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Pterotermes
Pterotermes is a monotypic genus of termites in the family Kalotermitidae. ''Pterotermes occidentis'' is the single species in the genus. This termite lives in the extremely dry conditions found in the Sonoran Desert in southwestern United States, Baja California and Mexico. It feeds on dry wood and lives entirely within a single piece of timber. Description ''Pterotermes occidentis'' is the largest drywood termite found in the deserts of southwestern USA. It is a primitive species of termite and the castes are indistinct. The eggs hatch into nymphs which grow into "pseudergates", which act as workers before developing into either soldiers or winged reproductives. The winged reproductives have large black compound eyes with white eyespots immediately above. The thorax and abdomen are orange and the pronotum is relatively flat and does not curve downwards at the side. The soldiers have a rounded, flat-topped head, large wingbuds, and a massive pronotum with a V-shaped notch at the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marginitermes Hubbardi
''Marginitermes hubbardi'', commonly known as the light western drywood termite, is a species of termite in the family Kalotermitidae. It is found in Central America and desert regions of southwestern North America. Description This species is known as the light western drywood termite because the winged reproductives (the only forms seen in the open) are a much paler colour than those of '' Incisitermes minor'', the dark western drywood termite. The alates are about long and a yellowish color with pale wings. The soldiers are recognisable by the elongated, club-shaped third segment of their antennae. Distribution and habitat This termite is native to Central America, Mexico, California and southern and central Arizona. It is normally found below , and in Arizona is replaced by ''I. minor'' in the higher parts of the state. It is more tolerant of extreme aridity than ''I. minor'' and prefers drier conditions. Its natural hosts are trees such as cottonwoods in canyons and near ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kalotermitidae
Kalotermitidae is a family of termites, commonly known as drywood termites. Kalotermitidae includes 21 genera and 419 species. The family has a cosmopolitan circumtropical distribution, and is found in functionally arid environments. Biology The Kalotermitidae are "primitive" in morphology, nesting behavior, and social organization. Unlike other termite species, they have no need to make contact with soil and live exclusively within excavations in wood, lacking elaborate nesting architecture. Drywood termites have an adaptive mechanism for conserving water. Undigested matter in the alimentary canal passes through specialized rectal glands in the hindgut. These glands reabsorb water from the feces. They can tolerate dry conditions for long periods of time, receiving all of the moisture they need from the wood they live in and consume. Their mandibles are also fortified with zinc, as an adaptation to the mechanically difficult food source of dry wood. Their diet of dry wood makes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nils Holmgren
Nils Frithiof Holmgren (1877–1954) was a Swedish zoologist and comparative anatomist. He was professor of zoology at Stockholm University from 1921 to 1944. In 1906 Holmgren defended his doctoral dissertation at Stockholm University. In 1912 he became a teacher there, and in 1919 assistant professor of zoology, and in 1921 full professor. His early work focussed on the biology, systematics and anatomy of insects, especially termites, as in (1906) and (1909–1912). In later work he focused on the structure of the brain in worms, arthropods and vertebrates, publishing (1916) (Comparative anatomy of the brain), (1919), (1920), ''Points of view concerning forebrain morphology in lower vertebrates'' (1922), (with C. J. van der Horst) ''Contribution to the morphology of the brain'' in Ceratodus (1925), and ''Points of view concerning forebrain morphology in higher vertebrates'' (1925). This work made him a world expert on the nervous systems of the lower vertebrates. Later w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Parkinsonia Florida
''Parkinsonia florida'', the blue palo verde ( syn. ''Cercidium floridum''), is a species of palo verde native to the Sonoran Deserts in the Southwestern United States and Northwestern Mexico.Calflora Database: ''Parkinsonia florida'' accessed 4.1.2013 Its name means "green pole or stick" in Spanish, referring to the green trunk and branches, that perform . Description ''Parkinsonia florida'' grows to heights of . It is a rapidly growing large shrub or small , and rarely survives to 100 years. Compared to ...[...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Insects Of Mexico
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 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Termite Genera
Termites are small insects that live in colonies and have distinct castes (eusocial) and feed on wood or other dead plant matter. Termites comprise the infraorder Isoptera, or alternatively the epifamily Termitoidae, within the order Blattodea (along with cockroaches). Termites were once classified in a separate order from cockroaches, but recent phylogenetic studies indicate that they evolved from cockroaches, as they are deeply nested within the group, and the sister group to wood eating cockroaches of the genus ''Cryptocercus''. Previous estimates suggested the divergence took place during the Jurassic or Triassic. More recent estimates suggest that they have an origin during the Late Jurassic, with the first fossil records in the Early Cretaceous. About 3,106 species are currently described, with a few hundred more left to be described. Although these insects are often called "white ants", they are not ants, and are not closely related to ants. Like ants and some bees ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Symbiosis
