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Melaphis Rhois
''Melaphis rhois'' is an aphid species first identified by Asa Fitch in 1866. Known as the staghorn sumac aphid, it is the only species in the genus ''Melaphis''. It is a type of woolly aphid and one of the few aphids that induce the formation of galls.Paul D. N. Hebert, Terrie L. Finston and Robert FoottitPatterns of genetic diversity in the sumac gall aphid, Melaphis rhois 1991. ''Genome'', 34: 757-762. Ecology The species produce galls on the staghorn sumac (''Rhus typhina''), an eastern North American variety of sumac, and they are also found on the smooth sumac (''Rhus glabra)''. The gall is variously called "sumac leaf gall" and "red pouch gall" as it sometimes appears red. The galls occur when female aphids lay a single egg on the underside of the sumac leaf, inducing the leaf to form a sac over the egg. According to Hebert et al, the eggs "give rise to a series of parthenogenetic Parthenogenesis (; from the Greek grc, παρθένος, translit=parthénos, lit=virgin ...
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Sumac
Sumac ( or ), also spelled sumach, is any of about 35 species of flowering plants in the genus ''Rhus'' and related genera in the cashew family (Anacardiaceae). Sumacs grow in subtropical and temperate regions throughout the world, including East Asia, Africa, and North America. Sumac is used as a spice, as a dye, and in medicine. Description Sumacs are dioecious shrubs and small trees in the family Anacardiaceae that can reach a height of . The leaves are usually pinnately compound, though some species have trifoliate or simple leaves. The flowers are in dense panicles or spikes long, each flower very small, greenish, creamy white or red, with five petals. The fruits are reddish, thin-fleshed drupes covered in varying levels of hairs at maturity and form dense clusters at branch tips, sometimes called sumac bobs. Sumacs propagate both by seed (spread by birds and other animals through their droppings), and by new shoots from rhizomes, forming large clonal colonies. Taxonomy ...
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Wooly Aphid
Woolly aphids (subfamily: Eriosomatinae) are sap-sucking insects that produce a filamentous waxy white covering which resembles cotton or wool. The adults are winged and move to new locations where they lay egg masses. The nymphs often form large cottony masses on twigs, for protection from predators. Woolly aphids occur throughout the Northern Hemisphere. Many of the numerous species of woolly aphids have only one host plant species, or alternating generations on two specific hosts. They have been known to cause botanical damage and are often considered a pest. While most damage is minor, they can spread plant diseases and fungi. Some species can produce galls as well. In flight they have been described as looking like "flying mice." Other nicknames include "angel flies", “cotton fairies”, "fluff bugs", "fairy flies", "ash bugs", "snow bugs", "fluffer fairies", "poodle flies", and "fluffy gnats". Diet Woolly aphids feed by inserting their needle-like mouthparts into plan ...
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Taxa Named By Asa Fitch
In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular name and given a particular ranking, especially if and when it is accepted or becomes established. It is very common, however, for taxonomists to remain at odds over what belongs to a taxon and the criteria used for inclusion. If a taxon is given a formal scientific name, its use is then governed by one of the nomenclature codes specifying which scientific name is correct for a particular grouping. Initial attempts at classifying and ordering organisms (plants and animals) were set forth in Carl Linnaeus's system in '' Systema Naturae'', 10th edition (1758), as well as an unpublished work by Bernard and Antoine Laurent de Jussieu. The idea of a unit-based system of biological classification was first made widely available in 1805 in the i ...
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Insects Described In 1866
Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes and one pair of antennae. Their blood is not totally contained in vessels; some circulates in an open cavity known as the haemocoel. Insects are the most diverse group of animals; they include more than a million described species and represent more than half of all known living organisms. The total number of extant species is estimated at between six and ten million; In: potentially over 90% of the animal life forms on Earth are insects. Insects may be found in nearly all environments, although only a small number of species reside in the oceans, which are dominated by another arthropod group, crustaceans, which recent research has indicated insects are nested within. Nearly all insects hatch from eggs. Inse ...
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Staghorn Sumac (Rhus Typhina) Gall
''Rhus typhina'', the staghorn sumac, is a species of flowering plant in the family Anacardiaceae, native to eastern North America. It is primarily found in southeastern Canada, the northeastern and midwestern United States, and the Appalachian Mountains, but it is widely cultivated as an ornamental throughout the temperate world. Etymology The specific epithet ''typhina'' is explained in Carl Linnaeus and Ericus Torner's description of the plant with the phrase "Ramis hirtis uti typhi cervini", meaning "the branches are rough like antlers in velvet". In both French and German, the common name of the species (''sumac vinaigrier; Essigbaum'') means "vinegar tree". Description ''Rhus typhina'' is a dioecious, deciduous shrub or small tree growing up to tall by broad. It has alternate, pinnately compound leaves long, each with 9–31 serrate leaflets long. Leaf petioles and stems are densely covered in rust-colored hairs. The velvety texture and the forking pattern of the branc ...
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Rhus Chinensis
''Rhus chinensis'', the Chinese sumac or nutgall tree, is a deciduous shrub or small tree in the genus ''Rhus''. Growing to tall, it has downy shoots and leaves comprising several leaflets. These turn red in autumn before falling. The plant is common in East and South Asia, and is cultivated as an ornamental in temperate climates. Galls produced on the species that are called ''Chinese gall'', ''Galla Chinensis'', or ''Wu Bei Zi'' (五倍子) in Chinese, are a source of gallotannins, molecules of hydrolyzable tannins. Infestation of the tree by Chinese sumac aphids (''Melaphis chinensis'' Bell) may lead to production of a gall that is valued as a commercial product in China. Chinese galls are used in traditional Chinese medicine for coughs, diarrhea, night sweats, dysentery, and intestinal and uterine bleeding. Some research has suggested that chemical compounds found in ''Rhus chinensis'' possess ''in vitro'' antiviral, antibacterial, anticancer, hepatoprotective, antidiarrh ...
