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Mimallonoidea
Mimallonidae Burmeister (mimallonids), sometimes known as "sack-bearer" moths for the larval case-building behavior, are a family of Lepidoptera containing over 300 named species in 43 genera. These moths are found only in the New World, with most taxa occurring in the Neotropics. Adult moths are externally similar to those belonging to some of the other Macroheterocera families Bombycoidea and Drepanoidea, and thus have been variously treated as belonging to either one of these or other superfamilies. Distribution Mimallonids are restricted to the New World, and are distributed in North America, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean (Cuba and The Bahamas). The vast majority of genera and species are found in the tropical regions of the New World, with only five described species from the United States. Biology Not much has been published on the natural history of adult Mimallonidae, though most species are thought to be nocturnal. At least three species have diu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lepidoptera
Lepidoptera ( ) is an order (biology), order of insects that includes butterfly, butterflies and moths (both are called lepidopterans). About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera are described, in 126 Family (biology), families and 46 Taxonomic rank, superfamilies, 10 percent of the total described species of living organisms. It is one of the most widespread and widely recognizable insect orders in the world. The Lepidoptera show many variations of the basic body structure that have evolved to gain advantages in lifestyle and distribution. Recent estimates suggest the order may have more species than earlier thought, and is among the four most wikt:speciose, speciose orders, along with the Hymenoptera, fly, Diptera, and beetle, Coleoptera. Lepidopteran species are characterized by more than three derived features. The most apparent is the presence of scale (anatomy), scales that cover the torso, bodies, wings, and a proboscis. The scales are modified, flattened "hairs", and give ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Obtectomera
The Obtectomera is a clade of macro-moths and butterflies, comprising over 100,000 species in at least 12 superfamilies. Taxonomy The Obtectomera includes the following 12 superfamilies: * Whalleyanoidea Minet, 1991 * Thyridoidea Herrich-Schäffer, 1846 – picture-winged leaf moths * Hyblaeoidea Hampson, 1903 – teak moths * Calliduloidea Moore, 1877 – Old World butterfly-moths * Papilionoidea Latreille, 1802 – true butterflies * Pyraloidea Latreille, 1809 – pyraloid moths * Mimallonoidea Burmeister, 1878 – sack bearers (sometimes included Macroheterocera) * Macroheterocera Chapman, 1893 ** Drepanoidea Boisduval, 1828 – drepanids ** Noctuoidea Latreille, 1809 – owlet moths ** Geometroidea Leach, 1815 – inchworms ** Lasiocampoidea Harris, 1841 – lappet moths ** Bombycoidea Latreille, 1802 – bombycoid moths Some other superfamilies are sometimes included: * Pterophoroidea Latreille, 1802 – plume moths * Alucitoidea Leach, 1815 – many-plume moths * ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Macroheterocera
The Macroheterocera are a well supported clade of moths that are closely related to butterflies and other macro-moths. Taxonomy The Macroheterocera includes the following superfamilies: * Mimallonoidea – sack bearers (variously included in basal position or excluded) * Drepanoidea – drepanids * Noctuoidea – owlet moths * Geometroidea – inchworms * Lasiocampoidea – lappet moths * Bombycoidea – bombycoid moths The macroheteroceran superfamilies were previously place in the Macrolepidoptera, but recent molecular studies have failed to recover the Macrolepidoptera as a monophyletic group. The latter grouping also included true butterflies (Papilionoidea), New World butterfly-moths (Hedylidae Hedylidae, the "American moth-butterflies", is a family of insects in the order Lepidoptera, representing the superfamily Hedyloidea. They have traditionally been viewed as an extant sister group of the butterfly superfamily Papilionoidea. In 198 ...), and Old World butterfly-mot ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Caterpillar
Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder Symphyta) are commonly called caterpillars as well. Both lepidopteran and symphytan larvae have eruciform body shapes. Caterpillars of most species eat plant material ( often leaves), but not all; some (about 1%) eat insects, and some are even cannibalistic. Some feed on other animal products. For example, clothes moths feed on wool, and horn moths feed on the hooves and horns of dead ungulates. Caterpillars are typically voracious feeders and many of them are among the most serious of agricultural pests. In fact, many moth species are best known in their caterpillar stages because of the damage they cause to fruits and other agricultural produce, whereas the moths are obscure and do no direct harm. Conversely, various species of caterpi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phylogenetics
In biology, phylogenetics (; from Greek language, Greek wikt:φυλή, φυλή/wikt:φῦλον, φῦλον [] "tribe, clan, race", and wikt:γενετικός, γενετικός [] "origin, source, birth") is the study of the evolutionary history and relationships among or within groups of organisms. These relationships are determined by Computational phylogenetics, phylogenetic inference methods that focus on observed heritable traits, such as DNA sequences, Protein, protein Amino acid, amino acid sequences, or Morphology (biology), morphology. The result of such an analysis is a phylogenetic tree—a diagram containing a hypothesis of relationships that reflects the evolutionary history of a group of organisms. The tips of a phylogenetic tree can be living taxa or fossils, and represent the "end" or the present time in an evolutionary lineage. A phylogenetic diagram can be rooted or unrooted. A rooted tree diagram indicates the hypothetical common ancestor of the tree. An un ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Guanacaste Province
Guanacaste () is a province of Costa Rica located in the northwestern region of the country, along the coast of the Pacific Ocean. It is bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Alajuela Province to the east, and Puntarenas Province to the southeast. It is the most sparsely populated of all the provinces of Costa Rica. The province covers an area of and as of 2010, had a population of 354,154, with annual revenue of $2 million. Guanacaste's capital is Liberia. Other important cities include Cañas and Nicoya. Etymology The province is named for the guanacaste tree, also known as the ear pod tree, which is the national tree of Costa Rica. History Before the Spanish arrived, this territory was inhabited by Chorotega Indians from the towns of Zapati, Nacaome, Paro, Cangel, Nicopasaya, Pocosí, Diriá, Papagayo, Namiapí and Orosí. The Corobicies lived on the eastern shore of the Gulf of Nicoya and the Nahuas or Aztecan in the zone of Bagaces. The first church was built out of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Area De Conservación Guanacaste World Heritage Site
The Area de Conservación Guanacaste is a network of protected areas and a World Heritage Site in Guanacaste Province, in northwestern Costa Rica. The World Heritage Site contains an unbroken tract of tropical dry forest and important habitat for several vulnerable species, including the Central American tapir, mangrove hummingbird, and the great green macaw. Over 7,000 plant species and 900 vertebrate species have been located in the park. Geography The area of the national parks combined totals as of 2004. This reflects a long-term process of growth, which started with the establishment of Santa Rosa National Park in 1971. Over several decades, surrounding lands were purchased and nearby national parks connected to the growing protected area, so that the Guanacaste Conservation Area came to encompass a high diversity of tropical dry forest, rainforest, cloud forest, and marine habitats. The park contains about two-thirds of the endangered animals of Costa Rica. It formally bec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rubiaceae
The Rubiaceae are a family of flowering plants, commonly known as the coffee, madder, or bedstraw family. It consists of terrestrial trees, shrubs, lianas, or herbs that are recognizable by simple, opposite leaves with interpetiolar stipules and sympetalous actinomorphic flowers. The family contains about 13,500 species in about 620 genera, which makes it the fourth-largest angiosperm family. Rubiaceae has a cosmopolitan distribution; however, the largest species diversity is concentrated in the tropics and subtropics. Economically important genera include ''Coffea'', the source of coffee, '' Cinchona'', the source of the antimalarial alkaloid quinine, ornamental cultivars (''e.g.'', '' Gardenia'', ''Ixora'', ''Pentas''), and historically some dye plants (''e.g.'', ''Rubia''). Description The Rubiaceae are morphologically easily recognizable as a coherent group by a combination of characters: opposite or whorled leaves that are simple and entire, interpetiolar stipules, tubu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Myrtaceae
