Wedge-shaped Beetle
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Wedge-shaped Beetle
Ripiphoridae (formerly spelled Rhipiphoridae) is a cosmopolitan family of some 450 described species of beetles sometimes called "wedge-shaped beetles". Ripiphoridae are unusual among beetle families in that many species are hypermetamorphic parasitoids, an attribute that they share with the Meloidae. Members of the family differ in their choice of hosts, but most attack various species of bees or wasps, while some others attack cockroaches or beetles. Many species of Ripiphoridae have abbreviated elytra, and flabellate or pectinate antennae. Biology The subfamily Ripiphorinae parasitise bees and wasps (Hymenoptera), while Ripidiinae parasitises cockroaches (Blattodea) and Pelecotominae parasitises larvae of wood-boring beetles (Coleoptera). Species that attack bees typically lay their eggs on flowers. There the eggs hatch almost immediately into small planidial larvae and lie in wait for a visiting host. The planidium mounts the bee and rides it back to the hive. There it ...
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Ripiphorus Diadasiae
''Ripiphorus diadasiae'' is a species of wedge-shaped beetle in the family Ripiphoridae Ripiphoridae (formerly spelled Rhipiphoridae) is a cosmopolitan family of some 450 described species of beetles sometimes called "wedge-shaped beetles". Ripiphoridae are unusual among beetle families in that many species are hypermetamorphic pa .... It is found in North America. References Further reading * External links * Ripiphoridae Articles created by Qbugbot Beetles described in 1950 {{Tenebrionoidea-stub ...
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Elytra
An elytron (; ; , ) is a modified, hardened forewing of beetles (Coleoptera), though a few of the true bugs (Hemiptera) such as the family Schizopteridae are extremely similar; in true bugs, the forewings are called hemelytra (sometimes alternatively spelled as "hemielytra"), and in most species only the basal half is thickened while the apex is membranous, but when they are entirely thickened the condition is referred to as "coleopteroid". An elytron is sometimes also referred to as a shard. Description The elytra primarily serve as protective wing-cases for the hindwings underneath, which are used for flying. To fly, a beetle typically opens the elytra and then extends the hindwings, flying while still holding the elytra open, though many beetles in the families Scarabaeidae and Buprestidae can fly with the elytra closed (e.g., most Cetoniinae; ). In a number of groups, the elytra are reduced to various degrees, (e.g., the beetle families Staphylinidae and Ripiphoridae), or ...
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Ovipositor
The ovipositor is a tube-like organ used by some animals, especially insects, for the laying of eggs. In insects, an ovipositor consists of a maximum of three pairs of appendages. The details and morphology of the ovipositor vary, but typically its form is adapted to functions such as preparing a place for the egg, transmitting the egg, and then placing it properly. For most insects, the organ is used merely to attach the egg to some surface, but for many parasitic species (primarily in wasps and other Hymenoptera), it is a piercing organ as well. Some ovipositors only retract partly when not in use, and the basal part that sticks out is known as the scape, or more specifically oviscape, the word ''scape'' deriving from the Latin word '' scāpus'', meaning "stalk" or "shaft". In insects Grasshoppers use their ovipositors to force a burrow into the earth to receive the eggs. Cicadas pierce the wood of twigs with their ovipositors to insert the eggs. Sawflies slit the ...
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Pheromone
A pheromone () is a secreted or excreted chemical factor that triggers a social response in members of the same species. Pheromones are chemicals capable of acting like hormones outside the body of the secreting individual, to affect the behavior of the receiving individuals. There are ''alarm signal, alarm pheromones'', ''food trail pheromones'', ''sex pheromones'', and many others that affect behavior or physiology. Pheromones are used by many organisms, from basic unicellular prokaryotes to complex multicellular eukaryotes. Their use among insects has been particularly well documented. In addition, some vertebrates, plants and ciliates communicate by using pheromones. The ecological functions and evolution of pheromones are a major topic of research in the field of chemical ecology. Background The portmanteau word "pheromone" was coined by Peter Karlson and Martin Lüscher in 1959, based on the Greek φερω ''pheroo'' ('I carry') and ὁρμων ''hormon'' ('stimulating'). P ...
