the family Chrysomelidae. The larvae and pupae of ''Diamphidia'' produce a toxin used by Bushmen as an arrow poison. The Finnish explorer Hendrik Jacob Wikar, who travelled in Southern Africa in 1773–1779, described the larvae as "poisonous worms". Hans Schinz was the first scientist to document the process by which the Bushmen extract and use the poison. The adults and larvae of '' Diamphidia nigroornata'' feed on '' Commiphora angolensis'' ( Engler), whereas ''Diamphidia vittatipennis'' eat African myrrh. Life cycle Adult females of ''Diamphidia femoralis'' Gerstaecker and ''Diamphidia nigroornata'' ( Stål) lay their eggs on the stems of ''Commiphora'' species and coat the eggs with their faeces which hardens into a protective covering. As the larval instars develop, the pellets of their own faeces remain attached to their backs and posteriors.Chaboo CS, Grobbelaar E, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Diamphidia Femoralis
__NOTOC__ ''Diamphidia'' or Bushman arrow-poison beetle, is an African genus of flea beetles, in the family Chrysomelidae. The larvae and pupae of ''Diamphidia'' produce a toxin used by Bushmen as an arrow poison. The Finnish explorer Hendrik Jacob Wikar, who travelled in Southern Africa in 1773–1779, described the larvae as "poisonous worms". Hans Schinz was the first scientist to document the process by which the Bushmen extract and use the poison. The adults and larvae of '' Diamphidia nigroornata'' feed on ''Commiphora angolensis'' ( Engler), whereas ''Diamphidia vittatipennis'' eat African myrrh. Life cycle Adult females of ''Diamphidia femoralis'' Gerstaecker and ''Diamphidia nigroornata'' ( Stål) lay their eggs on the stems of ''Commiphora'' species and coat the eggs with their faeces which hardens into a protective covering. As the larval instars develop, the pellets of their own faeces remain attached to their backs and posteriors.Chaboo CS, Grobbelaar E, Lar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Diamphidia Fg05
__NOTOC__ ''Diamphidia'' or Bushman arrow-poison beetle, is an African genus of flea beetles, in the family Chrysomelidae. The larvae and pupae of ''Diamphidia'' produce a toxin used by Bushmen as an arrow poison. The Finnish explorer Hendrik Jacob Wikar, who travelled in Southern Africa in 1773–1779, described the larvae as "poisonous worms". Hans Schinz was the first scientist to document the process by which the Bushmen extract and use the poison. The adults and larvae of '' Diamphidia nigroornata'' feed on ''Commiphora angolensis'' ( Engler), whereas ''Diamphidia vittatipennis'' eat African myrrh. Life cycle Adult females of ''Diamphidia femoralis'' Gerstaecker and ''Diamphidia nigroornata'' ( Stål) lay their eggs on the stems of ''Commiphora'' species and coat the eggs with their faeces which hardens into a protective covering. As the larval instars develop, the pellets of their own faeces remain attached to their backs and posteriors.Chaboo CS, Grobbelaar E, Lar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Diamphidia Vittatipennis
__NOTOC__ ''Diamphidia'' or Bushman arrow-poison beetle, is an African genus of flea beetles, in the family Chrysomelidae. The larvae and pupae of ''Diamphidia'' produce a toxin used by Bushmen as an arrow poison. The Finnish explorer Hendrik Jacob Wikar, who travelled in Southern Africa in 1773–1779, described the larvae as "poisonous worms". Hans Schinz was the first scientist to document the process by which the Bushmen extract and use the poison. The adults and larvae of '' Diamphidia nigroornata'' feed on ''Commiphora angolensis'' ( Engler), whereas ''Diamphidia vittatipennis'' eat African myrrh. Life cycle Adult females of ''Diamphidia femoralis'' Gerstaecker and ''Diamphidia nigroornata'' ( Stål) lay their eggs on the stems of ''Commiphora'' species and coat the eggs with their faeces which hardens into a protective covering. As the larval instars develop, the pellets of their own faeces remain attached to their backs and posteriors.Chaboo CS, Grobbelaar E, Lar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Diamphidia Nigroornata
''Diamphidia nigroornata'' or Bushman arrow-poison beetle, is an African leaf beetle species in the genus ''Diamphidia''. The larvae and pupae of ''Diamphidia'' produce a toxin used by San people as an arrow poison. The Finnish explorer Hendrik Jacob Wikar, who travelled in Southern Africa in 1773–1779, described the larvae as "poisonous worms". Hans Schinz was the first scientist to document the process by which the San people extract and use the poison. The adults and larvae of ''Diamphidia nigroornata'' feed on ''Commiphora angolensis''. Life cycle Adult females of ''Diamphidia nigroornata'' lay their eggs on the stems of ''Commiphora'' species and coat the eggs with their faeces which harden into a protective covering. As the larval instars develop, the pellets of their own faeces remain attached to their backs and posteriors.Chaboo CS, Grobbelaar E, Larsen AFecal Ecology in Leaf Beetles: Novel Records in the African Arrow-Poison Beetles, Diamphidia Gerstaecker and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Diamphotoxin
