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Mānuka
''Leptospermum scoparium'', commonly called mānuka, () mānuka myrtle, New Zealand teatree, broom tea-tree, or just tea tree, is a species of flowering plant in the myrtle family Myrtaceae, native to New Zealand (including the Chatham Islands) and south-east Australia. Its nectar produces Mānuka honey. Description Mānuka is a prolific shrub-type tree and is often one of the first species to regenerate on cleared land. It is typically a shrub growing to tall, but can grow into a moderately sized tree, up to or so in height. It is evergreen, with dense branching and small leaves long and broad, with a short spine tip. The flowers are white, occasionally pink, – rarely up to – in diameter, with five petals. The wood is tough and hard. Mānuka is often confused with the related species kānuka (''Kunzea ericoides'') – the easiest way to tell the difference between the two species in the field is to feel their foliage – mānuka leaves are prickly, while kānuka lea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pyronota Festiva
''Pyronota festiva'', commonly known as mānuka beetle or mānuka chafer, is a member of the genus '' Pyronota'' of the beetle family Scarabaeidae (order Coleoptera). It is a scarab beetle endemic to New Zealand, and is commonly found in mānuka trees (''Leptospermum scoparium''), hence the beetle's name. In some areas it is considered a pasture pest. Description The mānuka beetle is bright green with shades of blue and yellow on areas of its back. Its dark longitudinal stripe down the back of its hard wing case is often brown or yellow. It can vary in length between 3 and 25mm in length, but the most common is 9mm. They are a part of the superfamily Scarabaeoidea and are characterized for their modified prothorax and have a large coxae. Their antennae is a lamellate antennal club and has a head with anterior margins which are either semicircular or emarginate mesocoxae, strongly oblique. The mānuka beetle is a part of the subfamily Melolonthinaes, which is characterized by its ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mānuka Honey
Mānuka honey () is a monofloral honey produced from the nectar of the mānuka tree, ''Leptospermum scoparium''. The mānuka tree is indigenous to New Zealand and some parts of coastal Australia, but is today produced globally. Used as a sugar substitute, it has a strong, earthy aroma and flavour. There is little clinical evidence for its use as a topical medication. The word ''mānuka'' is the Māori name of the tree; however, as with many Māori words, the older spelling ''manuka'' (without a macron) remains relatively common in English. Identification Mānuka honey is produced by European honey bees (''Apis mellifera'') foraging on the mānuka (''Leptospermum scoparium''), which evidence suggests originated in Australia before the onset of the Miocene aridity. It grows uncultivated throughout both southeastern Australia and New Zealand. Mānuka honey is markedly viscous. This property is due to the presence of a protein or colloid and is its main visually defining charact ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kunzea Ericoides
''Kunzea ericoides'', commonly known as kānuka, kanuka, white tea-tree or burgan, is a tree or shrub in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to New Zealand. It has white or pink flowers similar to those of ''Leptospermum'' and from its first formal description in 1832 until 1983 was known as ''Leptospermum ericoides''. The flowers have five petals and up to 25 stamens which are mostly longer than the petals. Description ''Kunzea ericoides'' is a spreading shrub or tree, sometimes growing to a height of with bark which peels in long strips and young branches which tend to droop. The leaves are variable in shape from linear to narrow elliptic or lance-shaped, long and wide with a petiole up to long. The flowers are white or pale pink, crowded on side branches or in the axils of upper leaves. The floral cup is covered with soft, downy hairs and is on a pedicel long. There are five triangular sepals about long and five petals about long. There are up to 25 stamens w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Johann Reinhold Forster
Johann Reinhold Forster (22 October 1729 – 9 December 1798) was a German Continental Reformed church, Reformed (Calvinist) pastor and natural history, naturalist of partially Scottish descent who made contributions to the early ornithology of Europe and North America. He is best known as the naturalist on James Cook's Second voyage of James Cook, second Pacific voyage, where he was accompanied by his son Georg Forster. These expeditions promoted the career of Johann Reinhold Forster and the findings became the bedrock of colonial professionalism and helped set the stage for the future development of anthropology and ethnology. They also laid the framework for general concern about the impact that alteration of the physical environment for European economic expansion would have on exotic societies. Biography Forster's family originated in the Lord Forrester, Lords Forrester in Scotland from where his great-grandfather had emigrated after losing most of his property during the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Biological Dispersal
Biological dispersal refers to both the movement of individuals (animals, plants, fungi, bacteria, etc.) from their birth site to their breeding site ('natal dispersal'), as well as the movement from one breeding site to another ('breeding dispersal'). Dispersal is also used to describe the movement of propagules such as seeds and spores. Technically, dispersal is defined as any movement that has the potential to lead to gene flow. The act of dispersal involves three phases: departure, transfer, settlement and there are different fitness costs and benefits associated with each of these phases. Through simply moving from one habitat patch to another, the dispersal of an individual has consequences not only for individual fitness, but also for population dynamics, population genetics, and species distribution. Understanding dispersal and the consequences both for evolutionary strategies at a species level, and for processes at an ecosystem level, requires understanding on th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pinene
