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Steatoda Nobilis
''Steatoda nobilis'' is a spider in the genus '' Steatoda'', known in the United Kingdom as the noble false widow, as it superficially resembles and is frequently mistaken for the black widow and other spiders in the genus ''Latrodectus''. It is often referred to as ''the'' false widow, although "false widow" is a more general term applied to a wider group of species with this resemblance. It is a moderately medically significant spider, with most bites resulting in symptoms similar to a bee or wasp sting. Some bites may cause more significant harm, partly due to pathogenic bacteria from the spiders. ''S. nobilis'' is spotted all year round, both indoors and outdoors in a variety of habitats including cacti, roadside cuttings, and demolished buildings. The spiders prey on both invertebrates and small vertebrates using an "attack wrap" strategy where silk is wrapped around the victim. ''Steatoda nobilis'' is native to Madeira and the Canary Islands from where it is thought to have ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Steatoda Nobilis
''Steatoda nobilis'' is a spider in the genus '' Steatoda'', known in the United Kingdom as the noble false widow, as it superficially resembles and is frequently mistaken for the black widow and other spiders in the genus ''Latrodectus''. It is often referred to as ''the'' false widow, although "false widow" is a more general term applied to a wider group of species with this resemblance. It is a moderately medically significant spider, with most bites resulting in symptoms similar to a bee or wasp sting. Some bites may cause more significant harm, partly due to pathogenic bacteria from the spiders. ''S. nobilis'' is spotted all year round, both indoors and outdoors in a variety of habitats including cacti, roadside cuttings, and demolished buildings. The spiders prey on both invertebrates and small vertebrates using an "attack wrap" strategy where silk is wrapped around the victim. ''Steatoda nobilis'' is native to Madeira and the Canary Islands from where it is thought to have ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tamerlan Thorell
Tord Tamerlan Teodor Thorell (3 May 1830 – 22 December 1901) was a Sweden, Swedish arachnologist. Thorell studied spiders with Giacomo Doria at the Museo Civico di Storia Naturale de Genoa. He corresponded with other arachnologists, such as Octavius Pickard-Cambridge, Eugène Simon and Thomas Workman (entomologist), Thomas Workman. He described more than 1,000 spider species during his time from the 1850 to 1900. Thorell wrote: ''On European Spiders'' (1869) and ''Synonym of European Spiders'' (1870-73). Taxonomic honors The Orb-weaver spider genus ''Thorellina'' and the jumping spider genus ''Thorelliola'' are named after him, as well as about 30 species of spiders: * ''Araneus thorelli'' (Roewer, 1942) (Myanmar) (Araneidae) * ''Gasteracantha thorelli'' Keyserling, 1864 (Madagascar) (Araneidae) * ''Leviellus thorelli'' (Ausserer, 1871) (Europe) (Araneidae) * ''Mandjelia thorelli'' (Raven, 1990) (Queensland) (Barychelidae) * ''Clubiona thorelli'' Roewer, 1951 (Sumatra) (Clubi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Chile covers an area of , with a population of 17.5 million as of 2017. It shares land borders with Peru to the north, Bolivia to the north-east, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far south. Chile also controls the Pacific islands of Juan Fernández, Isla Salas y Gómez, Desventuradas, and Easter Island in Oceania. It also claims about of Antarctica under the Chilean Antarctic Territory. The country's capital and largest city is Santiago, and its national language is Spanish. Spain conquered and colonized the region in the mid-16th century, replacing Inca rule, but failing to conquer the independent Mapuche who inhabited what is now south-central Chile. In 1818, after declaring in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alpha-latrotoxin
A latrotoxin is a high-molecular mass neurotoxin found in the venom of spiders of the genus ''Latrodectus'' (widow spiders) as well as at least one species of another genus in the same family, '' Steatoda nobilis''. Latrotoxins are the main active components of the venom and are responsible for the symptoms of latrodectism. The following latrotoxins have been described: five insecticidal toxins, termed α, β, γ, δ and ε-latroinsectotoxins, one vertebrate-specific neurotoxin, alpha-latrotoxin, and one toxin affecting crustaceans, α-latrocrustatoxin. α-Latrotoxin The best-studied latrotoxin is alpha-latrotoxin, which acts presynaptically to release neurotransmitters (including acetylcholine) from sensory and motor neurons, as well as on endocrine cells (to release insulin, for example). It is a ~130 kDa protein that exists mainly in its dimerized or tetramerized forms. α-Latrotoxin (α-LTX) can naturally be found in widow spiders of the genus ''Latrodectus''. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Serine Protease
Serine proteases (or serine endopeptidases) are enzymes that cleave peptide bonds in proteins. Serine serves as the nucleophilic amino acid at the (enzyme's) active site. They are found ubiquitously in both eukaryotes and prokaryotes. Serine proteases fall into two broad categories based on their structure: chymotrypsin-like (trypsin-like) or subtilisin-like. Classification The MEROPS protease classification system counts 16 superfamilies (as of 2013) each containing many families. Each superfamily uses the catalytic triad or dyad in a different protein fold and so represent convergent evolution of the catalytic mechanism. The majority belong to the S1 family of the PA clan (superfamily) of proteases. For superfamilies, P: superfamily, containing a mixture of nucleophile class families, S: purely serine proteases. superfamily. Within each superfamily, families are designated by their catalytic nucleophile, (S: serine proteases). Substrate specificity Serine ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peptidase
A protease (also called a peptidase, proteinase, or proteolytic enzyme) is an enzyme that catalyzes (increases reaction rate or "speeds up") proteolysis, breaking down proteins into smaller polypeptides or single amino acids, and spurring the formation of new protein products. They do this by cleaving the peptide bonds within proteins by hydrolysis, a reaction where water breaks bonds. Proteases are involved in many biological functions, including digestion of ingested proteins, protein catabolism (breakdown of old proteins), and cell signaling. In the absence of functional accelerants, proteolysis would be very slow, taking hundreds of years. Proteases can be found in all forms of life and viruses. They have independently evolved multiple times, and different classes of protease can perform the same reaction by completely different catalytic mechanisms. Hierarchy of proteases Based on catalytic residue Proteases can be classified into seven broad groups: * Serine proteases - ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Synanthrope
