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Panorpa Vulgaris
''Panorpa vulgaris'', also known by its common name meadow scorpionfly is a species from the genus ''Panorpa''. The species was first described in 1845. Distribution and Habitat ''P. vulgaris'' are commonly distributed throughout central Europe. They prefer dry and warm habitats that provide shade at high temperatures and are most abundant along the edges of low-lying shrubs. Despite their environmental preference, smaller populations do occur in forested areas that experience moist and cool conditions. Physiology Vision Meadow scorpionfly larvae have stemmata. In adult individuals the cytoplasm of their neuron cells located within the eye become reduced with aging, resulting in decreased vision Flight Adult individuals are often considered weak flyers due to deterioration of tissues with increasing age. Flight musculature degenerates over time due to the combination of deformed mitochondria and hypertrophy of connective tissues. Immunity In early developmental ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. Other ways of defining species include their karyotype, DNA sequence, morphology, behaviour or ecological niche. In addition, paleontologists use the concept of the chronospecies since fossil reproduction cannot be examined. The most recent rigorous estimate for the total number of species of eukaryotes is between 8 and 8.7 million. However, only about 14% of these had been described by 2011. All species (except viruses) are given a two-part name, a "binomial". The first part of a binomial is the genus to which the species belongs. The second part is called the specific name or the specific epithet (in botanical nomenclature, also sometimes i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Intraspecific Competition
Intraspecific competition is an interaction in population ecology, whereby members of the same species compete for limited resources. This leads to a reduction in fitness for both individuals, but the more fit individual survives and is able to reproduce. By contrast, interspecific competition occurs when members of different species compete for a shared resource. Members of the same species have rather similar requirements for resources, whereas different species have a smaller contested resource overlap, resulting in intraspecific competition generally being a stronger force than interspecific competition. Individuals can compete for food, water, space, light, mates, or any other resource which is required for survival or reproduction. The resource must be limited for competition to occur; if every member of the species can obtain a sufficient amount of every resource then individuals do not compete and the population grows exponentially. Prolonged exponential growth is rare ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sperm
Sperm is the male reproductive cell, or gamete, in anisogamous forms of sexual reproduction (forms in which there is a larger, female reproductive cell and a smaller, male one). Animals produce motile sperm with a tail known as a flagellum, which are known as spermatozoa, while some red algae and fungi produce non-motile sperm cells, known as spermatia. Flowering plants contain non-motile sperm inside pollen, while some more basal plants like ferns and some gymnosperms have motile sperm. Sperm cells form during the process known as spermatogenesis, which in amniotes ( reptiles and mammals) takes place in the seminiferous tubules of the testes. This process involves the production of several successive sperm cell precursors, starting with spermatogonia, which differentiate into spermatocytes. The spermatocytes then undergo meiosis, reducing their chromosome number by half, which produces spermatids. The spermatids then mature and, in animals, construct a tail, or flagellum, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Copulation (zoology)
In zoology, copulation is animal sexual behavior in which a male introduces sperm into the female's body, especially directly into her reproductive tract. This is an aspect of mating. Many animals that live in water use external fertilization, whereas internal fertilization may have developed from a need to maintain gametes in a liquid medium in the Late Ordovician epoch. Internal fertilization with many vertebrates (such as all reptiles, some fish, and most bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...s) occurs via cloacal copulation, known as cloacal kiss (see also hemipenis), while mammals copulate vaginally, and many primitive (biology), basal vertebrates reproduce sexually with external fertilization. In spiders and insects Spiders are often confused with insects, b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paternal Investment
In biology, paternal care is parental investment provided by a male to his own offspring. It is a complex social behaviour in vertebrates associated with animal mating systems, life history traits, and ecology. Paternal care may be provided in concert with the mother (biparental care) or, more rarely, by the male alone (so called exclusive paternal care). The provision of care, by either males or females, is presumed to increase growth rates, quality, and/or survival of young, and hence ultimately increase the inclusive fitness of parents. In a variety of vertebrate species (e.g., about 80% of birds and about 6% of mammals), both males and females invest heavily in their offspring. Many of these biparental species are socially monogamous, so individuals remain with their mate for at least one breeding season. Exclusive paternal care has evolved multiple times in a variety of organisms, including invertebrates, fishes, and amphibians. Mammals Male mammals employ different b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carrion
Carrion () is the decaying flesh of dead animals, including human flesh. Overview Carrion is an important food source for large carnivores and omnivores in most ecosystems. Examples of carrion-eaters (or scavengers) include crows, vultures, condors, hawks, eagles, hyenas, Virginia opossum, Tasmanian devils, coyotes and Komodo dragons. Many invertebrates, such as the carrion and burying beetles, as well as maggots of calliphorid flies (such as one of the most important species in '' Calliphora vomitoria'') and flesh-flies, also eat carrion, playing an important role in recycling nitrogen and carbon in animal remains. Carrion begins to decay at the moment of the animal's death, and it will increasingly attract insects and breed bacteria. Not long after the animal has died, its body will begin to exude a foul odor caused by the presence of bacteria and the emission of cadaverine and putrescine. Some plants and fungi smell like decomposing carrion and attract insects that a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Secretion
