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Toxomerus Insignis
''Toxomerus'' is a very large genus of hoverflies. They are found in many parts of North and South America. Most larvae are predators on soft bodied insects, though a few species have been shown to feed on pollen. Adults feed on the pollen of a wide range of flowers. Morphology The majority of species are 6–9 mm in length. However, the largest, '' Toxomerus insignis'', found throughout the Northeastern part of North America, is 13 mm long. A common trait of species within the genus is their mimicry of stinging Hymenoptera to avoid predators.Penney, Heather D., et al. "The relationship between morphological and behavioral mimicry in hover flies (Diptera: Syrphidae)." ''The American Naturalist'' 183.2 (2013): 281-289. What distinguishes ''Toxomerus'' from other hoverflies is the posterior indentation of their eyes and unique abdominal patterns; the abdominal patterns are diagnostic at the species level within the genus. Eyes are large (taking up approximately 2/3 o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Toxomerus Marginatus
''Toxomerus marginatus'', also known as the calligrapher fly, is a common species of hoverfly. It is found in many parts of North America. The larvae are predators of thrips, aphids, and small caterpillars. Adults feed on a wide range of flowers. Smith & Chaney 2007 finds ''T.marginatus'' is the most numerous of the Syrphidae species controlling aphids in lettuce Lettuce (''Lactuca sativa'') is an annual plant of the family Asteraceae. It is most often grown as a leaf vegetable, but sometimes for its stem and seeds. Lettuce is most often used for salads, although it is also seen in other kinds of food, ... fields on California's Central Coast. References Diptera of North America Syrphinae Insects described in 1822 Taxa named by Thomas Say {{Syrphidae-stub ... [...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] |
Scrophulariaceae
The Scrophulariaceae are a family of flowering plants, commonly known as the figwort family. The plants are annual and perennial herbs, as well as shrubs. Flowers have bilateral (zygomorphic) or rarely radial (actinomorphic) symmetry. The Scrophulariaceae have a cosmopolitan distribution, with the majority found in temperate areas, including tropical mountains. The family name is based on the name of the included genus ''Scrophularia'' L. Taxonomy In the past, it was treated as including about 275 genera and over 5,000 species, but its circumscription has been radically altered since numerous molecular phylogenies have shown the traditional broad circumscription to be grossly polyphyletic. Many genera have recently been transferred to other families within the Lamiales, notably Plantaginaceae and Orobanchaceae, but also several new families. - on linhere/ref> Several families of the Lamiales have had their circumscriptions enlarged to accommodate genera transferred from t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Poaceae
Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in lawns and pasture. The latter are commonly referred to collectively as grass. With around 780 genera and around 12,000 species, the Poaceae is the fifth-largest plant family, following the Asteraceae, Orchidaceae, Fabaceae and Rubiaceae. The Poaceae are the most economically important plant family, providing staple foods from domesticated cereal crops such as maize, wheat, rice, barley, and millet as well as feed for meat-producing animals. They provide, through direct human consumption, just over one-half (51%) of all dietary energy; rice provides 20%, wheat supplies 20%, maize (corn) 5.5%, and other grains 6%. Some members of the Poaceae are used as building materials (bamboo, thatch, and straw); others can provide a source of biofuel, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Toxomerus Floralis
''Toxomerus floralis'' is a species of syrphid fly Hover flies, also called flower flies or syrphid flies, make up the insect family Syrphidae. As their common name suggests, they are often seen hovering or nectaring at flowers; the adults of many species feed mainly on nectar and pollen, while ... in the family Syrphidae. References Syrphinae Articles created by Qbugbot Insects described in 1798 Taxa named by Johan Christian Fabricius {{syrphidae-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Toxomerus Politus
''Toxomerus politus'' is a species of hoverfly (Diptera: Syrphidae). It is known from North, Central and South America. Although little is known about the early stages of this species, associations with corn have been noted. The adults and likely the larvae feed on the pollen of the corn plants. References Diptera of North America Syrphinae Insects described in 1823 {{Syrphidae-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Toxomerus Apegiensis
''Toxomerus'' is a very large genus of hoverflies. They are found in many parts of North and South America. Most larvae are predators on soft bodied insects, though a few species have been shown to feed on pollen. Adults feed on the pollen of a wide range of flowers. Morphology The majority of species are 6–9 mm in length. However, the largest, ''Toxomerus insignis'', found throughout the Northeastern part of North America, is 13 mm long. A common trait of species within the genus is their mimicry of stinging Hymenoptera to avoid predators.Penney, Heather D., et al. "The relationship between morphological and behavioral mimicry in hover flies (Diptera: Syrphidae)." ''The American Naturalist'' 183.2 (2013): 281-289. What distinguishes ''Toxomerus'' from other hoverflies is the posterior indentation of their eyes and unique abdominal patterns; the abdominal patterns are diagnostic at the species level within the genus. Eyes are large (taking up approximately 2/3 of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lepidoptera