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Paleoparasitology
Paleoparasitology (or "palaeoparasitology") is the study of parasites from the past, and their interactions with hosts and vectors; it is a subfield of Paleontology, the study of living organisms from the past. Some authors define this term more narrowly, as "Paleoparasitology is the study of parasites in archaeological material." (p. 103) K.J. Reinhard suggests that the term " archaeoparasitology" be applied to "... all parasitological remains excavated from archaeological contexts ... derived from human activity" and that "the term 'paleoparasitology' be applied to studies of nonhuman, paleontological material." (p. 233) This article follows Reinhard's suggestion and discusses the protozoan and animal parasites of non-human animals and plants from the past, while those from humans and our hominid ancestors are covered in archaeoparasitology. Sources of material The primary sources of paleoparasitological material include mummified tissues, coprolites (fossilised ...
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Parthenogenetic
Parthenogenesis (; from the Greek grc, παρθένος, translit=parthénos, lit=virgin, label=none + grc, γένεσις, translit=génesis, lit=creation, label=none) is a natural form of asexual reproduction in which growth and development of embryos occur in a gamete (egg or sperm) without combining with another gamete (e.g., egg and sperm fusing). In animals, parthenogenesis means development of an embryo from an unfertilized egg cell. In plants, parthenogenesis is a component process of apomixis. In algae, parthenogenesis can mean the development of an embryo from either an individual sperm or an individual egg. Parthenogenesis occurs naturally in some plants, algae, invertebrate animal species (including nematodes, some tardigrades, water fleas, some scorpions, aphids, some mites, some bees, some Phasmatodea and parasitic wasps) and a few vertebrates (such as some fish, amphibians, reptiles and birds). This type of reproduction has been induced artificially in a few spe ...
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Rhus Glabra
''Rhus glabra'', the smooth sumac, (also known as white sumac, upland sumac, or scarlet sumac) is a species of sumac in the family Anacardiaceae, native to North America, from southern Quebec west to southern British Columbia in Canada, and south to northern Florida and Arizona in the United States and Tamaulipas in northeastern Mexico. One of the easiest shrubs to identify throughout the year (unless mistaken for ''poison sumac'', in the absence of mature fruit), smooth sumac has a spreading, open habit, growing up to tall, rarely to . The leaves are alternate, long, compound with 11–31 oppositely paired leaflets, each leaflet long, with a serrated margin. The leaves turn scarlet in the fall. The flowers are tiny, green, produced in dense erect panicles tall, in the spring, later followed by large panicles of edible crimson berries that remain throughout the winter. The buds are small, covered with brown hair and borne on fat, hairless twigs. The bark on older wo ...
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Rhus Typhina
''Rhus typhina'', the staghorn sumac, is a species of flowering plant in the family Anacardiaceae, native to eastern North America. It is primarily found in southeastern Canada, the northeastern and midwestern United States, and the Appalachian Mountains, but it is widely cultivated as an ornamental throughout the temperate world. Etymology The specific epithet ''typhina'' is explained in Carl Linnaeus and Ericus Torner's description of the plant with the phrase "Ramis hirtis uti typhi cervini", meaning "the branches are rough like antlers in velvet". In both French and German, the common name of the species (''sumac vinaigrier; Essigbaum'') means "vinegar tree". Description ''Rhus typhina'' is a dioecious, deciduous shrub or small tree growing up to tall by broad. It has alternate, pinnately compound leaves long, each with 9–31 serrate leaflets long. Leaf petioles and stems are densely covered in rust-colored hairs. The velvety texture and the forking pattern of the branc ...
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Aphid
Aphids are small sap-sucking insects and members of the superfamily Aphidoidea. Common names include greenfly and blackfly, although individuals within a species can vary widely in color. The group includes the fluffy white woolly aphids. A typical life cycle involves flightless females giving live birth to female nymphs—who may also be already pregnant, an adaptation scientists call telescoping generations—without the involvement of males. Maturing rapidly, females breed profusely so that the number of these insects multiplies quickly. Winged females may develop later in the season, allowing the insects to colonize new plants. In temperate regions, a phase of sexual reproduction occurs in the autumn, with the insects often overwintering as eggs. The life cycle of some species involves an alternation between two species of host plants, for example between an annual crop and a woody plant. Some species feed on only one type of plant, while others are generalists, coloni ...
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Animal
Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the Kingdom (biology), biological kingdom Animalia. With few exceptions, animals Heterotroph, consume organic material, Cellular respiration#Aerobic respiration, breathe oxygen, are Motility, able to move, can Sexual reproduction, reproduce sexually, and go through an ontogenetic stage in which their body consists of a hollow sphere of Cell (biology), cells, the blastula, during Embryogenesis, embryonic development. Over 1.5 million Extant taxon, living animal species have been Species description, described—of which around 1 million are Insecta, insects—but it has been estimated there are over 7 million animal species in total. Animals range in length from to . They have Ecology, complex interactions with each other and their environments, forming intricate food webs. The scientific study of animals is known as zoology. Most living animal species are in Bilateria, a clade whose members have a Symmetry in biology#Bilate ...
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