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Knemidokoptes Pilae
__NOTOC__ ''Knemidokoptes pilae'' is a mite which Parasite, parasitises the beaks of psittacines, particularly budgerigars, causing a mange known as 'scaly face'.Dwight D. Bowman and Jay R. Georgi, ''Georgi's Parasitology for Veterinarians'', 9th ed. St. Louis, Missouri: Saunders/Elsevier, 2009, p. 67 Morphology ''K. pilae'' are roundish-oval mites. The males are up to 220 μm long and about 150 μm wide, females up to 356 μm long and about 300 μm wide. The four pairs of legs are short and stubby in shape and have five segments. At the ends of the extremities, males have unjointed grippers and suckers, while females have claws. Life ''K. pilae'' lives off the substance of the beak, which it dissolves by means of a keratinase. They live primarily in the Beak#Cere, cere and at the base of the beak of the infected birds. They inhabit a single host throughout their life cycle; infection of new hosts occurs by contact. The viviparous females drill tunnels in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mite
Mites are small arachnids (eight-legged arthropods). Mites span two large orders of arachnids, the Acariformes and the Parasitiformes, which were historically grouped together in the subclass Acari, but genetic analysis does not show clear evidence of a close relationship. Most mites are tiny, less than in length, and have a simple, unsegmented body plan. The small size of most species makes them easily overlooked; some species live in water, many live in soil as decomposers, others live on plants, sometimes creating galls, while others again are Predation, predators or Parasitism, parasites. This last type includes the commercially destructive ''Varroa'' parasite of honey bees, as well as scabies mites of humans. Most species are harmless to humans, but a few are associated with allergies or may transmit diseases. The scientific discipline devoted to the study of mites is called acarology. Evolution and taxonomy The mites are not a defined taxon, but is used for two disti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Parasite
Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The entomologist E. O. Wilson has characterised parasites as "predators that eat prey in units of less than one". Parasites include single-celled protozoans such as the agents of malaria, sleeping sickness, and amoebic dysentery; animals such as hookworms, lice, mosquitoes, and vampire bats; fungi such as Armillaria mellea, honey fungus and the agents of ringworm; and plants such as mistletoe, dodder, and the Orobanchaceae, broomrapes. There are six major parasitic Behavioral ecology#Evolutionarily stable strategy, strategies of exploitation of animal hosts, namely parasitic castration, directly transmitted parasitism (by contact), wikt:trophic, trophicallytransmitted parasitism (by being eaten), Disease vector, vector-transmitted parasitism, parasitoidism, and micropreda ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Beak
The beak, bill, or rostrum is an external anatomical structure found mostly in birds, but also in turtles, non-avian dinosaurs and a few mammals. A beak is used for eating, preening, manipulating objects, killing prey, fighting, probing for food, courtship, and feeding young. The terms ''beak'' and ''rostrum'' are also used to refer to a similar mouth part in some ornithischians, pterosaurs, cetaceans, dicynodonts, anuran tadpoles, monotremes (i.e. echidnas and platypuses, which have a beak-like structure), sirens, pufferfish, billfishes and cephalopods. Although beaks vary significantly in size, shape, color and texture, they share a similar underlying structure. Two bony projections – the upper and lower mandibles – are covered with a thin keratinized layer of epidermis known as the rhamphotheca. In most species, two holes called ''nares'' lead to the respiratory system. Etymology Although the word "beak" was, in the past, generally restricted to the sharpened bills o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Psittacines
Psittacinae is a subfamily (biology), subfamily of Afrotropics, Afrotropical or Old World parrots, native to sub-Saharan Africa, which include twelve species and two Extant taxon, extant genus, genera. Among the species is the iconic grey parrot. The ''Poicephalus'' are usually green birds with different colored heads; the larger ''Psittacus'' are light grey with red tails. African parrots (at least the grey parrot) have been known in Europe since Roman Empire, Roman times. The African parrots, unlike their Neotropical cousins, are polyphyletic: ''Agapornis'' of Africa and Madagascar was found to be the sister group to ''Loriculus'' of Australasia and Indo-Malayasia and together they clustered with the Australasian ''Loriinae'', ''Cyclopsittacini'' and ''Melopsittacus''. ''Poicephalus'' and ''Psittacus'' from mainland Africa formed the sister group of the Neotropical ''Arinae'' and ''Coracopsis'' from Madagascar and adjacent islands may be the closest relative of ''Psittrichas' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Budgerigar
The budgerigar ( ; ''Melopsittacus undulatus''), also known as the common parakeet or shell parakeet, is a small, long-tailed, seed-eating parrot usually nicknamed the budgie ( ), or in American English, the parakeet. Budgies are the only species in the genus ''Melopsittacus''. Naturally, the species is green and yellow with black, scalloped markings on the nape, back, and wings. Budgies are bred in captivity with colouring of blues, whites, yellows, greys, and even with small crests. Juveniles and chicks are monomorphic, while adults are told apart by their cere colouring, and their behaviour. The species is the only member of the genus ''Melopsittacus'', which is the only genus in the Melopsittacini tribe. The origin of the budgerigar's name is unclear. First recorded in 1805, budgerigars are popular pets around the world due to their small size, low cost, and ability to mimic human speech. They are likely the third most popular pet in the world, after the domesticated d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mange