440px Secretion is the movement of material from one point to another, such as a secreted chemical substance from a cell or gland. In contrast, excretion is the removal of certain substances or waste products from a cell or organism. The classical mechanism of cell secretion is via secretory portals at the plasma membrane called porosomes. Porosomes are permanent cup-shaped lipoprotein structures embedded in the cell membrane, where secretory vesicles transiently dock and fuse to release intra-vesicular contents from the cell. Secretion in bacterial species means the transport or translocation of effector molecules for example: proteins, enzymes or toxins (such as cholera toxin in pathogenic bacteria e.g. ''Vibrio cholerae'') from across the interior (cytoplasm or cytosol) of a bacterial cell to its exterior. Secretion is a very important mechanism in bacterial functioning and operation in their natural surrounding environment for adaptation and survival. In eukaryotic cells ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nuptial Gift
A nuptial gift is a nutritional gift given by one partner in some animals' sexual reproduction practices. Formally, a nuptial gift is a material presentation to a recipient by a donor during or in relation to sexual intercourse that is not simply gametes in order to improve the reproductive fitness of the donor. Often, such a gift will improve the fitness of the recipient as well. This definition implies neutral gifts, costly gifts and beneficial gifts regarding the fitness of the recipient. Nuptial gifting is at the intersection of sexual selection, nutritional ecology, and life history theory, creating a link between the three. Edible and inedible nuptial gifts Many nuptial gifts are a source of nutrition for the recipient. In many species of animals, including birds, insects, and spiders, this takes the form of a food item that is transferred from a male to a female just prior to copulation. This is a behavior known as courtship feeding. Inedible tokens may include items ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polyandry In Nature
In behavioral ecology, polyandry is a class of mating system where one female mates with several males in a breeding season. Polyandry is often compared to the polygyny system based on the cost and benefits incurred by members of each sex. Polygyny is where one male mates with several females in a breeding season (e.g., lions, deer, some primates, and many systems where there is an alpha male). A common example of polyandrous mating can be found in the field cricket (''Gryllus bimaculatus'') of the invertebrate order Orthoptera (containing crickets, grasshoppers, and groundhoppers). Polyandrous behavior is also prominent in many other insect species, including the red flour beetle and the species of spider ''Stegodyphus lineatus''. Polyandry also occurs in some primates such as marmosets, mammal groups, the marsupial genus' '' Antechinus'' and bandicoots, around 1% of all bird species, such as jacanas and dunnocks, insects such as honeybees, and fish such as pipefish. Predictors ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Diapause
In animal dormancy, diapause is the delay in development in response to regular and recurring periods of adverse environmental conditions.Tauber, M.J., Tauber, C.A., Masaki, S. (1986) ''Seasonal Adaptations of Insects''. Oxford University Press It is a physiological state with very specific initiating and inhibiting conditions. The mechanism is a means of surviving predictable, unfavorable environmental conditions, such as temperature extremes, drought, or reduced food availability. Diapause is observed in all the life stages of arthropods, especially insects. Embryonic diapause, a somewhat similar phenomenon, occurs in over 130 species of mammals, possibly even in humans, and in the embryos of many of the oviparous species of fish in the order Cyprinodontiformes. Activity levels of diapausing stages can vary considerably among species. Diapause may occur in a completely immobile stage, such as the pupae and eggs, or it may occur in very active stages that undergo extensive migrat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Insect Winter Ecology
Insect winter ecology describes the overwinter survival strategies of insects, which are in many respects more similar to those of plants than to many other animals, such as mammals and birds. Unlike those animals, which can generate their own heat internally (endothermic), insects must rely on external sources to provide their heat (ectothermic). Thus, insects persisting in winter weather must tolerate freezing or rely on other mechanisms to avoid freezing. Loss of enzymatic function and eventual freezing due to low temperatures daily threatens the livelihood of these organisms during winter. Not surprisingly, insects have evolved a number of strategies to deal with the rigors of winter temperatures in places where they would otherwise not survive. Two broad strategies for winter survival have evolved within Insecta as solutions to their inability to generate significant heat metabolically. Migration is a complete avoidance of the temperatures that pose a threat. An alternative to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clasper
In biology, a clasper is a male anatomical structure found in some groups of animals, used in mating. Male cartilaginous fish have claspers formed from the posterior portion of their pelvic fin which serve to channel semen into the female's cloaca during mating. The act of mating in some fish including sharks usually includes one of the claspers raised to allow water into the siphon through a specific orifice. The clasper is then inserted into the cloaca, where it opens like an umbrella to anchor its position. The siphon then begins to contract, expelling water and sperm. The claspers of many shark species have spines or hooks, which may hold them in place during copulation. Male chimaeras have cephalic claspers (tenacula) on their heads, which are thought to aid in holding the female during mating. In entomology, it is a structure in male insects that is used to hold the female during copulation (see Lepidoptera genitalia for more). See also *Sexual coercion among animals ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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