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Highgate Common
Highgate Common is a Staffordshire Wildlife Trust reserve containing a mix of heathland and woodland. It is about 129 hectares or 320 acres in size. The common is a popular leisure destination and a Site of Special Scientific Interest, located in Southern Staffordshire, England. Location Highgate Common is situated to the west of the West Midlands conurbation, on a ridge above the Smestow valley. By road it is 1.2 miles from Swindon, 1.7 miles from Enville, 4.5 miles from Wombourne, 9 miles from Perton and 10 miles from Wolverhampton. Management Since April 2009 Highgate Common has been owned and managed by the Staffordshire Wildlife Trust. The site was previously managed by South Staffordshire District Council. A warden is present most days and their duties are aided by various support staff and volunteers. Wildlife Highgate Common contains one of a small number of lowland heaths in Staffordshire, which are highly prized as habitats. However, the heath is not the whole of th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Highgate Common - Geograph
Highgate ( ) is a suburban area of north London at the northeastern corner of Hampstead Heath, north-northwest of Charing Cross. Highgate is one of the most expensive London suburbs in which to live. It has two active conservation organisations, the ''Highgate Society'' and the ''Highgate Neighbourhood Forum'' to protect and enhance its character and amenities. Until late Victorian times it was a distinct village outside London, sitting astride the main road to the north. The area retains many green expanses including the eastern part of Hampstead Heath, three ancient woods, Waterlow Park and the eastern-facing slopes known as Highgate bowl. At its centre is Highgate village, largely a collection of Georgian shops, pubs, restaurants, residential streets, and the Sacred Spirits Distillery interspersed with diverse landmarks such as St Michael's Church and steeple, St. Joseph's Church and its green copper dome, Highgate School (1565), Jacksons Lane arts centre housed in a G ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Staffordshire Wildlife Trust
The Staffordshire Wildlife Trust is a wildlife trust covering the county of Staffordshire, England. Organisation and activities It is one of 46 Wildlife Trusts; each is a registered charity and is a member of the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts. The Staffordshire Wildlife Trust was founded in 1969. It has about 160 members of staff, overseen by a board of trustees. The Trust is supported by a network of volunteers."About us" ''Staffordshire Wildlife Trust''. Retrieved 31 October 2022. The Trust has two s: the Wolseley Centre, near |
Sphecodes
''Sphecodes'' is a genus of bees from the family Halictidae, the majority of which are black and red in colour and are colloquially known as blood bees. ''Sphecodes'' bees are kleptoparasitic on other bees, especially bees in the genera ''Lasioglossum'', ''Halictus'' and ''Andrena''. The adults consume nectar, but because they use other bees' provisions to feed their offspring they do not collect pollen. Distribution ''Sphecodes'' is a cosmopolitan genus with species represented on every continent. The genus is also very species rich, with 21 species described from Siberia, 33 species from Central Europe, 17 species from the Indian region, 26 from the Arabian Peninsula and surrounding region, and 21 from Southeast Asia. The genus is only represented in Australia in the northeast, with the species ''Sphecodes albilabris'' being thought to have been introduced to both Australia and the United States by accident. Species There are over 300 known species in the genus ''Sphecodes''. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nomada
With over 850 species, the genus ''Nomada'' is one of the largest genera in the family Apidae, and the largest genus of Kleptoparasitism, kleptoparasitic "cuckoo bees." Kleptoparasitic bees are so named because they enter the nests of a host and lay eggs there, stealing resources that the host has already collected. The name "''Nomada''" is derived from the Greek word ''nomas (wiktionary:νομάς#Ancient Greek, νομάς''), meaning "roaming" or "wandering." ''Nomada'' parasitize many different types of bees as hosts, primarily the genus ''Andrena,'' but also ''Agapostemon, Melitta (bee), Melitta, Eucera'' and ''Exomalopsis''. As parasites, they lack a pollen-carrying Scopa (biology), scopa, and are mostly hairless, as they do not collect pollen to feed their offspring. Like non-parasitic bees, adults are known to visit flowers and feed on nectar. Given the lack of scopa and general behavior, they are considered poor pollinators. Appearance and identification They are ofte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cuckoo Bees
The term cuckoo bee is used for a variety of different bee lineages which have evolved the kleptoparasitic behaviour of laying their eggs in the nests of other bees, reminiscent of the behavior of cuckoo birds. The name is perhaps best applied to the apid subfamily Nomadinae, but is commonly used in Europe to mean bumblebees ''Bombus'' subgenus ''Psithyrus''. Females of cuckoo bees are easy to recognize in almost all cases, as they lack pollen collecting structures (the scopa) and do not construct their own nests. They often have reduced body hair, abnormally thick and/or heavily sculptured exoskeleton, and saber-like mandibles, although this is not universally true; other less visible changes are also common. They typically enter the nests of pollen-collecting species, and lay their eggs in cells provisioned by the host bee. When the cuckoo bee larva hatches it consumes the host larva's pollen ball, and, if the female kleptoparasite has not already done so, kills and eats the ho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kleptoparasitism
Kleptoparasitism (etymologically, parasitism by theft) is a form of feeding in which one animal deliberately takes food from another. The strategy is evolutionarily stable when stealing is less costly than direct feeding, which can mean when food is scarce or when victims are abundant. Many kleptoparasites are arthropods, especially bees and wasps, but including some true flies, dung beetles, bugs, and spiders. Cuckoo bees are specialized kleptoparasites which lay their eggs either on the pollen masses made by other bees, or on the insect hosts of parasitoid wasps. They are an instance of Emery's rule, which states that insect social parasites tend to be closely related to their hosts. The behavior occurs, too, in vertebrates including birds such as skuas, which persistently chase other seabirds until they disgorge their food, and carnivorous mammals such as spotted hyenas and lions. Other species opportunistically indulge in kleptoparasitism. Strategy Kleptoparasitism is a fe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Andrena
