|
Overwintering
Overwintering is the process by which some organisms pass through or wait out the winter season, or pass through that period of the year when "winter" conditions (cold or sub-zero temperatures, ice, snow, limited food supplies) make normal activity or even survival difficult or near impossible. In some cases "winter" is characterized not necessarily by cold but by dry conditions; passing through such periods could likewise be called overwintering. Hibernation and migration are the two major ways in which overwintering is accomplished. Animals may also go into a state of reduced physiological activity known as torpor. Overwintering occurs in several classes of lifeform. Insects In entomology, overwintering is how an insect passes the winter season. Many insects overwinter as adults, pupae, or eggs. This can be done inside buildings, under tree bark, or beneath fallen leaves or other plant matter on the ground, among other places. All such overwintering sites shield the insect fr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Monarch Butterfly
The monarch butterfly or simply monarch (''Danaus plexippus'') is a milkweed butterfly (subfamily Danainae) in the family Nymphalidae. Other common names, depending on region, include milkweed, common tiger, wanderer, and black-veined brown. It is amongst the most familiar of North American butterflies and an iconic pollinator, although it is not an especially effective pollinator of milkweeds. Its wings feature an easily recognizable black, orange, and white pattern, with a wingspan of . A Müllerian mimic, the viceroy butterfly, is similar in color and pattern, but is markedly smaller and has an extra black stripe across each hindwing. The eastern North American monarch population is notable for its annual southward late-summer/autumn instinctive migration from the northern and central United States and southern Canada to Florida and Mexico. During the fall migration, monarchs cover thousands of miles, with a corresponding multigenerational return north in spring. The western ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Large White
''Pieris brassicae'', the large white, also called cabbage butterfly, cabbage white, cabbage moth (erroneously), or in India the large cabbage white, is a butterfly in the family Pieridae. It is a close relative of the small white, ''Pieris rapae''. The large white is common throughout Europe, North Africa and Asia. Distribution The large white is common throughout Europe, north Africa, and Asia to the Himalayas often in agricultural areas, meadows and parkland. It has managed to establish a population in South Africa and in 1995 it was predicted to spread to Australia and New Zealand. The large white is a strong flier and the British population is reinforced in most years by migrations from the continent. Scattered reports of the large white from the north-eastern United States (New York, Rhode Island and Maine) over the past century are of a dubious nature and indicate either accidental transport or intentional release. Such introductions threaten to establish this agric ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gonepteryx Rhamni
''Gonepteryx rhamni'' (known as the common brimstone) is a butterfly of the family Pieridae. It lives throughout the Palearctic zone and is commonly found across Europe, Asia, and North Africa. Across much of its range, it is the only species of its genus, and is therefore simply known locally as the brimstone. Its wing span size is 60 - 74 mm. The brimstone relies on two species of buckthorn plants as host plants for its larvae; this influences its geographic range and distribution, as these plants are commonly found in wetlands. The adult brimstone travels to woodland areas to spend seven months overwintering. In spring when their host plants have developed, they return to the wetlands to breed and lay eggs. Both the larval and adult forms of the common brimstone have protective coloration and behaviour that decreases their chances of being recognised and subsequently preyed upon. The adult common brimstone has sexual dimorphism in its wing coloration: males have yellow win ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lasioglossum Hemichalceum
''Lasioglossum hemichalceum'', which has sometimes been confused with '' L. erythrurum,'' is a sweat bee endemic to Australia. Large numbers of unrelated females will typically share a single nest, a behavior referred to as "communal". Nests are constructed underground by the independent efforts of the females. ''L. hemichalceum'' will typically begin creating new colonies during the summer, with brood production from late November through the first few months of spring. Members of this species do not demonstrate aggressive behavior towards one another. As the size of the colony increases, the reproductive potential of each female does not change, unlike many species of bees. Taxonomy and phylogeny ''Lasioglossum hemichalceum'' is part of the genus ''Lasioglossum, subgenus ''Chilalictus''.'' Other species within this genus include ''Lasioglossum malachurum'', '' Lasioglossum zephyrus'' and '' Lasioglossum clarum''. ''Lasioglossum'' species which occupy parts of Africa and centr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hibernation
Hibernation is a state of minimal activity and metabolic depression undergone by some animal species. Hibernation is a seasonal heterothermy characterized by low body-temperature, slow breathing and heart-rate, and low metabolic rate. It most commonly occurs during winter months. Although traditionally reserved for "deep" hibernators such as rodents, the term has been redefined to include animals such as bears and is now applied based on active metabolic suppression rather than any absolute decline in body temperature. Many experts believe that the processes of daily torpor and hibernation form a continuum and utilise similar mechanisms. The equivalent during the summer months is aestivation. Hibernation functions to conserve energy when sufficient food is not available. To achieve this energy saving, an endothermic animal decreases its metabolic rate and thereby its body temperature. Hibernation may last days, weeks, or months—depending on the species, ambient temperature ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Forest Tent Caterpillar Moth
