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Spercheus
''Spercheus'' is a genus of aquatic beetles which are placed in a family of their own, Spercheidae within the Hydrophiloidea. About 20 species are known from around the world except the Nearctic with the majority being from the Oriental and Afrotropical Realms. All life stages are found in shallow still water with rich vegetation, which in some species includes temporary saline pools. Adults and larvae live attached to pieces of vegetation or debris, and also walk on the underside of the water surface. Air is held in a bubble on the underside of the body. The larvae feed on grazed detritus as well as drifting algae, dead organsims, and other organic refuse. The adults live as filter feeders on floating debris like decaying plant material and other decomposing organic remains. The adult females build a silken-egg case which they attach to their mid-tibiae and held by the hind legs, carried below the abdomen. These beetles were formerly placed in the family Hydrophilidae but are di ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Johann Gottlieb Kugelann
Johann Gottlieb Kugelann (2 January 1753 – 8 September 1815) was a German entomologist. A pharmacist by profession, Kugelann worked on Coleoptera. He published (with Johann Karl Wilhelm Illiger and Johann Christian Ludwig Hellwig Johann Christian Ludwig Hellwig (8 November 1743, in Garz/Rügen – 10 October 1831, in Braunschweig) was a German mathematician, entomologist and wargame designer. Biography After studies of mathematics and natural history at the university o ...) in 1798 ''Verzeichniss der Käfer Preussens''. Verzeichniss der Käfer Preussens References * 1753 births[...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hydrophiloidea
Hydrophiloidea, known as water scavenger beetles, is a superfamily of beetles. Until recently it included only a single family, the Hydrophilidae (water scavenger beetles), but several of the subfamilies have been removed and raised to family rank. Hydrophiliidae remains by far the largest member of the group, with nearly 3,000 described species. The other families have no more than 400 species. The Histeroidea are closely related and sometimes considered part of a ''sensu lato'' Hydrophiloidea. The majority of the clade is aquatic, which is thought to be the ancestral ecology of the group, with some lineages like Sphaeridiinae becoming secondarily terrestrial. Modern representatives of the group first appeared during the Late Jurassic. Families include: * Epimetopidae * Georissidae * Helophoridae * Hydrochidae * Hydrophilidae * Spercheidae Extinct genera * †'' Laetopsia'' Fikácek et al. 2012 Yixian Formation, China, Shinekhudag Formation, Dzun-Bain Formation Mong ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nearctic Realm
The Nearctic realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting the Earth's land surface. The Nearctic realm covers most of North America, including Greenland, Central Florida, and the highlands of Mexico. The parts of North America that are not in the Nearctic realm are Eastern Mexico, Southern Florida, coastal Central Florida, Central America, and the Caribbean islands, which, together with South America, are part of the Neotropical realm. Major ecological regions The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) divides the Nearctic into four bioregions, defined as "geographic clusters of ecoregions that may span several habitat types, but have strong biogeographic affinities, particularly at taxonomic levels higher than the species level (genus, family)." Canadian Shield The Canadian Shield bioregion extends across the northern portion of the continent, from the Aleutian Islands to Newfoundland. It includes the Nearctic's Arctic Tundra and Boreal forest ecoregions. In terms of flo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oriental Realm
The Indomalayan realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms. It extends across most of South and Southeast Asia and into the southern parts of East Asia. Also called the Oriental realm by biogeographers, Indomalaya spreads all over the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia to lowland southern China, and through Indonesia as far as Sumatra, Java, Bali, and Borneo, east of which lies the Wallace line, the realm boundary named after Alfred Russel Wallace which separates Indomalaya from Australasia. Indomalaya also includes the Philippines, lowland Taiwan, and Japan's Ryukyu Islands. Most of Indomalaya was originally covered by forest, and includes tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, with tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests predominant in much of India and parts of Southeast Asia. The tropical forests of Indomalaya are highly variable and diverse, with economically important trees, especially in the families Dipterocarpaceae and Fabaceae. Majo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Afrotropical Realm