Mange is a type of skin disease caused by parasitic mites. Because various species of mites also infect plants, birds and reptiles, the term "mange", or colloquially "the mange", suggesting poor condition of the skin and fur due to the infection, is sometimes reserved for pathological mite-infestation of nonhuman mammals. Thus, mange includes mite-associated skin disease in domestic mammals (cats and dogs), in livestock (such as sheep scab), and in wild mammals (for example, foxes, coyotes, cougars, and bears). Since mites belong to the arachnid subclass Acari (also called Acarina), another term for mite infestation is acariasis. Parasitic mites that cause mange in mammals embed themselves in either skin or hair follicles in the animal, depending upon their genus. ''Sarcoptes'' spp. burrow into skin, while ''Demodex'' spp. live in follicles. In humans, these two types of mite infections, which would be known as "mange" in furry mammals, are instead known respectively as scabies ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scaly Face
Scaly foot, or knemidocoptiasis is a bird ailment that is common among caged birds and also affects many other bird species. It is caused by mites in the genus ''Knemidokoptes'' which burrow into the bird's flesh. The tunnels made by the mites within the skin cause dermatitis and scaly lesions. Scaly face is caused by the same mite responsible for scaly foot and other related mites cause depluming. The condition is transmitted from one bird to another by direct prolonged contact. Causes Scaly foot, otherwise known as knemidocoptiasis, is caused by burrowing mites in the genus ''Knemidokoptes''. The condition can be compared with sarcoptic mange in mammals, but does not seem to cause the same level of itching. The birds chiefly affected are galliformes (chickens and turkeys), passerines (finches, canaries, sparrows, robins, wrens), and psittacine birds (parrots, macaws, parakeets, budgerigars). The condition sometimes additionally affects piciformes (woodpeckers, toucans) and ans ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Keratinase
Keratinases are Protease, proteolytic enzymes that digest keratin. History They were initially classified as 'proteinases of unknown mechanism' by the Nomenculture Committee on the International Union of Biochemistry in 1978 with Enzyme Commission number, EC number 3.4.99 in 1983 (Owen et al., 1983). In the 1990s, they were defined as a serine proteases due to high Homology (biology), sequence homology with alkaline protease, and their inhibition by Protease inhibitor (pharmacology), serine protease inhibitors (Wang et al., 1995; Taha et al., 1998 and Bressollier et al., 1999). Function Keratinases are produced only in the presence of keratin-containing substrate. They mainly attack the disulfide (-S-S-) bond of the keratin substrate. Keratinase production has been reported in various microorganisms including fungi and bacteria, and occurs at near-alkaline pH and thermophilic temperatures. These enzymes have a broad Substrate (biochemistry), substrate specificity, degrading fibr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Beak
The beak, bill, or rostrum is an external anatomical structure found mostly in birds, but also in turtles, non-avian dinosaurs and a few mammals. A beak is used for eating, preening, manipulating objects, killing prey, fighting, probing for food, courtship, and feeding young. The terms ''beak'' and ''rostrum'' are also used to refer to a similar mouth part in some ornithischians, pterosaurs, cetaceans, dicynodonts, anuran tadpoles, monotremes (i.e. echidnas and platypuses, which have a beak-like structure), sirens, pufferfish, billfishes and cephalopods. Although beaks vary significantly in size, shape, color and texture, they share a similar underlying structure. Two bony projections – the upper and lower mandibles – are covered with a thin keratinized layer of epidermis known as the rhamphotheca. In most species, two holes called ''nares'' lead to the respiratory system. Etymology Although the word "beak" was, in the past, generally restricted to the sharpened bills o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Viviparous
Among animals, viviparity is development of the embryo inside the body of the parent. This is opposed to oviparity which is a reproductive mode in which females lay developing eggs that complete their development and hatch externally from the mother. The term 'viviparity' and its adjective form 'viviparous' derive from the Latin ''vivus'' meaning "living" and ''pario'' meaning "give birth to". Reproductive mode Five modes of reproduction have been differentiated in animals based on relations between zygote and parents. The five include two nonviviparous modes: ovuliparity, with external fertilisation, and oviparity, with internal fertilisation. In the latter, the female lays zygotes as eggs with a large yolk; this occurs in all birds, most reptiles, and some fishes. These modes are distinguished from viviparity, which covers all the modes that result in live birth: *Histotrophic viviparity: the zygotes develop in the female's oviducts, but find their nutrients by oophagy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Epidermis (skin)
The epidermis is the outermost of the three layers that comprise the skin, the inner layers being the dermis and hypodermis. The epidermis layer provides a barrier to infection from environmental pathogens and regulates the amount of water released from the body into the atmosphere through transepidermal water loss. The epidermis is composed of multiple layers of flattened cells that overlie a base layer (stratum basale) composed of columnar cells arranged perpendicularly. The layers of cells develop from stem cells in the basal layer. The human epidermis is a familiar example of epithelium, particularly a stratified squamous epithelium. The word epidermis is derived through Latin , itself and . Something related to or part of the epidermis is termed epidermal. Structure Cellular components The epidermis primarily consists of keratinocytes ( proliferating basal and differentiated suprabasal), which comprise 90% of its cells, but also contains melanocytes, Langerhans c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Larva
A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. The larva's appearance is generally very different from the adult form (''e.g.'' caterpillars and butterflies) including different unique structures and organs that do not occur in the adult form. Their diet may also be considerably different. Larvae are frequently adapted to different environments than adults. For example, some larvae such as tadpoles live almost exclusively in aquatic environments, but can live outside water as adult frogs. By living in a distinct environment, larvae may be given shelter from predators and reduce competition for resources with the adult population. Animals in the larval stage will consume food to fuel their transition into the adult form. In some organisms like polychaetes and barnacles, adults are immobil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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