Symbiosis (from Greek , , "living together", from , , "together", and , bíōsis, "living") is any type of a close and long-term biological interaction between two different biological organisms, be it mutualistic, commensalistic, or parasitic. The organisms, each termed a symbiont, must be of different species. In 1879, Heinrich Anton de Bary defined it as "the living together of unlike organisms". The term was subject to a century-long debate about whether it should specifically denote mutualism, as in lichens. Biologists have now abandoned that restriction. Symbiosis can be obligatory, which means that one or more of the symbionts depend on each other for survival, or facultative (optional), when they can generally live independently. Symbiosis is also classified by physical attachment. When symbionts form a single body it is called conjunctive symbiosis, while all other arrangements are called disjunctive symbiosis."symbiosis." Dorland's Illustrated Medical Dictionary. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Saguaro
The saguaro (, ) (''Carnegiea gigantea'') is a tree-like cactus species in the monotypic genus ''Carnegiea'' that can grow to be over tall. It is native to the Sonoran Desert in Arizona, the Mexican state of Sonora, and the Whipple Mountains and Imperial County areas of California. The saguaro blossom is the state wildflower of Arizona. Its scientific name is given in honor of Andrew Carnegie. In 1994, Saguaro National Park, near Tucson, Arizona, was designated to help protect this species and its habitat. Saguaros have a relatively long lifespan, often exceeding 150 years. They may grow their first side arm around 75–100 years of age, but some never grow any arms. Arms are developed to increase the plant's reproductive capacity, as more apices lead to more flowers and fruit. A saguaro can absorb and store considerable amounts of rainwater, visibly expanding in the process, while slowly using the stored water as needed. This characteristic enables the saguaro to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Colony (biology)
In biology, a colony is composed of two or more conspecific individuals living in close association with, or connected to, one another. This association is usually for mutual benefit such as stronger defense or the ability to attack bigger prey. Colonies can form in various shapes and ways depending on the organism involved. For instance, the bacterial colony is a cluster of identical cells (clones). These colonies often form and grow on the surface of (or within) a solid medium, usually derived from a single parent cell. Colonies, in the context of development, may be composed of two or more unitary (or solitary) organisms or be modular organisms. Unitary organisms have determinate development (set life stages) from zygote to adult form and individuals or groups of individuals (colonies) are visually distinct. Modular organisms have indeterminate growth forms (life stages not set) through repeated iteration of genetically identical modules (or individuals), and it can be diffic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Francis Walker (entomologist)
Francis Walker (31 July 1809 – 5 October 1874) was an English entomologist. He was born in Southgate, London, on 31 July 1809 and died at Wanstead, England on 5 October 1874. He was one of the most prolific authors in entomology, and stirred controversy during his later life as his publications resulted in a huge number of junior synonyms. However, his assiduous work on the collections of the British Museum had great significance. Between June 1848 and late 1873 Walker was contracted by John Edward Gray Director of the British Museum to catalogue their insects (except Coleoptera) that is Orthoptera, Neuroptera, Hemiptera, Diptera, Lepidoptera and Hymenoptera. Walker largely accomplished this and (Edwards, 1870) wrote of the plan and by implication those who implemented it “It is to him raythat the Public owe the admirable helps to the study of natural history which have been afforded by the series of inventories, guides, and nomenclatures, the publication of which beg ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prothorax
The prothorax is the foremost of the three segments in the thorax of an insect, and bears the first pair of legs. Its principal sclerites (exoskeletal plates) are the pronotum (dorsal), the prosternum (ventral), and the propleuron (lateral) on each side. The prothorax never bears wings in extant insects (except in some cases of atavism), though some fossil groups possessed wing-like projections. All adult insects possess legs on the prothorax, though in a few groups (e.g., the butterfly family Nymphalidae) the forelegs are greatly reduced. In many groups of insects, the pronotum is reduced in size, but in a few it is hypertrophied, such as in all beetles (Coleoptera). In most treehoppers (family Membracidae, order Hemiptera), the pronotum is expanded into often fantastic shapes that enhance their camouflage or mimicry. Similarly, in the Tetrigidae, the pronotum is extended backward to cover the flight wings, supplanting the function of the tegmina. See also *Glossary of entomolo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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