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Hypotermes Makhamensis
''Hypotermes makhamensis'' is a species of termite in the subfamily Macrotermitinae of the family Termitidae. It lives in dry evergreen forests in tropical south-eastern Asia and builds termite mounds in which it cultivates fungus for use as food. Distribution and habitat ''Hypotermes makhamensis'' is native to Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia. It is a forest-dwelling species and the colony builds and lives inside a complex epigeal (mound) nest. Termites are important in the ecology of the tropical and subtropical forests in the region as degraders of leaf litter and decomposers of dead wood. Behaviour In a study of termites in a forest in Thailand, fourteen nests of ''Hypotermes makhamensis'' were found per hectare. The termites forage on the forest floor, feeding on leaf litter and small and large pieces of dead wood. These termites play an important role in the forest ecosystem and cultivate fungus gardens. The termites chew up fallen leaves and rotten wood and deposit faec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Family (biology)
Family ( la, familia, plural ') is one of the eight major hierarchical taxonomic ranks in Linnaean taxonomy. It is classified between order and genus. A family may be divided into subfamilies, which are intermediate ranks between the ranks of family and genus. The official family names are Latin in origin; however, popular names are often used: for example, walnut trees and hickory trees belong to the family Juglandaceae, but that family is commonly referred to as the "walnut family". What belongs to a family—or if a described family should be recognized at all—are proposed and determined by practicing taxonomists. There are no hard rules for describing or recognizing a family, but in plants, they can be characterized on the basis of both vegetative and reproductive features of plant species. Taxonomists often take different positions about descriptions, and there may be no broad consensus across the scientific community for some time. The publishing of new data and opini ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Termitidae
Termitidae is the largest family of termites whose members are commonly known as the higher termites. They are evolutionarily the most specialised termite group, with their highly compartmentalized hindgut lacking the flagellated protozoans common to "lower termites". Whereas lower termites are restricted mostly to woody tissue, higher termites have diverse diets consisting of wood, grass, leaf litter, fungi, lichen, faeces, humus and soil. Subfamilies The family contains the following subfamilies: *Termitidae Latreille, 1802 **Subfamily Apicotermitinae Grassé & Noirot, 1954 955/small> (synonym: Indotermitidae Roonwal & Sen Sarma in Roonwal, 1958) **Subfamily Cubitermitinae Weidner, 1956 **Subfamily Foraminitermitinae Holmgren, 1912 (synonym: Pseudomicrotermitinae Holmgren, 1912) **Subfamily Macrotermitinae Kemner, 1934, nomen protectum CZN 2003/small> (synonyms: Acanthotermitinae Sjöstedt, 1926, nomen rejiciendum CZN 2003/small>; Odontotermitini Weidner, 1956 **Subfamily ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Epigeal
Epigeal, epigean, epigeic and epigeous are biological terms describing an organism's activity above the soil surface. In botany, a seed is described as showing epigeal germination when the cotyledons of the germinating seed expand, throw off the seed shell and become photosynthetic above the ground. The opposite kind, where the cotyledons remain non-photosynthetic, inside the seed shell, and below ground, is hypogeal germination. The terms epigean, epigeic or epigeous are used for organisms that crawl (epigean), creep like a vine (epigeal), or grow (epigeous) on the soil surface: they are also used more generally for animals that neither burrow nor swim nor fly. The opposite terms are hypogean, hypogeic and hypogeous. An epigeal nest is a term used for a termite mound, the above ground nest of a colony of termites. See also * List of plant morphology terms A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to: People * List (surname) Organizations ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Termitotrox Cupido Walking On A Fungus Garden Cell - ZooKeys-254-089-g003
Termitotroginae is a monotypic subfamily of the family Scarabaeidae, the scarab beetles. The only genus in the subfamily is ''Termititrox''. A second genus, ''Aphodiocopris'', Arrow, 1920, has been synonymised with ''Termitotrox''. All known members of this subfamily are tiny, blind and flightless, and dwell within the fungal gardens of colonies of species of termite in Africa or tropical Asia. Termitotrogins are characterised by having no eyes and no wings, and their pronotum and elytra have a distinctive patterning of ribs and grooves. The function of the beetles in the termite colony is unclear but it seems that they are likely to be obligatory termitophiles and somehow play an important role in the nest environment of their fungus-growing hosts. Species The following species are included in the genus ''Termitotrox'': *''Termitotrox ancoroides'' (Petrovitz, 1956) – Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo *''Termitotrox consobrinus'' Reichensperger, 1915 – Republic o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Termitomyces
''Termitomyces'' is a genus of basidiomycete fungi belonging to the family Lyophyllaceae. There are 30-40 species in the genus, all of which are completely dependent on termites to survive. They are the food source for a subfamily of termites, the Macrotermitinae, who enjoy an obligate symbiosis with the genus similar to that between ''Atta'' ants and ''Attamyces'' mushrooms. Despite this relationship, spore transfer is still accomplished mainly by shedding from mushrooms, which protrude from the termite mounds. Characteristics These mushrooms are edible for most people, and the larger species are a popular wild food where they occur. They include the largest edible mushroom in the world, ''Termitomyces titanicus'' of West Africa and Zambia, whose cap reaches 1 metre (3.28ft) in diameter. These fungi grow on 'combs' which are formed from the termites' excreta, dominated by tough woody fragments. ''Termitomyces'' was described by Roger Heim in 1942. From 1955 to 1969 Arthur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lignin
