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Seaweed Fly
Kelp fly is one common name of species of flies in a number of families of "true flies" or Diptera. They generally feed on stranded and rotting seaweed, particularly kelp in the wrack zone. When conditions are suitable they are very numerous and may be ecologically important in the turnover of organic material on the coast.Griffiths C. L.,Stenton-Dozey J. M. E.,Koop K.,1983, Kelp wrack and energy flow through a sandy beach. Sandy beaches as ecosystems, A. McLachlan & T. Erasmus (eds.), W. Junk,The Hague,547–556 In this role they also may be an important item in the diet of beach-dwelling animals and birds. The flies most generally referred to as kelp flies are the widely distributed Coelopidae, such as ''Coelopa pilipes''. In popular speech however, they are not clearly distinguished from other flies with similar feeding habits, such as the Heterocheilidae, the Helcomyzinae and sundry members of the Anthomyiidae The Anthomyiidae are a large and diverse family of Muscoidea f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sanderling (Calidris Alba) - Geograph
The sanderling (''Calidris alba'') is a small wading bird. The name derives from Old English ''sand-yrðling'', "sand-ploughman". The genus name is from Ancient Greek ''kalidris'' or ''skalidris'', a term used by Aristotle for some grey-coloured waterside birds. The specific, ''alba'', is Latin for "white". It is a circumpolar Arctic breeder, and is a long-distance migrant, wintering south to South America, South Europe, Africa, and Australia. It is highly gregarious in winter, sometimes forming large flocks on coastal mudflats or sandy beaches. It is somewhat unlike other sandpipers in appearance, which has led to the suggestion that it should be placed into a monotypic genus ''Crocethia''. A more recent review (Thomas ''et al.'', 2004) indicates, however, that the sanderling is a fairly typical "stint" or small sandpiper and should be separated from the large knots with its closest relatives in a distinct genus. This bird is similar in size to a dunlin, but stouter, with a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Taxonomic Rank
In biological classification, taxonomic rank is the relative level of a group of organisms (a taxon) in an ancestral or hereditary hierarchy. A common system consists of species, genus, family (biology), family, order (biology), order, class (biology), class, phylum (biology), phylum, kingdom (biology), kingdom, domain (biology), domain. While older approaches to taxonomic classification were phenomenological, forming groups on the basis of similarities in appearance, organic structure and behaviour, methods based on genetic analysis have opened the road to cladistics. A given rank subsumes under it less general categories, that is, more specific descriptions of life forms. Above it, each rank is classified within more general categories of organisms and groups of organisms related to each other through inheritance of phenotypic trait, traits or features from common ancestors. The rank of any ''species'' and the description of its ''genus'' is ''basic''; which means that to iden ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Seaweed
Seaweed, or macroalgae, refers to thousands of species of macroscopic, multicellular, marine algae. The term includes some types of '' Rhodophyta'' (red), ''Phaeophyta'' (brown) and ''Chlorophyta'' (green) macroalgae. Seaweed species such as kelps provide essential nursery habitat for fisheries and other marine species and thus protect food sources; other species, such as planktonic algae, play a vital role in capturing carbon, producing at least 50% of Earth's oxygen. Natural seaweed ecosystems are sometimes under threat from human activity. For example, mechanical dredging of kelp destroys the resource and dependent fisheries. Other forces also threaten some seaweed ecosystems; a wasting disease in predators of purple urchins has led to a urchin population surge which destroyed large kelp forest regions off the coast of California. Humans have a long history of cultivating seaweeds for their uses. In recent years, seaweed farming has become a global agricultural practic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kelp
Kelps are large brown algae seaweeds that make up the order Laminariales. There are about 30 different genera. Despite its appearance, kelp is not a plant - it is a heterokont, a completely unrelated group of organisms. Kelp grows in "underwater forests" (kelp forests) in shallow oceans, and is thought to have appeared in the Miocene, 5 to 23 million years ago. The organisms require nutrient-rich water with temperatures between . They are known for their high growth rate—the genera ''Macrocystis'' and '' Nereocystis'' can grow as fast as half a metre a day, ultimately reaching .Thomas, D. 2002. ''Seaweeds.'' The Natural History Museum, London, p. 15. Through the 19th century, the word "kelp" was closely associated with seaweeds that could be burned to obtain soda ash (primarily sodium carbonate). The seaweeds used included species from both the orders Laminariales and Fucales. The word "kelp" was also used directly to refer to these processed ashes. Description In most kelp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wrack Zone
