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Mischocyttarus Flavitarsis
''Mischocyttarus flavitarsis'' is a social paper wasp found in western North America. Their nests can be found both in forests close to rivers or in close proximity to human life under the eaves of roofs. Despite the fact that ''M. flavitarsis ''nests are frequently in close contact with humans, ''M. flavitarsis'' typically will not sting, but rather ram into the threatening individual. Their colony cycle typically begins before May and will last until October. The queen will then seek a hibernation site for the winter. Perched near female hibernation sites are males with whom the female will mate. The males have claimed their territory by rubbing sternal brushes along the border of the site, leaving a chemical that deters other individuals from approaching. ''M. flavitarsis'' feed on arthropods, nectar, and animal carcasses and are often prey to birds, ants, and praying mantis. Taxonomy and phylogenetics Henri Louis Frédéric de Saussure, a Swiss mineralogist and entomologist, c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Henri Louis Frédéric De Saussure
Henri Louis Frédéric de Saussure (; ; 27 November 1829 – 20 February 1905) was a Swiss mineralogist and entomologist specialising in studies of Hymenoptera and Orthopteroid insects. He also was a prolific taxonomist. Biography Saussure's elementary education was at Alphonse Briquet's then, as an adolescent, at the Hofwyl school run by Philipp Emanuel von Fellenberg. At the University of Geneva he was taught by François Jules Pictet de la Rive, who introduced him to entomology. After several years of study in Paris he received the degree of licentiate of the Faculty of Paris and obtained the degree of Doctor from the University of Giessen. He worked mainly on Hymenoptera and Orthoptera. His first paper, in 1852, was on solitary wasps. In 1854 he traveled to the West Indies, then to Mexico and the United States of America. There he met Louis Agassiz. He returned to Switzerland in 1856 with collections of American insects, myriapods, crustaceans, birds and ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leks
A lek is an aggregation of male animals gathered to engage in competitive displays and courtship rituals, known as lekking, to entice visiting females which are surveying prospective partners with which to mate. A lek can also indicate an available plot of space able to be utilized by displaying males to defend their own share of territory for the breeding season. A lekking species is characterised by male displays, strong female mate choice, and the conferring of indirect benefits to males and reduced costs to females. Although most prevalent among birds such as black grouse, lekking is also found in a wide range of vertebrates including some bony fish, amphibians, reptiles, and mammals, and arthropods including crustaceans and insects. A classical lek consists of male territories in visual and auditory range of each other. An exploded lek, as seen in the kakapo (the owl parrot), has more widely separated territories, but still in auditory range. Lekking is associated with an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Insects Of Canada
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. Ins ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hymenoptera Of North America
Hymenoptera is a large order of insects, comprising the sawflies, wasps, bees, and ants. Over 150,000 living species of Hymenoptera have been described, in addition to over 2,000 extinct ones. Many of the species are parasitic. Females typically have a special ovipositor for inserting eggs into hosts or places that are otherwise inaccessible. This ovipositor is often modified into a stinger. The young develop through holometabolism (complete metamorphosis)—that is, they have a wormlike larval stage and an inactive pupal stage before they mature. Etymology The name Hymenoptera refers to the wings of the insects, but the original derivation is ambiguous. All references agree that the derivation involves the Ancient Greek πτερόν (''pteron'') for wing. The Ancient Greek ὑμήν (''hymen'') for membrane provides a plausible etymology for the term because species in this order have membranous wings. However, a key characteristic of this order is that the hindwings are co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vespidae
The Vespidae are a large (nearly 5000 species), diverse, cosmopolitan family of wasps, including nearly all the known eusocial wasps (such as ''Polistes fuscatus'', ''Vespa orientalis'', and ''Vespula germanica'') and many solitary wasps. Each social wasp colony includes a queen and a number of female workers with varying degrees of sterility relative to the queen. In temperate social species, colonies usually last only one year, dying at the onset of winter. New queens and males (drones) are produced towards the end of the summer, and after mating, the queens hibernate over winter in cracks or other sheltered locations. The nests of most species are constructed out of mud, but polistines and vespines use plant fibers, chewed to form a sort of paper (also true of some stenogastrines). Many species are pollen vectors contributing to the pollination of several plants, being potential or even effective pollinators, while others are notable predators of pest insect species. The sub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chalcoela Iphitalis
''Chalcoela iphitalis'', the sooty-winged chalcoela, is a moth species of the family Crambidae that occurs throughout North America. They are seen as far south as California, Arizona and South Carolina and as far north as Ontario. Adults can be seen from May to August. The head, body and front portion of the forewings are yellow-orange while the hindwing and back portion of the forewings are grey and silver. The back edge of the hindwing has black spots. It was first described as ''Cataclysta iphitalis'' by Francis Walker in 1859. The larvae are parasitoids, feeding on the larvae of paper wasps, including species such as ''Polistes dominulus'', ''P. exclamans'', ''P. metricus'', ''Mischocyttarus flavitarsis'' and ''P. apachus''. For example, ''M. flavitarsis'' nest cells are often invaded by the larvae at night because the wasps cannot see them. The larvae migrate among the cells, consuming wasp larvae and pupae. They will then pupate A pupa ( la, pupa, "doll"; plural: ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tyrant Flycatcher
