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Tarantula Hawk
A tarantula hawk is a spider wasp (Pompilidae) that preys on tarantulas. Tarantula hawks belong to any of the many species in the genera '' Pepsis'' and '' Hemipepsis.'' They are some of the largest parasitoid wasps, using their sting to paralyze their prey before dragging it into a brood nest as living food; a single egg is laid on the prey, hatching to a larva, which then eats the still-living host. They are found on all continents other than Europe and Antarctica. Description These wasps grow up to long, making them among the largest of wasps, and have blue-black bodies and bright, rust-colored wings (other species have black wings with blue highlights). The vivid coloration found on their bodies, and especially wings, is aposematic, advertising to potential predators the wasps' ability to deliver a powerful sting. Their long legs have hooked claws for grappling with their victims. The stinger of a female '' Pepsis grossa'' can be up to long, and the powerful sting is consi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pepsis
''Pepsis'' (from Ancient Greek πέψι lit. ''pepsis'' meaning 'digestion, cooking') is a genus of spider wasps belonging to the family Spider wasp, Pompilidae. Species within this genus are also called tarantula hawks, as they usually hunt tarantulas, similarly to many species in the genus ''Hemipepsis''. These wasps are restricted to the Americas, with the related genus ''Hemipepsis'' occurring in both Old and New Worlds. Species Species within this genus include: *''Pepsis achterbergi'' Vardy, 2005 *''Pepsis aciculata'' Ernst Ludwig Taschenberg, Taschenberg, 1869 *''Pepsis adonta'' Vardy, 2005 *''Pepsis albocincta'' Frederick Smith (entomologist), Smith, 1855 *''Pepsis amyntas'' Alexander Mocsáry, Mocsáry, 1885 *''Pepsis apicata'' Taschenberg, 1869 *''Pepsis aquila'' Hippolyte Lucas, H. Lucas, 1895 *''Pepsis assimilis'' Nathan Banks, Banks, 1946 *''Pepsis asteria'' Mocsáry, 1894 *''Pepsis atalanta'' Mocsáry, 1885 *''Pepsis atripennis'' Johan Christian Fabricius, Fabri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Milkweeds
''Asclepias'' is a genus of herbaceous, perennial, flowering plants known as milkweeds, named for their latex, a milky substance containing cardiac glycosides termed cardenolides, exuded where cells are damaged. Most species are toxic to humans and many other species, primarily due to the presence of cardenolides. However, as with many such plants, some species feed upon milkweed leaves or the nectar from their flowers. A noteworthy feeder on milkweeds is the monarch butterfly, which uses and requires certain milkweeds as host plants for its larvae. The ''Asclepias'' genus contains over 200 species distributed broadly across Africa, North America, and South America. It previously belonged to the family Asclepiadaceae, which is now classified as the subfamily Asclepiadoideae of the dogbane family, Apocynaceae. The genus was formally described by Carl Linnaeus in 1753, who named it after Asclepius, the Greek god of healing. Flowers Members of the genus produce some of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Geococcyx
The roadrunners (genus ''Geococcyx''), also known as chaparral birds or chaparral cocks, are two species of fast-running ground cuckoos with long tails and crests. They are found in the southwestern and south-central United States, Mexico and Central America, usually in the desert. Although capable of flight, roadrunners generally run away from predators. On the ground, some have been measured at . Species The subfamily Neomorphinae, the New World ground cuckoos, includes 11 species of birds, while the genus ''Geococcyx'' has just two: Morphology The roadrunner generally ranges in size from from tail to beak. The average weight is about . The roadrunner is a slender, black-brown and white-streaked ground bird with a distinctive head crest. It has long legs, strong feet, and an oversized dark bill. The tail is broad with white tips on the three outer tail feathers. The bird has a bare patch of skin behind each eye; this patch is shaded blue anterior to red posteri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paraponera Clavata
''Paraponera clavata'', commonly known as the bullet ant, is a species of ant known for its extremely painful Insect bites and stings, sting. It inhabits humid lowland rainforests in Central America, Central and South America. Etymology The Specific name (zoology), specific epithet of the ant, ', means "club-shaped". The generic name (biology), generic name, ''Paraponera'', translates to "near-''Ponera''". Because of its fearsome reputation, the ant has several Native American, Spanish, and Portuguese local names in different geographical areas; perhaps the best-known of these is the Venezuelan nickname ' (the "24 ant" or "24-hour ant"), referring to the full day of pain that follows being stung; it can also refer to the time it takes to kill a human. In Brazil, the Brazilian Portuguese, Portuguese names given by locals include ', ', or ' (big black ant); Native American–derived names include ''tocandira'', and ''tocanquibira'', from the Tupi–Guarani languages, Tupi–Guarani ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Schmidt Sting Pain Index
The Schmidt sting pain index is a pain scale rating the relative pain caused by different hymenopteran stings. It is mainly the work of Justin O. Schmidt, who was an entomologist at the Carl Hayden Bee Research Center in Arizona. Schmidt's original 1983 paper was a way to systematize and compare the hemolytic properties of insect venoms. A table in the paper included a column that rated sting pain, starting from 0 for stings that are completely ineffective against humans, progressing through 2 for familiar pains such as those caused by common bee or wasp stings, and finishing at 4 for the most painful stings. Only the bullet ant, ''Paraponera clavata'', was given a rating of 4, although later versions of the index added two more species. Schmidt repeatedly refined his scale, including a paper published in 1990, which classifies the stings of 78 species and 41 genera of Hymenoptera, and culminating in a book published in 2016. Motivation The Schmidt sting pain index arose fro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Antenna (biology)