Diamphotoxin is a toxin produced by larvae and pupae of the beetle genus '' Diamphidia''. Diamphotoxin is a hemolytic, cardiotoxic, and highly labile single-chain polypeptide bound to a protein that protects it from deactivation. Diamphotoxin increases the permeability of cell membranes of red blood cells. Although this does not affect the normal flow of ions between cells, it allows ''all'' small ions to pass through cell membranes easily, which fatally disrupts the cells' ion levels. Although diamphotoxin has no neurotoxic effect, its hemolytic effect is lethal, and may reduce hemoglobin levels by as much as 75%. The San people of Southern Africa use diamphotoxin as an arrow poison for hunting game. The toxin paralyses muscles gradually. Large mammals hunted in this way die slowly from a small injection of the poison. Several leaf beetles species of genus ''Leptinotarsa'' produce a similar toxin, leptinotarsin. See also * Palytoxin - A non-peptide fatty alcohol toxin with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bushmen
The San peoples (also Saan), or Bushmen, are members of various Khoe, Tuu, or Kxʼa-speaking indigenous hunter-gatherer cultures that are the first cultures of Southern Africa, and whose territories span Botswana, Namibia, Angola, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Lesotho and South Africa. In 2017, Botswana was home to approximately 63,500 San people (roughly 2.8% of the population) making it the country with the highest number of San people. Definition The term "San" has a long vowel and is spelled Sān (in Khoekhoegowab orthography). It is a Khoekhoe exonym with the meaning of "foragers" and was often used in a derogatory manner to describe nomadic, foraging people. Based on observation of lifestyle, this term has been applied to speakers of three distinct language families living between the Okavango River in Botswana and Etosha National Park in northwestern Namibia, extending up into southern Angola; central peoples of most of Namibia and Botswana, extending into Zambia and Zimbab ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
African Myrrh
''Commiphora africana'', commonly called African myrrh, is a small deciduous tree belonging to the Burseraceae, a family akin to the Anacardiaceae, occurring widely over sub-Saharan Africa in Angola, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Chad, Eswatini, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Senegal, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. On sandy soils this species sometimes forms pure stands, deserving consideration as a plant community or association. Closely related to ''C. glandulosa'', ''C. africana'' is usually some 5m tall, its branchlets often ending in spines. Its bark is grey-green, peeling to reveal a shiny surface, red when damaged, and then exuding bdellion, a clear, edible, aromatic gum ('Commiphora'='gum-bearing'). The leaves are trifoliate with a large terminal leaflet and two small side leaflets, bluntly toothed, and, as with most Commiphoras, pleasantly aromatic when crushed. Fruits are reddish, and about 6–8&n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arrow Poison
Arrow poisons are used to poison arrow heads or darts for the purposes of hunting and warfare. They have been used by indigenous peoples worldwide and are still in use in areas of South America, Africa and Asia. Notable examples are the poisons secreted from the skin of the poison dart frog, and curare (or 'ampi'), a general term for a range of plant-derived arrow poisons used by the indigenous peoples of South America. Poisoned arrows have featured in mythology, notably the Greek story of Heracles slaying the centaur Nessus using arrows poisoned with the blood of the Lernaean Hydra. The Greek hero Odysseus poisons his arrows with hellebore in Homer's ''Odyssey''. Poisoned arrows also figure in Homer's epic about the Trojan War, the ''Iliad'', in which both Achaeans and Trojans used toxic arrows and spears. Poisoned arrows are referred to in the Book of Job in the Bible, descriptive of the sufferings experienced by the just man, Job. The modern terms "toxic" and "toxin" derive f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Commiphora Angolensis