A synanthrope (from the Greek σύν ''syn'', "together with" + ἄνθρωπος ''anthropos'', "man") is a member of a species of wild animal or plant that lives near, and benefits from, an association with human beings and the somewhat artificial habitats that people create around themselves (see anthropophilia). Such habitats include houses, gardens, farms, roadsides and rubbish dumps. The category of synanthrope includes many species regarded as pests or weeds. It does not, however, include domesticated animals such as cattle, honeybees, pets, poultry, silkworms, and working animals. Examples of synanthropes are various insect species ( lice, ants, silverfish, cockroaches, etc.), house sparrows, rock doves (pigeons), crows, various rodent species, Virginia opossums, raccoons, certain monkey species, coyotes, deer, urban ferals, passerines, and other urban wildlife. Plants include Pineapple Weed, Dandelion, Chicory, and Plantain. The brown rat is counted as one of th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stridulation
Stridulation is the act of producing sound by rubbing together certain body parts. This behavior is mostly associated with insects, but other animals are known to do this as well, such as a number of species of fish, snakes and spiders. The mechanism is typically that of one structure with a well-defined lip, ridge, or nodules (the "scraper" or ''plectrum'') being moved across a finely-ridged surface (the "file" or ''stridulitrum''—sometimes called the ''pars stridens'') or vice versa, and vibrating as it does so, like the dragging of a phonograph needle across a vinyl record. Sometimes it is the structure bearing the file which resonates to produce the sound, but in other cases it is the structure bearing the scraper, with both variants possible in related groups. Common onomatopoeic words for the sounds produced by stridulation include ''chirp'' and ''chirrup''. Arthropod stridulation Insects and other arthropods stridulate by rubbing together two parts of the body. These a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chorion
The chorion is the outermost fetal membrane around the embryo in mammals, birds and reptiles (amniotes). It develops from an outer fold on the surface of the yolk sac, which lies outside the zona pellucida (in mammals), known as the vitelline membrane in other animals. In insects it is developed by the follicle cells while the egg is in the ovary.Chapman, R.F. (1998) "The insects: structure and function", Section ''The egg and embryology''. Previewed in Google Bookon 26 Sep 2009. Structure In humans and other mammals (excluding monotremes), the chorion is one of the fetal membranes that exist during pregnancy between the developing fetus and mother. The chorion and the amnion together form the amniotic sac. In humans it is formed by extraembryonic mesoderm and the two layers of trophoblast that surround the embryo and other membranes; the chorionic villi emerge from the chorion, invade the endometrium, and allow the transfer of nutrients from maternal blood to fetal blood. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Theridiidae
Theridiidae, also known as the tangle-web spiders, cobweb spiders and comb-footed spiders, is a large family of Araneomorphae, araneomorph spiders first described by Carl Jakob Sundevall in 1833. This diverse, globally distributed family includes over 3,000 species in 124 genus, genera, and is the most common arthropod found in human dwellings throughout the world. Theridiid spiders are both Entelegynae, entelegyne, meaning that the females have a genital plate, and Cribellum, ecribellate, meaning that they spin sticky capture silk instead of woolly silk. They have a comb of serrated bristles (setae) on the Arthropod leg, tarsus of the fourth leg. The family includes some model organisms for research, including the List of medically significant spider bites, medically important Latrodectus, widow spiders. They are important to studies characterizing their venom and its clinical manifestation, but widow spiders are also used in research on spider silk and sexual biology, including ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Woodlouse
A woodlouse (plural woodlice) is an isopod crustacean from the polyphyleticThe current consensus is that Oniscidea is actually triphyletic suborder Oniscidea within the order Isopoda. They get their name from often being found in old wood. The first woodlice were marine isopods which are presumed to have colonised land in the Carboniferous, though the oldest known fossils are from the Cretaceous period. They have many common names and although often referred to as terrestrial isopods, some species live semiterrestrially or have recolonised aquatic environments. Woodlice in the families Armadillidae, Armadillidiidae, Eubelidae, Tylidae and some other genera can roll up into a roughly spherical shape ( conglobate) as a defensive mechanism; others have partial rolling ability, but most cannot conglobate at all. Woodlice have a basic morphology of a segmented, dorso-ventrally flattened body with seven pairs of jointed legs, specialised appendages for respiration and like ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pipistrelle Bat
''Pipistrellus'' is a genus of bats in the family Vespertilionidae and subfamily Vespertilioninae. The name of the genus is derived from the Italian word , meaning "bat" (from Latin "bird of evening, bat"). The size of the genus has been considerably reduced as a result of work during the 1990s and 2000s, with genera such as '' Arielulus'', ''Hypsugo'', '' Falsistrellus'', ''Neoromicia'', ''Parastrellus'', '' Perimyotis'', ''Scotozous'', and '' Vespadelus'' being split off. Still, molecular evidence suggests the genus is not monophyletic. Several other genera in the subfamily Vespertilioninae have also been merged with ''Pipistrellus'' in previous classifications. Species in the genus may be referred to as "pipistrelles" or "pipistrelle bats", though these terms are also used for species now placed in other genera, such as the western pipistrelle (''Parastrellus hesperus'') and eastern pipistrelle (''Perimyotis subflavus'') of North America. Species of the southern hemispher ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
