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Myrmecophily In Staphylinidae
Many species of Staphylinidae (commonly known as "rove beetles") have developed complex interspecies relationships with ants, known as myrmecophily. Rove beetles are among the most rich and diverse families of myrmecophilous beetles, with a wide variety of relationships with ants. Ant associations range from near free-living species which prey only on ants, to obligate inquilines of ants, which exhibit extreme morphological and chemical adaptations to the harsh environments of ant nests. Some species are fully integrated into the host colony, and are cleaned and fed by ants. Many of these, including species in tribe Clavigerini, are myrmecophagous, placating their hosts with glandular secretions while eating the brood. Taxonomy Staphylinidae is currently considered to be the largest family of beetles, with over 58,000 species described. As such, many myrmecophilous species are unknown. The majority of studied myrmecophilous rove beetles belong to the subfamily Aleocharinae, includi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Claviger Testaceus
{{Disambiguation ...
Claviger may refer to: * ''Claviger'' (beetle), a genus of beetles in the family Staphylinidae * Claviger (title) A claviger was the title of an office-holder to be found in many medieval boroughs, cities and other organisations. The term means key holder derived from clavis + gerere (key + to carry). The office was retained in many localities in England and Wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scydmaenidae
Scydmaeninae are a subfamily of small beetles, commonly called ant-like stone beetles or scydmaenines. These beetles occur worldwide, and the subfamily includes some 4,500 species in about 80 genera. Established as a family, they were reduced in status to a subfamily of Staphylinidae in 2009 Many scydmaenine species have a narrowing between head and thorax and thorax and abdomen, resulting in a passing resemblance to ants that inspires their common name. The largest measure just 3 millimeters long, while some very small species only reach half a millimeter in length. Scydmaenids typically live in leaf litter and rotting logs in forests, preferring moist habitats. A number of types are known to feed on oribatid mites, using "hole scraping" and "cutting" techniques to get through the mite's hard shells. In addition to the two living subfamilies, the prehistoric subfamily Hapsomelinae, known only from fossils, has been placed here. Selected genera *'' Cephennium'' *'' Elacatopho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Undecane
Undecane (also known as hendecane) is a liquid alkane hydrocarbon with the chemical formula CH3(CH2)9CH3. It is used as a mild sex attractant for various types of moths and cockroaches, and an alert signal for a variety of ants.Hölldobler B, Wilson EO (1990). ''The Ants''. Harvard University Press. , p. 287 It has 159 isomers. Undecane may also be used as an internal standard in gas chromatography when working with other hydrocarbons. Since the boiling point of undecane (196 °C) is well known, it may be used as a comparison for retention times in a gas chromatograph for molecules whose structure has been freshly elucidated. For example, if one is working with a 50 m crosslinked methyl silicone capillary column with an oven temperature increasing slowly, beginning around 60 °C, an 11-carbon molecule like undecane may be used as an internal standard to be compared with the retention times of other 10-, 11-, or 12- carbon molecules, depending on their structures. Se ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lasius Fuliginosus
''Lasius fuliginosus'', also known as the jet ant or jet black ant, is a species of ant in the subfamily Formicinae. Distribution This species has a wide distribution in Europe and Asia, from Portugal and Ireland in the west, Finland in the north to Italy in the south, and eastwards to Korea and Japan. In the UK, records suggest that while occasionally found further North before 1970, it is now found mostly south of The Wash, in East Anglia and Southern England, with a few colonies found in Ireland. Description [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chemical Mimicry
Chemical mimicry (also referred to as molecular mimicry) is a type of biological mimicry, involving the use of chemicals to dupe an operator. A chemical mimic dupes an operator (e.g. a predator) by showing an adaptive chemical resemblance to an object of its environment and as a consequence receives selective advantage. In all cases of chemical mimicry it has been found that the mimicking species is the only species to benefit from the reaction with either costs or no effect on the duped species. This is by adapting to produce chemicals (ex: allomones, pheromones, odours, etc.) that will cause a desirable behavioural reaction in the species being deceived and a selective advantage to the mimic. Chemical mimicry exists within many of the different forms of mimicry such as aggressive, protective, Batesian, and Müllerian mimicry and can involve a number of different senses. Mimicking semiochemicals, which cannot be seen, make up some of the most widely used forms of chemical mimicry a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Obligate Parasite