''Andrena'' is a genus of bees in the family Andrenidae. With over 1,500 species, it is one of the largest genera of animals. It is a strongly monophyletic group that is difficult to split into more manageable divisions; currently, ''Andrena'' is organized into 104 subgenera. It is nearly worldwide in distribution, with the notable exceptions of Oceania and South America. Bees in this genus are commonly known as mining bees due to their ground-nesting lifestyle. Morphology ''Andrena'' are generally medium-sized bees; body length ranges between 8 and 17 mm with males being smaller and more slender than females. Most are black with white to tan hair, and their wings have either two or three submarginal cells. They carry pollen mainly on femoral scopal hairs, but many ''Andrena'' have an additional propodeal corbicula for carrying some pollen on their thorax. C. D. Michener (2007) ''The Bees of the World'', 2nd Edition, Johns Hopkins University Press. They can be distin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heathland
A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a cooler and damper climate. Heaths are widespread worldwide but are fast disappearing and considered a rare habitat in Europe. They form extensive and highly diverse communities across Australia in humid and sub-humid areas where fire regimes with recurring burning are required for the maintenance of the heathlands.Specht, R.L. 'Heathlands' in 'Australian Vegetation' R.H. Groves ed. Cambridge University Press 1988 Even more diverse though less widespread heath communities occur in Southern Africa. Extensive heath communities can also be found in the Texas chaparral, New Caledonia, central Chile, and along the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. In addition to these extensive heath areas, the vegetation type is also found in scattered locations acro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fauna
Fauna is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is ''flora'', and for fungi, it is '' funga''. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively referred to as '' biota''. Zoologists and paleontologists use ''fauna'' to refer to a typical collection of animals found in a specific time or place, e.g. the "Sonoran Desert fauna" or the "Burgess Shale fauna". Paleontologists sometimes refer to a sequence of faunal stages, which is a series of rocks all containing similar fossils. The study of animals of a particular region is called faunistics. Etymology ''Fauna'' comes from the name Fauna, a Roman goddess of earth and fertility, the Roman god Faunus, and the related forest spirits called Fauns. All three words are cognates of the name of the Greek god Pan, and ''panis'' is the Greek equivalent of fauna. ''Fauna'' is also the word for a book that catalogues the animals in such a manner. The term was first used b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bracken
Bracken (''Pteridium'') is a genus of large, coarse ferns in the family Dennstaedtiaceae. Ferns (Pteridophyta) are vascular plants that have alternating generations, large plants that produce spores and small plants that produce sex cells (eggs and sperm). Brackens are noted for their large, highly divided leaves. They are found on all continents except Antarctica and in all environments except deserts, though their typical habitat is moorland. The genus probably has the widest distribution of any fern in the world. The word ''bracken'' is of Old Norse origin, related to Swedish ''bräken'' and Danish ''bregne'', both meaning fern. In the past, the genus was commonly treated as having only one species, ''Pteridium aquilinum'', but the recent trend is to subdivide it into about ten species. Like other ferns, brackens do not have seeds or fruits, but the immature fronds, known as ''fiddleheads'', are sometimes eaten, although some are thought to be carcinogenic. Description an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quercus Robur
''Quercus robur'', commonly known as common oak, pedunculate oak, European oak or English oak, is a species of flowering plant in the beech and oak family, Fagaceae. It is a large tree, native plant, native to most of Europe west of the Caucasus. It is widely cultivated in temperate regions elsewhere and has escaped into the wild in scattered parts of China and North America. Description ''Quercus robur'' is a large deciduous tree, with circumference of grand oaks from to an exceptional . The Majesty Oak with a circumference of is the thickest tree in Great Britain. The Brureika (Bridal Oak) in Norway with a circumference of (2018) and the Kaive Oak in Latvia with a circumference of are among the thickest trees in Northern Europe. The largest historical oak was known as the Imperial Oak from Bosnia and Herzegovina. This specimen was recorded at 17.5 m in circumference at breast height and estimated at over 150 m³ in total volume. It collapsed in 1998. The species has l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Silver Birch
''Betula pendula'', commonly known as silver birch, warty birch, European white birch, or East Asian white birch, is a species of tree in the family Betulaceae, native to Europe and parts of Asia, though in southern Europe, it is only found at higher altitudes. Its range extends into Siberia, China, and southwest Asia in the mountains of northern Turkey, the Caucasus, and northern Iran. It has been introduced into North America, where it is known as the European white birch or weeping birch and is considered invasive in some states in the United States and parts of Canada. The tree can also be found in more temperate regions of Australia. The silver birch is a medium-sized deciduous tree that owes its common name to the white peeling bark on the trunk. The twigs are slender and often pendulous and the leaves are roughly triangular with doubly serrate margins and turn yellow and brown in autumn before they fall. The flowers are catkins and the light, winged seeds get widely sc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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