Lepidoptera ( ) is an order (biology), order of insects that includes butterfly, butterflies and moths (both are called lepidopterans). About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera are described, in 126 Family (biology), families and 46 Taxonomic rank, superfamilies, 10 percent of the total described species of living organisms. It is one of the most widespread and widely recognizable insect orders in the world. The Lepidoptera show many variations of the basic body structure that have evolved to gain advantages in lifestyle and distribution. Recent estimates suggest the order may have more species than earlier thought, and is among the four most wikt:speciose, speciose orders, along with the Hymenoptera, fly, Diptera, and beetle, Coleoptera. Lepidopteran species are characterized by more than three derived features. The most apparent is the presence of scale (anatomy), scales that cover the torso, bodies, wings, and a proboscis. The scales are modified, flattened "hairs", and give ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thrips
Thrips ( order Thysanoptera) are minute (mostly long or less), slender insects with fringed wings and unique asymmetrical mouthparts. Different thrips species feed mostly on plants by puncturing and sucking up the contents, although a few are predators. Entomologists have described approximately 6,000 species. They fly only weakly and their feathery wings are unsuitable for conventional flight; instead, thrips exploit an unusual mechanism, clap and fling, to create lift using an unsteady circulation pattern with transient vortices near the wings. Many thrips species are pests of commercially important crops. A few species serve as vectors for over 20 viruses that cause plant disease, especially the Tospoviruses. Some species of thrips are beneficial as pollinators or as predators of other insects or mites. In the right conditions, such as in greenhouses, many species can exponentially increase in population size and form large swarms because of a lack of natural predators ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Acari
Mites are small arachnids (eight-legged arthropods). Mites span two large orders of arachnids, the Acariformes and the Parasitiformes, which were historically grouped together in the subclass Acari, but genetic analysis does not show clear evidence of a close relationship. Most mites are tiny, less than in length, and have a simple, unsegmented body plan. The small size of most species makes them easily overlooked; some species live in water, many live in soil as decomposers, others live on plants, sometimes creating galls, while others again are predators or parasites. This last type includes the commercially destructive ''Varroa'' parasite of honey bees, as well as scabies mites of humans. Most species are harmless to humans, but a few are associated with allergies or may transmit diseases. The scientific discipline devoted to the study of mites is called acarology. Evolution and taxonomy The mites are not a defined taxon, but is used for two distinct groups of arachni ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hemiptera
Hemiptera (; ) is an order (biology), order of insects, commonly called true bugs, comprising over 80,000 species within groups such as the cicadas, aphids, planthoppers, leafhoppers, Reduviidae, assassin bugs, Cimex, bed bugs, and shield bugs. They range in size from to around , and share a common arrangement of piercing-sucking Insect mouthparts, mouthparts. The name "true bugs" is often limited to the suborder Heteroptera. Entomologists reserve the term ''bug'' for Hemiptera or Heteroptera,Gilbert Waldbauer. ''The Handy Bug Answer Book.'' Visible Ink, 1998p. 1. which does not include other arthropods or insects of other orders such as Ant, ants, Bee, bees, Beetle, beetles, or Butterfly, butterflies. In some variations of English, all Terrestrial animal, terrestrial arthropods (including non-insect arachnids, and myriapods) also fall under the Colloquialism, colloquial understanding of ''bug''. Many insects with "bug" in their common name, especially in American English, belo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aphid
Aphids are small sap-sucking insects and members of the superfamily Aphidoidea. Common names include greenfly and blackfly, although individuals within a species can vary widely in color. The group includes the fluffy white woolly aphids. A typical life cycle involves flightless females giving live birth to female nymphs—who may also be already pregnant, an adaptation scientists call telescoping generations—without the involvement of males. Maturing rapidly, females breed profusely so that the number of these insects multiplies quickly. Winged females may develop later in the season, allowing the insects to colonize new plants. In temperate regions, a phase of sexual reproduction occurs in the autumn, with the insects often overwintering as eggs. The life cycle of some species involves an alternation between two species of host plants, for example between an annual crop and a woody plant. Some species feed on only one type of plant, while others are generalists, coloni ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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