''Commiphora angolensis'', also known as sand commiphora or sand corkwood, is a shrub species in the genus ''Commiphora'' growing mainly in Angola and Namibia. The adults and larvae of '' Diamphidia nigroornata'' feed on ''C. angolensis''. The bark of ''C. angolensis'' contains condensed tannins and the anthocyanin petunidin-3-rhamnoglucoside.Chemical study of bark from ''Commiphora angolensis'' Engl. Cardoso Do Vale, J., Bol Escola Farm Univ Coimbra Edicao Cient, 1962, volume 3, page 128abstract See also * List of Southern African indigenous trees and woody lianes This is a list of Southern African trees, shrubs, suffrutices, geoxyles and lianes, and is intended to cover Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The notion of 'indigenous' is of ... References External links Flora of ZimbabweKew gardenjstorTree Atlas of NamibiaVille de Geneve - CJB - Base de données des plantes d'Afrique (French) an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hans Schinz
Hans Schinz (6 December 1858 – 30 October 1941) was a Swiss explorer and botanist who was a native of Zürich. In 1884 he participated in an exploratory expedition to German Southwest Africa that was organized by German merchant Adolf Lüderitz (1834–1886). For the next few years Schinz undertook extensive scientific studies of the northern parts of the colony. As a result of the expedition, he published ''Deutsch-Südwestafrika, Forschungsreisen durch die deutschen Schutzgebiete Groß- Nama- und Hereroland, nach dem Kunene, dem Ngamisee und Kalahari884-1887'' (German South West Africa: Research Expedition of Herero and Nama Country, the Kunene Region, Lake Ngami and the Kalahari; 1884–1887). This work was an important scientific, geographic and ethnographic study of the colony, and was one of the first comprehensive works on the Ovamboland region. It was during this expedition that he made the acquaintance of the Finnish missionary Martti Rautanen (1845–1926) at Oluk ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Commiphora
The genus of the myrrhs, ''Commiphora'', is the most species-rich genus of flowering plants in the frankincense and myrrh family, Burseraceae. The genus contains approximately 190 species of shrubs and trees, which are distributed throughout the (sub-) tropical regions of Africa, the western Indian Ocean islands, the Arabian Peninsula, India, and South America.Weeks, A. and Simpson, B.B. 2007. Molecular phylogenetic analysis of Commiphora (Burseraceae) yields insight on the evolution and historical biogeography of an “impossible” genus. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 42:62–79. The genus is drought-tolerant and common throughout the xerophytic scrub, seasonally dry tropical forests, and woodlands of these regions. The common name myrrh refers to several species of the genus, from which aromatic resins are derived for various fragrance and medicinal uses by humans. Description Leaves in ''Commiphora'' are pinnately compound (or very rarely unifoliolate). Many spe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flea Beetle
The flea beetle is a small, jumping beetle of the leaf beetle family (Chrysomelidae), that makes up the tribe Alticini which is part of the subfamily Galerucinae. Historically the flea beetles were classified as their own subfamily. Though most tribes of the Galerucinae are suspect of rampant paraphyly in the present delimitation, the Alticini seem to form a good clade. Description and ecology The adults are very small to moderately sized Chrysomelidae (i.e. among beetles in general they are on the smallish side). They are similar to other leaf beetles, but characteristically have the hindleg femora greatly enlarged. These enlarged femora allow for the springing action of these insects when disturbed. Flea beetles can also walk normally and fly. Many flea beetles are attractively colored; dark, shiny and often metallic colors predominate. Adult flea beetles feed externally on plants, eating the surface of the leaves, stems and petals. Under heavy feeding the small round h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