The Afrotropical realm is one of Earth's eight biogeographic realms. It includes Africa south of the Sahara Desert, the majority of the Arabian Peninsula, the island of Madagascar, southern Iran and extreme southwestern Pakistan, and the islands of the western Indian Ocean. It was formerly known as the Ethiopian Zone or Ethiopian Region. Major ecological regions Most of the Afrotropic, with the exception of Africa's southern tip, has a tropical climate. A broad belt of deserts, including the Atlantic and Sahara deserts of northern Africa and the Arabian Desert of the Arabian Peninsula, separate the Afrotropic from the Palearctic realm, which includes northern Africa and temperate Eurasia. Sahel and Sudan South of the Sahara, two belts of tropical grassland and savanna run east and west across the continent, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Ethiopian Highlands. Immediately south of the Sahara lies the Sahel belt, a transitional zone of semi-arid short grassland and vachellia sa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Filter Feeder
Filter feeders are a sub-group of suspension feeding animals that feed by straining suspended matter and food particles from water, typically by passing the water over a specialized filtering structure. Some animals that use this method of feeding are clams, krill, sponges, baleen whales, and many fish (including some sharks). Some birds, such as flamingos and certain species of duck, are also filter feeders. Filter feeders can play an important role in clarifying water, and are therefore considered ecosystem engineers. They are also important in bioaccumulation and, as a result, as indicator organisms. Fish Most forage fish are filter feeders. For example, the Atlantic menhaden, a type of herring, lives on plankton caught in midwater. Adult menhaden can filter up to four gallons of water a minute and play an important role in clarifying ocean water. They are also a natural check to the deadly red tide. Extensive article on the role of menhaden in the ecosystem and possible resul ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hydrophilidae
Hydrophilidae, also known colloquially as water scavenger beetles, is a family of beetles. Aquatic hydrophilids are notable for their long maxillary palps, which are longer than their antennae. Several of the former subfamilies of Hydrophilidae have recently been removed and elevated to family rank; Epimetopidae, Georissidae (= Georyssinae), Helophoridae, Hydrochidae, and Spercheidae (= Sphaeridiinae). While the majority of hydrophilids are aquatic, around a third of described species are terrestrial, mostly belonging to the subfamily Sphaeridiinae. With rare exceptions, the larvae are predatory while the adults may be herbivores or predators in addition to scavenging. Many species are able to produce sounds. Species of '' Hydrophilus'' are reported as pests in fish hatcheries. Other species are voracious consumers of mosquito larvae, and have potential as biological control agents. This beetle family contains 2,835 species in 169 genera. Geography Hydrophilid beetles ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eocene
The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes from the Ancient Greek (''ēṓs'', "dawn") and (''kainós'', "new") and refers to the "dawn" of modern ('new') fauna that appeared during the epoch. The Eocene spans the time from the end of the Paleocene Epoch to the beginning of the Oligocene Epoch. The start of the Eocene is marked by a brief period in which the concentration of the carbon isotope Carbon-13, 13C in the atmosphere was exceptionally low in comparison with the more common isotope Carbon-12, 12C. The end is set at a major extinction event called the ''Grande Coupure'' (the "Great Break" in continuity) or the Eocene–Oligocene extinction event, which may be related to the impact of one or more large bolides in Popigai impact structure, Siberia and in what is now ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bembridge Marls
The Bouldnor Formation is a geological formation in the Hampshire Basin of southern England. It is the youngest formation of the Solent Group and was deposited during the uppermost Eocene and lower Oligocene. Stratotype and occurrence The Bouldnor Formation was named after Bouldnor, a small hamlet east of Yarmouth, Isle of Wight, Yarmouth, Isle of Wight. The formation is exposed along ''Bouldnor Cliff'' between Yarmouth and Hamstead, Isle of Wight, Hamstead occupying the core of the east-southeast-striking ''Bouldnor Syncline''. Yet the stratotype of the formation is found at ''Whitecliff Bay'' on the east side of the Isle of Wight. History The Bouldnor Formation was scientifically established 1985 by A. Insole and B. Daly, who also defined its member (geology), members. The paleogene strata on the Isle of Wight had already been described in 1853 by Edward Forbes. Forbes was followed in 1921 by H.J.O. White, a geologist from the Geological Survey. Stratigraphy The Bouldn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jurassic
The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately Mya. The Jurassic constitutes the middle period of the Mesozoic, Mesozoic Era and is named after the Jura Mountains, where limestone strata from the period were first identified. The start of the Jurassic was marked by the major Triassic–Jurassic extinction event, associated with the eruption of the Central Atlantic magmatic province, Central Atlantic Magmatic Province. The beginning of the Toarcian Stage started around 183 million years ago and is marked by an extinction event associated with widespread Anoxic event, oceanic anoxia, ocean acidification, and elevated temperatures likely caused by the eruption of the Karoo-Ferrar, Karoo-Ferrar large igneous provinces. The end of the Jurassic, however, has no clear boundary with the Cretaceous and i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