An obligate parasite or holoparasite is a parasitic organism that cannot complete its life-cycle without exploiting a suitable host. If an obligate parasite cannot obtain a host it will fail to reproduce. This is opposed to a facultative parasite, which can act as a parasite but does not rely on its host to continue its life-cycle. Obligate parasites have evolved a variety of parasitic strategies to exploit their hosts. Holoparasites and some hemiparasites are obligate. It is advantageous for the parasite to preserve the health of their host when this is compatible with their nutritional and reproductive requirements, except when the death of the host is necessary for transmission.Combes, C. (1997) Fitness of Parasites: Pathology and Selection ''International Journal for Parasitology'' 27 (1): 1–10. Species Obligate parasitism is exhibited in a range of organisms, with examples in viruses, bacteria, fungi, plants, and animals.Balashov, Yu.S. (2011) Parasitism and Ecological Paras ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kleptoparasitism
Kleptoparasitism (etymologically, parasitism by theft) is a form of feeding in which one animal deliberately takes food from another. The strategy is evolutionarily stable when stealing is less costly than direct feeding, which can mean when food is scarce or when victims are abundant. Many kleptoparasites are arthropods, especially bees and wasps, but including some true flies, dung beetles, bugs, and spiders. Cuckoo bees are specialized kleptoparasites which lay their eggs either on the pollen masses made by other bees, or on the insect hosts of parasitoid wasps. They are an instance of Emery's rule, which states that insect social parasites tend to be closely related to their hosts. The behavior occurs, too, in vertebrates including birds such as skuas, which persistently chase other seabirds until they disgorge their food, and carnivorous mammals such as spotted hyenas and lions. Other species opportunistically indulge in kleptoparasitism. Strategy Kleptoparasitism is a fe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lasius Flavus
The yellow meadow ant (''Lasius flavus''), also known as the yellow hill ant, is a species of ant occurring in Europe (where it is one of the most common ants), Asia, and North Africa. Populations in North America are now considered a different, related species, '' Lasius brevicornis''. The queen is 7–9 mm long, males 3–4 mm and workers 2–4 mm. Their colour varies from yellow to brown, with queen and males being slightly more darkly colored. The species lives primarily underground in meadows and very commonly, lawns. The nests are often completely overgrown by grass, however, often their presence is betrayed by small mounds of loose soil material between the grass stalks. They will also nest under large rocks or concrete slabs. Lawn nesting will eventually become obvious as the aphids clear sections of grass or portions of gardens. The yellow meadow ant feeds on the honeydew from root aphids, which they breed in their nests. During winter, the aphids thems ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trophallaxis
Trophallaxis () is the transfer of food or other fluids among members of a community through mouth-to-mouth ( stomodeal) or anus-to-mouth ( proctodeal) feeding. Along with nutrients, trophallaxis can involve the transfer of molecules such as pheromones, organisms such as symbionts, and information to serve as a form of communication. Trophallaxis is used by some birds, gray wolves, vampire bats, and is most highly developed in social insects such as ants, wasps, bees, and termites. Etymology Tropho- (prefix or suffix) is derived from the Greek trophé, meaning 'nourishment'. The Greek 'allaxis' means 'exchange'. The word was introduced by the entomologist William Morton Wheeler in 1918. Evolutionary significance Trophallaxis was used in the past to support theories on the origin of sociality in insects. The Swiss psychologist and entomologist Auguste Forel also believed that food sharing was key to ant society and he used an illustration of it as the frontispiece for his boo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trichome
Trichomes (); ) are fine outgrowths or appendages on plants, algae, lichens, and certain protists. They are of diverse structure and function. Examples are hairs, glandular hairs, scales, and papillae. A covering of any kind of hair on a plant is an indumentum, and the surface bearing them is said to be pubescent. Algal trichomes Certain, usually filamentous, algae have the terminal cell produced into an elongate hair-like structure called a trichome. The same term is applied to such structures in some cyanobacteria, such as '' Spirulina'' and ''Oscillatoria''. The trichomes of cyanobacteria may be unsheathed, as in ''Oscillatoria'', or sheathed, as in ''Calothrix''. These structures play an important role in preventing soil erosion, particularly in cold desert climates. The filamentous sheaths form a persistent sticky network that helps maintain soil structure. Plant trichomes Plant trichomes have many different features that vary between both species of plants an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Atta (genus)
''Atta'' is a genus of New World ants of the subfamily Myrmicinae. It contains at least 17 known species. ''Atta'' leaf-cutter ants are relatively large, rusty red or brown in colour, and have a spiny body and long legs. The three main castes within a nest are the queen, worker, and soldier. Only the queens and males have wings (alate), and these ants are also known as reproductives or swarmers. Although most of the ants in the nest are female, only the queens produce eggs. Queens are usually over long. Overview Ants of the genus ''Atta'' are leafcutter ants that comprise one of the two genera of leafcutting ants within the tribe Attini, along with ''Acromyrmex''. They have no sting, thus inject no venom, although they are known as strong biters. ''Atta'' spp. exhibit a high degree of polymorphism, with four castes being present in established colonies: minims (or garden ants), minors, mediae, and majors (also called soldiers or dinergates). Their immature development underg ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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