Pinene is a collection of unsaturated bicyclic monoterpenes. Two geometric isomers of pinene are found in nature, α-pinene and β-pinene. Both are chiral. As the name suggests, pinenes are found in pines. Specifically, pinene is the major component of the liquid extracts of conifers. Pinenes are also found in many non-coniferous plants such as camphorweed (''Heterotheca'') and big sagebrush (''Artemisia tridentata''). Isomers Biosynthesis α-Pinene and β-pinene are both produced from geranyl pyrophosphate, via cyclisation of linaloyl pyrophosphate followed by loss of a proton from the carbocation equivalent. Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology and the Joint BioEnergy Institute have been able to synthetically produce pinene with a bacterium. Plants Alpha-pinene is the most widely encountered terpenoid in nature and is highly repellent to insects. Alpha-pinene appears in conifers and numerous other plants. Pinene is a major component of the essential oil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Monoterpene
Monoterpenes are a class of terpenes that consist of two isoprene units and have the molecular formula C10H16. Monoterpenes may be linear (acyclic) or contain rings (monocyclic and bicyclic). Modified terpenes, such as those containing oxygen functionality or missing a methyl group, are called monoterpenoids. Monoterpenes and monoterpenoids are diverse. They have relevance to the pharmaceutical, cosmetic, agricultural, and food industries. Biosynthesis Monoterpenes are derived biosynthetically from units of isopentenyl pyrophosphate, which is formed from acetyl-CoA via the intermediacy of mevalonic acid in the HMG-CoA reductase pathway. An alternative, unrelated biosynthesis pathway of IPP is known in some bacterial groups and the plastids of plants, the so-called MEP-(2-methyl-D-erythritol-4-phosphate) pathway, which is initiated from C5 sugars. In both pathways, IPP is isomerized to DMAPP by the enzyme isopentenyl pyrophosphate isomerase. Geranyl pyrophosphate is the precurso ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eucalyptol
Eucalyptol is a monoterpenoid. A colorless liquid, it is a bicyclic ether. Eucalyptol has a fresh mint-like smell and a spicy, cooling taste. It is insoluble in water, but miscible with organic solvents. Eucalyptol makes up ~70% - 90% of eucalyptus oil. Eucalyptol forms crystalline adducts with hydrohalic acids, ''o''-cresol, resorcinol, and phosphoric acid. Formation of these adducts is useful for purification. In 1870, F. S. Cloez identified and ascribed the name "eucalyptol" to the dominant portion of ''Eucalyptus globulus'' oil. Uses Because of its pleasant, spicy aroma and taste, eucalyptol is used in flavorings, fragrances, and cosmetics. Cineole-based eucalyptus oil is used as a flavouring at low levels (0.002%) in various products, including baked goods, confectionery, meat products, and beverages. In a 1994 report released by five top cigarette companies, eucalyptol was listed as one of the 599 additives to cigarettes. It is claimed to be added to improve the f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Honey Bee
A honey bee (also spelled honeybee) is a eusocial flying insect within the genus ''Apis'' of the bee clade, all native to Afro-Eurasia. After bees spread naturally throughout Africa and Eurasia, humans became responsible for the current cosmopolitan distribution of honey bees, introducing multiple subspecies into South America (early 16th century), North America (early 17th century), and Australia (early 19th century). Honey bees are known for their construction of perennial colonial nests from wax, the large size of their colonies, and surplus production and storage of honey, distinguishing their hives as a prized foraging target of many animals, including honey badgers, bears and human hunter-gatherers. Only eight surviving species of honey bee are recognized, with a total of 43 subspecies, though historically 7 to 11 species are recognized. Honey bees represent only a small fraction of the roughly 20,000 known species of bees. The best known honey bee is the weste ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hylaeus (bee)
''Hylaeus'' is a large (over 500 species) and diverse cosmopolitan genus within the bee family Colletidae. This genus is also known as the yellow-faced bees or masked bees. This genus is the only truly globally distributed colletid, occurring on all continents except Antarctica. Description The genus of bees consists of generally small, black and yellow/white wasp-like species. The resemblance to wasps is enhanced by the absence of a scopa, which is atypical among bees. The body form of this genus is described as hylaeiform - slender, the hairs inconspicuous without magnification; scopa inconspicuous or absent. Males have an intermediate glossal shape with a small to distinct median apical glossal point. ''Hylaeus'' carry pollen in the crop, rather than externally, and regurgitate it into the cell where it will be used as larval food. Like most colletids, the liquid provisions are sealed inside a membranous cellophane-like cell lining. Nests are typically in dead twigs or plan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Melangyna Novaezelandiae
''Melangyna novaezelandiae'' (commonly referred to as the "large hoverfly") is a hoverfly endemic to New Zealand.Parkinson, Brian (2007). ''A Photographic Guide To The Insects Of New Zealand''. New Holland Publishers (NZ) Ltd. . It is a generalized pollinator of a large range of plants that are both native and exotic to the New Zealand flora. ''M. novaezelandiae'' is widespread throughout New Zealand, including in agricultural environments. The larvae of this species feeds on other arthropods and may have uses as a biocontrol agent. Taxonomy This species was first described in 1849 as ''Syrphus ortas'' by F. Walker. It was described again in 1855 by Pierre-Justin-Marie Macquart as ''Syrphus novaezelandiae''. In 1875, it was described yet again as ''Syrphus rectus'' by M. S. Nowicki. In 1969, it was transferred from the genus ''Syrphus'' to ''Melangyna'', and placed in the newly erected subgenus '' Austrosyrphus''. It is sometimes referred to as ''Melangyna novaezealandiae'' alth ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
History Of New Zealand
The history of New Zealand ( Aotearoa) dates back to between 1320 and 1350 CE, when the main settlement period started, after it was discovered and settled by Polynesians, who developed a distinct Māori culture. Like other Pacific cultures, Māori society was centred on kinship links and connection with the land but, unlike them, it was adapted to a cool, temperate environment rather than a warm, tropical one. The first European explorer known to visit New Zealand was Dutch navigator Abel Tasman on 13 December 1642. In 1643 he charted the west coast of the North Island, his expedition then sailed back to Batavia without setting foot on New Zealand soil. British explorer James Cook, who reached New Zealand in October 1769 on the first of his three voyages, was the first European to circumnavigate and map New Zealand. From the late 18th century, the country was regularly visited by explorers and other sailors, missionaries, traders and adventurers. In 1840 the Treaty of Waitangi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