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Larviform Female
Larviform female is a biological phenomenon occurring in some insect species, where the females in the adult stage of metamorphosis resemble the larvae to various degrees, while the male appears more morphologically adult (as imagoes). The resemblance may mean the larviform female has the same coloring as the larvae and/or similar body plans, and may be the result of the female arresting development at earlier stages of ecdysis than males. The female may not pupate at all, as in ''Xenos vesparum''. Erezyilmaz, D.F., Hayward, A., Huang, Y., Paps, J., Acs, Z., Delgado, J.A., Collantes, F., and Kathirithamby, J. (2014) 'Expression of the pupal determinant broad during metamorphic and neotenic development of the strepsipteran ''Xenos vesparum'' Rossi', PLoS ONE, 9(4), available: https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A375582897/HRCA?u=crepuq_bishop&sid=HRCA&xid=8b5d44a4 ccessed 30 Nov 2020 Typically, the female is wingless and generally larger than the male. Larviform females still reach sexual ...
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Metamorphosis
Metamorphosis is a biological process by which an animal physically develops including birth or hatching, involving a conspicuous and relatively abrupt change in the animal's body structure through cell growth and differentiation. Some insects, fish, amphibians, mollusks, crustaceans, cnidarians, echinoderms, and tunicates undergo metamorphosis, which is often accompanied by a change of nutrition source or behavior. Animals can be divided into species that undergo complete metamorphosis (" holometaboly"), incomplete metamorphosis ("hemimetaboly"), or no metamorphosis (" ametaboly"). Scientific usage of the term is technically precise, and it is not applied to general aspects of cell growth, including rapid growth spurts. Generally organisms with a larva stage undergo metamorphosis, and during metamorphosis the organism loses larval characteristics. References to "metamorphosis" in mammals are imprecise and only colloquial, but historically idealist ideas of transformation ...
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Planidium
A planidium is a specialized form of insect larva seen in the first-instar of a few families of insects that have parasitoidal ways of life. They are usually flattened, highly sclerotized (hardened), and quite mobile. The function of the planidial stage is to find a host on which the later larval instars may feed, generally until the insect pupates. Etymology The term "planidium" is derived from the Greek language ''πλανής'' (planis) meaning "wanderer". The term planula was similarly derived in reference to the wandering larvae of certain Cnidaria. Accordingly, "planidium" is the general term for such an adaptation, and it is not limited to any particular species or morphology. Planidia of different species differ variously from each other in form. The first instar larva in the beetle family Meloidae has three claws on each foot, and is therefore called a triungulin (plural ''triungula''). The term is derived from the Latin ''tri'' meaning "three" and ''ungula'' meaning ...
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Coleoptera
Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 described species, is the largest of all orders, constituting almost 40% of described insects and 25% of all known animal life-forms; new species are discovered frequently, with estimates suggesting that there are between 0.9 and 2.1 million total species. Found in almost every habitat except the sea and the polar regions, they interact with their ecosystems in several ways: beetles often feed on plants and fungi, break down animal and plant debris, and eat other invertebrates. Some species are serious agricultural pests, such as the Colorado potato beetle, while others such as Coccinellidae (ladybirds or ladybugs) eat aphids, scale insects, thrips, and other plant-sucking insects that damage crops. Beetles typically have a particularly hard e ...
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Blattodea
Blattodea is an order of insects that contains cockroaches and termites. Formerly, termites were considered a separate order, Isoptera, but genetic and molecular evidence suggests they evolved from within the cockroach lineage, cladistically making them cockroaches as well. The Blattodea and the mantis (order Mantodea) are now all considered part of the superorder Dictyoptera. Blattodea includes approximately 4,400 species of cockroach in almost 500 genera, and about 3,000 species of termite in around 300 genera. Termites are pale-coloured, soft-bodied eusocial insects that live in colonies, whereas cockroaches are darker-coloured (often brown), sclerotized, segmented insects. Within the colony, termites have a caste system, with a pair of mature reproductives, the king and the queen, and numerous sterile workers and soldiers. Cockroaches are not colonial but do have a tendency to aggregate and may be considered pre-social, as all adults are capable of breeding. Other simil ...
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