An antenna (plural: antennae) is one of a pair of appendages used for Sensory system, sensing in arthropods. Antennae are sometimes referred to as ''feelers''. Antennae are connected to the first one or two Segmentation (biology), segments of the arthropod head. They vary widely in form but are always made of one or more jointed segments. While they are typically sensory organs, the exact nature of what they sense and how they sense it is not the same in all groups. Functions may variously include sensing tactition, touch, air motion, heat, vibration (sound), and especially insect olfaction, smell or gustation, taste. Antennae are sometimes modified for other purposes, such as mating, brooding, swimming, and even anchoring the arthropod to a substrate (biology), substrate. Larval arthropods have antennae that differ from those of the adult. Many crustaceans, for example, have free-swimming larvae that use their antennae for swimming. Antennae can also locate other group members i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pepsis Thisbe
''Pepsis thisbe'', also known as Thisbe's tarantula-hawk wasp, is a species of spider wasp in the family Pompilidae. Females are 32-44 mm long with a dark blue body and orange wings. Description The females of this species sport curly antennae, while the males' are straight. Males do not have stingers and females have ones about 7mm (¼ inch) in length. Adults are nectarivores (feeding on flower material), but females hunt tarantulas as food for larvae, hence their name. They are found throughout the American Southwest The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural list of regions of the United States, region of the United States that includes Arizona and New Mexico, along with adjacen ... in desert areas. References Further reading * External links * Pepsinae Insects described in 1895 {{apocrita-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Argentina
Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourth-largest country in the Americas, and the List of countries and dependencies by area, eighth-largest country in the world. Argentina shares the bulk of the Southern Cone with Chile to the west, and is also bordered by Bolivia and Paraguay to the north, Brazil to the northeast, Uruguay and the South Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Drake Passage to the south. Argentina is a Federation, federal state subdivided into twenty-three Provinces of Argentina, provinces, and one autonomous city, which is the federal capital and List of cities in Argentina by population, largest city of the nation, Buenos Aires. The provinces and the capital have their own constitutions, but exist under a Federalism, federal system. Argentina claims sovereignty ov ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Logan, Utah
Logan is a city in Cache County, Utah, United States. The 2020 United States Census, 2020 census recorded the population at 52,778. Logan is the county seat of Cache County and the principal city of the Logan metropolitan area, which includes Cache County and Franklin County, Idaho. The Logan metropolitan area contained 147,908 people as of the 2020 census. Logan has the main campus of Utah State University. History The town of Logan was founded in 1859 by settlers Brigham Young sent to survey for the site of a fort near the banks of the Logan River (Utah), Logan River. They named their new community "Logan" for Ephraim Logan, an early fur trapper in the area. Logan was incorporated on January 17, 1866. Brigham Young College was founded here on August 6, 1877 (and closed in 1926), and Utah State University, then called the Agricultural College of Utah, was founded in 1888. Brigham Young College, a college run by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was in Logan from ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, which is part of Oceania. Southeast Asia is bordered to the north by East Asia, to the west by South Asia and the Bay of Bengal, to the east by Oceania and the Pacific Ocean, and to the south by Australia (continent), Australia and the Indian Ocean. Apart from the British Indian Ocean Territory and two out of Atolls of the Maldives, 26 atolls of the Maldives in South Asia, Maritime Southeast Asia is the only other subregion of Asia that lies partly within the Southern Hemisphere. Mainland Southeast Asia is entirely in the Northern Hemisphere. Timor-Leste and the southern portion of Indonesia are the parts of Southeast Asia that lie south of the equator. The region lies near the intersection of Plate tectonics, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since 2023; and, since its independence in 1947, the world's most populous democracy. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the southwest, and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast, it shares land borders with Pakistan to the west; China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the north; and Bangladesh and Myanmar to the east. In the Indian Ocean, India is near Sri Lanka and the Maldives; its Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with Thailand, Myanmar, and Indonesia. Modern humans arrived on the Indian subcontinent from Africa no later than 55,000 years ago., "Y-Chromosome and Mt-DNA data support the colonization of South Asia by modern humans originating in Africa. ... Coalescence dates for most non-European populations averag ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hill-topping (biology)
Hilltopping (also spelt hill-topping) is a mate-location behaviour seen in many insects including butterflies, dragonflies, bumblebees, wasps, beetles and flies. Males of many butterfly species may be found flying up to and staying on a hilltop - for days on end if necessary. Females, desirous of mating, fly up the hill. Males dash around the top, competing for the best part of the area - usually the very top; as the male with the best territory at the top of the hill would have the best chance of mating with the occasional female, who knows the "top male" must be strong and thus genetically fit. Many authors consider this as a form of lekking behaviour. Many butterfly species including swallowtails, nymphalids, metal-marks and lycaenids are known to hill-top. In some ''Acraea'' butterflies, widespread infection by ''Wolbachia ''Wolbachia'' is a genus of gram-negative bacteria infecting many species of arthropods and filarial nematodes. The symbiotic relationship rang ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