The tyrant flycatchers (Tyrannidae) are a family of passerine birds which occur throughout North and South America. They are considered the largest family of birds known to exist in the world, with more than 400 species. They are the most diverse avian family in every country in the Americas, except for the United States and Canada. The members vary greatly in shape, patterns, size and colors. Some tyrant flycatchers may superficially resemble the Old World flycatchers, which they are named after but are not closely related to. They are members of suborder Tyranni (suboscines), which do not have the sophisticated vocal capabilities of most other songbirds.del Hoyo, J. Elliott, A. & Christie, D. (editors). (2004) ''Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 9: Cotingas to Pipits and Wagtails''. Lynx Edicions. A number of species previously included in this family are now placed in the family Tityridae (''see Systematics''). Sibley and Alquist in their 1990 bird taxonomy had the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Colaptes
''Colaptes'' is a genus of birds in the woodpecker family Picidae. The 14 species are found across the Americas. ''Colaptes'' woodpeckers typically have a brown or green back and wings with black barring, and a beige to yellowish underside, with black spotting or barring. There are usually colorful markings on the head. Many of these birds – particularly the northerly species – are more terrestrial than usual among woodpeckers. Historically, there has been considerable uncertainty in assigning woodpecker species to genera and it is only by comparing DNA sequences that it has become possible to confidently place many of the species. Taxonomy The genus ''Colaptes'' was introduced by the Irish zoologist Nicholas Aylward Vigors in 1825 with the northern flicker (''Colaptes auratus'') as the type species. The name is from the Ancient Greek κολάπτης (''kolaptēs'') meaning "chiseller". The genus forms part of the woodpecker subfamily Picinae and has a sister r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Necrophagy
Scavengers are animals that consume dead organisms that have died from causes other than predation or have been killed by other predators. While scavenging generally refers to carnivores feeding on carrion, it is also a herbivorous feeding behavior. Scavengers play an important role in the ecosystem by consuming dead animal and plant material. ''Decomposers'' and detritivores complete this process, by consuming the remains left by scavengers. Scavengers aid in overcoming fluctuations of food resources in the environment. The process and rate of scavenging is affected by both biotic and abiotic factors, such as carcass size, habitat, temperature, and seasons. Etymology Scavenger is an alteration of ''scavager,'' from Middle English ''skawager'' meaning "customs collector", from ''skawage'' meaning "customs", from Old North French ''escauwage'' meaning "inspection", from ''schauwer'' meaning "to inspect", of Germanic origin; akin to Old English ''scēawian'' and German ''s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sternal Glands
The parasternal lymph nodes (or sternal glands) are placed at the anterior ends of the intercostal spaces, by the side of the internal thoracic artery. They derive afferents from the mamma; from the deeper structures of the anterior abdominal wall above the level of the umbilicus; from the upper surface of the liver through a small group of glands which lie behind the xiphoid process; and from the deeper parts of the anterior portion of the thoracic wall. Their efferents usually unite to form a single trunk on either side; this may open directly into the junction of the internal jugular and subclavian veins, or that of the right side may join the right subclavian trunk, and that of the left the thoracic duct In human anatomy, the thoracic duct is the larger of the two lymph ducts of the lymphatic system. It is also known as the ''left lymphatic duct'', ''alimentary duct'', ''chyliferous duct'', and ''Van Hoorne's canal''. The other duct is the right .... The parasternal l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Olfactory
The sense of smell, or olfaction, is the special sense through which smells (or odors) are perceived. The sense of smell has many functions, including detecting desirable foods, hazards, and pheromones, and plays a role in taste. In humans, it occurs when an odor binds to a receptor within the nasal cavity, transmitting a signal through the olfactory system. Glomeruli aggregate signals from these receptors and transmit them to the olfactory bulb, where the sensory input will start to interact with parts of the brain responsible for smell identification, memory, and emotion. There are many different causes for alteration, lack, or disturbance to a normal sense of smell, and can include damage to the nose or smell receptors, or central problems affecting the brain. Some causes include upper respiratory infections, traumatic brain injury, and neurodegenerative disease. History of study Early scientific study of the sense of smell includes the extensive doctoral dissertation of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Usurper
A usurper is an illegitimate or controversial claimant to power, often but not always in a monarchy. In other words, one who takes the power of a country, city, or established region for oneself, without any formal or legal right to claim it as one's own. Usurpers can rise to power in a region by often unexpected physical force, as well as through political influence and deceit. Etymology The word originally came from the Latin word ''usurpare'' (“to seize", "to take forcefully" or "to use”). Politics The Greeks had their own conception of what usurpers were, calling them tyrants. In the ancient Greek usage, a tyrant (''tyrannos''/''τύραννος'' in Greek) was an individual who rose to power via unconstitutional or illegitimate means, usually not being an heir to an existing throne. Such individuals were perceived negatively by political philosophers such as Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. Usurpers often try to legitimize their position by claiming to be a descendant ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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