Myrtaceae, the myrtle family, is a family of dicotyledonous plants placed within the order Myrtales. Myrtle, pōhutukawa, bay rum tree, clove, guava, acca (feijoa), allspice, and eucalyptus are some notable members of this group. All species are woody, contain essential oils, and have flower parts in multiples of four or five. The leaves are evergreen, alternate to mostly opposite, simple, and usually entire (i.e., without a toothed margin). The flowers have a base number of five petals, though in several genera, the petals are minute or absent. The stamens are usually very conspicuous, brightly coloured, and numerous. Evolutionary history Scientists hypothesize that the family Myrtaceae arose between 60 and 56 million years ago (Mya) during the Paleocene era. Pollen fossils have been sourced to the ancient supercontinent Gondwana. The breakup of Gondwana during the Cretaceous period (145 to 66 Mya) geographically isolated disjunct taxa and allowed for rapid speciation; i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Melastomataceae
Melastomataceae is a family of dicotyledonous flowering plants found mostly in the tropics (two-thirds of the genera are from the New World tropics) comprising c. 175 genera and c. 5115 known species. Melastomes are annual or perennial herbs, shrubs, or small trees. Description The leaves of melastomes are somewhat distinctive, being opposite, decussate, and usually with 3-7 longitudinal veins arising either from the base of the blade, plinerved (inner veins diverging above base of blade), or pinnately nerved with three or more pairs of primary veins diverging from the mid-vein at successive points above the base. Flowers are perfect, and borne either singly or in terminal or axillary, paniculate cymes. Ecology A number of melastomes are regarded as invasive species once naturalized in tropical and subtropical environments outside their normal range. Examples are Koster's curse (''Clidemia hirta''), '' Pleroma semidecandrum'' and ''Miconia calvescens'', but many other specie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fagaceae
The Fagaceae are a family of flowering plants that includes beeches, chestnuts and oaks, and comprises eight genera with about 927 species. Fagaceae in temperate regions are mostly deciduous, whereas in the tropics, many species occur as evergreen trees and shrubs. They are characterized by alternate simple leaves with pinnate venation, unisexual flowers in the form of catkins, and fruit in the form of cup-like (cupule) nuts. Their leaves are often lobed and both petioles and stipules are generally present. Their fruits lack endosperm and lie in a scaly or spiny husk that may or may not enclose the entire nut, which may consist of one to seven seeds. In the oaks, genus ''Quercus'', the fruit is a non-valved nut (usually containing one seed) called an acorn. The husk of the acorn in most oaks only forms a cup in which the nut sits. Other members of the family have fully enclosed nuts. Fagaceae is one of the most ecologically important woody plant families in the Northern Hemispher ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Combretaceae
The Combretaceae, often called the white mangrove family, are a family of flowering plants in the order Myrtales. The family includes about 530 species of trees, shrubs, and lianas in ca 10 genera. The family includes the leadwood tree, ''Combretum imberbe''. Three genera, ''Conocarpus'', ''Laguncularia'', and ''Lumnitzera'', grow in mangrove habitats (mangals). The Combretaceae are widespread in the subtropics and tropics. Some members of this family produce useful construction timber, such as idigbo from ''Terminalia ivorensis''. The commonly cultivated ''Quisqualis indica'' is now placed in the genus ''Combretum''. Many plants in the Quisqualis species contain the Non-proteinogenic amino acid excitotoxin Quisqualic acid, a potent AMPA agonist.Excitotoxic cell death and delayed rescue in human neurons derived from NT2 cells, M Munir, L Lu and P Mcgonigl, Journal of Neuroscience, Vol 15, 7847–7860 White mangroves The family name comes from the type genus ''Combretum''; it also ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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