Lignin is a class of complex organic polymers that form key structural materials in the support tissues of most plants. Lignins are particularly important in the formation of cell walls, especially in wood and bark, because they lend rigidity and do not rot easily. Chemically, lignins are polymers made by cross-linking phenolic precursors. History Lignin was first mentioned in 1813 by the Swiss botanist A. P. de Candolle, who described it as a fibrous, tasteless material, insoluble in water and alcohol but soluble in weak alkaline solutions, and which can be precipitated from solution using acid. He named the substance “lignine”, which is derived from the Latin word '' lignum'', meaning wood. It is one of the most abundant organic polymers on Earth, exceeded only by cellulose. Lignin constitutes 30% of non-fossil organic carbon on Earth, and 20 to 35% of the dry mass of wood. Lignin is present in red algae, which suggest that the common ancestor of plants and red algae ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cellulose
Cellulose is an organic compound with the formula , a polysaccharide consisting of a linear chain of several hundred to many thousands of β(1→4) linked D-glucose units. Cellulose is an important structural component of the primary cell wall of green plants, many forms of algae and the oomycetes. Some species of bacteria secrete it to form biofilms. Cellulose is the most abundant organic polymer on Earth. The cellulose content of cotton fiber is 90%, that of wood is 40–50%, and that of dried hemp is approximately 57%. Cellulose is mainly used to produce paperboard and paper. Smaller quantities are converted into a wide variety of derivative products such as cellophane and rayon. Conversion of cellulose from energy crops into biofuels such as cellulosic ethanol is under development as a renewable fuel source. Cellulose for industrial use is mainly obtained from wood pulp and cotton. Some animals, particularly ruminants and termites, can digest cellulose with the help of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mycelium
Mycelium (plural mycelia) is a root-like structure of a fungus consisting of a mass of branching, thread-like hyphae. Fungal colonies composed of mycelium are found in and on soil and many other substrate (biology), substrates. A typical single spore germinates into a Monokaryon, monokaryotic mycelium, which cannot reproduce sexually; when two compatible monokaryotic mycelia join and form a dikaryotic mycelium, that mycelium may form sporocarp (fungi), fruiting bodies such as mushrooms. A mycelium may be minute, forming a colony that is too small to see, or may grow to span thousands of acres as in ''Armillaria''. Through the mycelium, a fungus absorbs nutrients from its environment. It does this in a two-stage process. First, the hyphae secrete enzymes onto or into the food source, which break down biopolymers, biological polymers into smaller units such as monomers. These monomers are then absorbed into the mycelium by facilitated diffusion and active transport. Mycelia are v ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Species Description
A species description is a formal description of a newly discovered species, usually in the form of a scientific paper. Its purpose is to give a clear description of a new species of organism and explain how it differs from species that have been described previously or are related. In order for species to be validly described, they need to follow guidelines established over time. Zoological naming requires adherence to the ICZN code, plants, the ICN, viruses ICTV, and so on. The species description often contains photographs or other illustrations of type material along with a note on where they are deposited. The publication in which the species is described gives the new species a formal scientific name. Some 1.9 million species have been identified and described, out of some 8.7 million that may actually exist. Millions more have become extinct throughout the existence of life on Earth. Naming process A name of a new species becomes valid (available in zo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Termitotrox Cupido
''Termitotrox cupido'' is a species of scarab beetle in the subfamily Termitotroginae. It was first described by Munetoshi Maruyama in 2012, having been discovered living inside a nest of the termite '' Hypotermes makhamensis'' in Cambodia. It is a tiny, blind and flightless insect. Description ''Termitotrox cupido'' grows to a length of and at the time of its description was the smallest known scarab beetle. It is a blind, flightless beetle with semi-spherical elytra which are sculpted with deep longitudinal grooves. The elytra bear wing-shaped trichomes (outgrowths), a feature that distinguishes this species from other members of the genus. The head, thorax and elytra are reddish-brown with a matt surface and the trichomes are a paler colour. The specific name "cupido" comes from the resemblance of the trichomes to the wings of Cupid, the child god from Greek mythology. Distribution and habitat The genus '' Termitotrox'' comprises eleven species of scarab beetle, eight from ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Termitotrox
Termitotroginae is a monotypic subfamily of the family Scarabaeidae, the scarab beetles. The only genus in the subfamily is ''Termititrox''. A second genus, ''Aphodiocopris'', Arrow, 1920, has been synonymised with ''Termitotrox''. All known members of this subfamily are tiny, blind and flightless, and dwell within the fungal gardens of colonies of species of termite in Africa or tropical Asia. Termitotrogins are characterised by having no eyes and no wings, and their pronotum and elytra have a distinctive patterning of ribs and grooves. The function of the beetles in the termite colony is unclear but it seems that they are likely to be obligatory termitophiles and somehow play an important role in the nest environment of their fungus-growing hosts. Species The following species are included in the genus ''Termitotrox'': *''Termitotrox ancoroides'' (Petrovitz, 1956) – Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo *''Termitotrox consobrinus'' Reichensperger, 1915 – Republic o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Termites
Termites are small insects that live in colonies and have distinct castes (eusocial) and feed on wood or other dead plant matter. Termites comprise the infraorder Isoptera, or alternatively the epifamily Termitoidae, within the order Blattodea (along with cockroaches). Termites were once classified in a separate order from cockroaches, but recent phylogenetic studies indicate that they evolved from cockroaches, as they are deeply nested within the group, and the sister group to wood eating cockroaches of the genus ''Cryptocercus''. Previous estimates suggested the divergence took place during the Jurassic or Triassic. More recent estimates suggest that they have an origin during the Late Jurassic, with the first fossil records in the Early Cretaceous. About 3,106 species are currently described, with a few hundred more left to be described. Although these insects are often called "white ants", they are not ants, and are not closely related to ants. Like ants and some bees an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