The forest tent caterpillar moth (''Malacosoma disstria'') is a moth found throughout North America, especially in the eastern regions. Unlike related tent caterpillar species, the larvae of forest tent caterpillars do not make tents, but rather, weave a silky sheet where they lie together during molting. They also lay down strands of silk as they move over branches and travel as groups along these pheromone-containing silk trails. The caterpillars are social, traveling together to feed and massing as a group at rest. Group behavior diminishes as the caterpillars increase in size, so that by the fifth instar (molt) the caterpillars are feeding and resting independently.Forest tent caterpillars, University of Florida James R. Meeker, Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Servi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plant Pathology
Plant pathology (also phytopathology) is the scientific study of diseases in plants caused by pathogens (infectious organisms) and environmental conditions (physiological factors). Organisms that cause infectious disease include fungus, fungi, oomycetes, bacterium, bacteria, plant virus, viruses, viroids, virus-like organisms, phytoplasmas, protozoa, nematodes and parasitic plants. Not included are ectoparasites like insects, mites, vertebrate, or other Plant defense against herbivory, pests that affect plant health by eating Plant tissue, plant tissues. Plant pathology also involves the study of pathogen identification, disease etiology, disease cycles, economic impact, plant disease epidemiology, plant disease resistance, how plant diseases affect humans and animals, pathosystem genetics, and management of plant diseases. Overview Control of plant diseases is crucial to the reliable production of food, and it provides significant problems in agricultural use of land, wat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plant
Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclude the fungi and some algae, as well as the prokaryotes (the archaea and bacteria). By one definition, plants form the clade Viridiplantae (Latin name for "green plants") which is sister of the Glaucophyta, and consists of the green algae and Embryophyta (land plants). The latter includes the flowering plants, conifers and other gymnosperms, ferns and their allies, hornworts, liverworts, and mosses. Most plants are multicellular organisms. Green plants obtain most of their energy from sunlight via photosynthesis by primary chloroplasts that are derived from endosymbiosis with cyanobacteria. Their chloroplasts contain chlorophylls a and b, which gives them their green color. Some plants are parasitic or mycotrophic and have lost the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Corvids
Corvidae is a cosmopolitan family of oscine passerine birds that contains the crows, ravens, rooks, jackdaws, jays, magpies, treepies, choughs, and nutcrackers. In colloquial English, they are known as the crow family or corvids. Currently, 133 species are included in this family. The genus ''Corvus'', including the crows, rooks, and ravens, makes up over a third of the entire family. Corvids (ravens) are the largest passerines. Corvids display remarkable intelligence for animals of their size, and are among the most intelligent birds thus far studied. Specifically, members of the family have demonstrated self-awareness in mirror tests (European magpies) and tool-making ability (e.g. crows and rooks), skills which until recently were thought to be possessed only by humans and a few other higher mammals. Their total brain-to-body mass ratio is equal to that of non-human great apes and cetaceans, and only slightly lower than that of humans.Birding in India and South AsiaCorvidae ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bombus Vosnesenskii
''Bombus vosnesenskii'', the yellow-faced bumblebee, is a species of bumblebee native to the west coast of North America, where it is distributed from British Columbia to Baja California. It is the most abundant species of bee in this range, and can be found in both urban and agricultural areas. Additionally, ''B. vosnesenskii'' is utilized as an important pollinator in commercial agriculture, especially for greenhouse tomatoes. Though the species is not currently experiencing population decline, urbanization has affected its nesting densities, and early emergence of the ''B. vosnesenskii'' has been implicated in the increasing lack of bee diversity on the West coast. Taxonomy and phylogeny The genus name ''Bombus'' – the bumblebee – comes from the Latin word which means a buzzing or humming sound. There are 250 species split into 38 subgenera within the genus ''Bombus''. These subgroups share similar morphologies, despite their varied habitats and behavioral patterns. Howe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Golden-crowned Kinglet
The golden-crowned kinglet (''Regulus satrapa'') is a very small songbird in the family Regulidae that lives throughout much of North America. Description Adults are olive-gray on the upperparts with white underparts, with thin bills and short tails. They have white wing bars, a black stripe through the eyes and a yellow crown surrounded by black. The adult male has an orange patch in the middle of the yellow crown. The juvenile is similar to the adult, but with a browner back and without the yellow crown. This is one of the smallest passerines in North America. Its length, at , is probably the shortest of any American passerine. However, its weight, which averages around , with a range of , is marginally more on average than the American bushtit and black-tailed gnatcatcher. The golden-crowned kinglet has a wingspan of 5.5-7.1 in (14-18 cm). Ecology The golden-crowned kinglet forages actively in trees or shrubs, mainly eating insects, insect eggs and spiders. It produces a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Black-capped Chickadees
The black-capped chickadee (''Poecile atricapillus'') is a small, non-migratory, North American songbird that lives in deciduous and mixed forests. It is a passerine bird in the tit family, the Paridae. It is the state bird of Massachusetts and Maine in the United States, and the provincial bird of New Brunswick in Canada. It is well known for its ability to lower its body temperature during cold winter nights, its good spatial memory to relocate the caches where it stores food, and its boldness near humans (sometimes feeding from the hand). Taxonomy In 1760, French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson included a description of the black-capped chickadee in his ''Ornithologie'' based on a specimen collected in Canada. He used the French name and the Latin ''Parus Canadensis Atricapillus''. The two stars (**) at the start of the section indicates that Brisson based his description on the examination of a specimen. Although Brisson coined Latin names, these do not conform to the bi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
.jpg "Click for more on -> Large White")
.jpeg "Click for more on -> Lasioglossum Hemichalceum")
.jpg "Click for more on -> Bombus Vosnesenskii")