The wrack zone or wrack line is a coastal feature where organic material (e.g. kelp, seagrass, shells) and other debris is deposited at high tide. This zone acts as a natural input of marine resources into a terrestrial system, providing food and habitat for a variety of coastal organisms. Physical characteristics The wrack zone is most commonly associated with a sandy beach habitat but can also be present in rocky shores, mangroves, salt marshes, and other coastal systems. Debris is carried up the intertidal zone as the tide comes in, and is deposited on the sand when the tide goes out. The zone can be recognized as a linear patch of debris toward the upper part of a beach running parallel to the water's edge. The location of the wrack zone varies geographically and temporally. It is found at a higher elevation during spring tides compared to neap tides. The size of a beach and its intertidal zone will influence the location of wrack deposition. Additionally, storms will often ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coelopidae
The Coelopidae or kelp flies are a family of Acalyptratae flies (order Diptera), they are sometimes also called seaweed flies, though both terms are used for a number of seashore Diptera. Fewer than 40 species occur worldwide. The family is found in temperate areas, with species occurring in the southern Afrotropical, Holarctic, and Australasian (which has the most species) regions. Family characteristics Coelopids are small to medium-sized (, usually ), robust flies, predominantly with a flat body and darkly coloured. Coelopidae species are usually densely bristly or hairy. Their eyes are small. The arista is bare to pubescent. Ocelli and ocellar bristles are present. The postvertical bristles are parallel or converge. The two pairs of frontal bristles curve outward and scattered interfrontal setulae are present. Vibrissae are absent, but strong bristles occur near the vibrissal angle. The mesonotum is flat and the prothorax is separated from the propleuron by a membrane. T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coelopa Pilipes
''Coelopa pilipes'' (common name kelp fly or seaweed fly) is a common European species of kelp fly. It was described by A. H. Haliday in 1838. Their appearance differs greatly from that of other ''Coelopa'' flies. ''C. pilipes'' are especially prevalent in European beaches. Year-round, these flies live in washed-up kelp on wrack zones of beaches before adulthood and consume the decaying kelp, mostly of the genera ''Laminaria'' and ''Fucus'' that have a great impact on the flies' survival. Female flies lay eggs in the decaying seaweed, and larvae mature in the warm, moist environment it provides. ''C. pilipes'' has significant sympatry with '' C. frigida''; the two flies are often studied together due to their overlapping habitats and distribution. Morphology In general, seaweed flies are dark-colored, small or medium-sized flies with hairs or bristles. Darker color makes the adults more distinguishable from other species, but larvae are less easily identified. Adult ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heterocheilidae
''Heterocheila'' is a genus of acalyptrate true flies (Diptera). They are placed in their own family, Heterocheilidae, in the superfamily Sciomyzoidea. They are not widely familiar outside entomological circles, but the common name "half-bridge flies" has been associated with them.McAlpine, D. K. 1991. Relationships of the genus Heterocheila (Diptera: Sciomyzoidea) with description of a new family. Tijdschr. Ent. 134: 193-199. [1991.12.18online/ref> They are medium-sized flies occurring mainly in temperate regions on seashores of the Northern Hemisphere, where they and their larvae typically feed on stranded kelp in the wrack zone. In this, they resemble Coelopidae, kelp flies, which are members of a different family, though the same superfamily. The family Heterocheilidae was established by McAlpine in 1991. He distinguished it from other families to which ''Heterocheila'' had hitherto been referred at various times and by various authorities – Helcomyzidae, Dryomyzidae and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Helcomyzidae
The Helcomyzidae are a small family of flies in the Acalyptratae. The larvae feed on kelp and other organic matter washed up on shorelines. Species diversity is highest in New Zealand and south temperate South America. They are sometimes allied with the families Dryomyzidae or Coelopidae. Classification *Genus: '' Helcomyza'' Curtis, 1825 :*'' Helcomyza mediterranea'' Loew, 1854 :*'' Helcomyza mirabilis'' Melander, 1920 :*'' Helcomyza ustulata'' Curtis, 1825 *Genus: '' Maorimyia'' Tonnoir & Malloch, 1928 :*'' Maorimyia bipunctata'' ( Hutton, 1901) *Genus: '' Paractora'' Bigot, 1888 :*'' Paractora angustata'' Malloch, 1933 :*'' Paractora antarctica'' (Thomson Thomson may refer to: Names * Thomson (surname), a list of people with this name and a description of its origin * Thomson baronets, four baronetcies created for persons with the surname Thomson Businesses and organizations * SGS-Thomson Mic ..., 1869) :*'' Paractora asymmetrica'' ( Enderlein, 1930) :*'' Paractora ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anthomyiidae
The Anthomyiidae are a large and diverse family of Muscoidea flies. Most look rather like small houseflies, but are commonly drab grey. The genus ''Anthomyia'', in contrast, is generally conspicuously patterned in black-and-white or black-and-silvery-grey. Most are difficult to identify, apart from a few groups such as the kelp flies that are conspicuous on beaches. The name Anthomyiidae was derived from Greek ''anthos'' (flower) plus ''myia'' (a fly). Some species are commonly called "root-maggots", as the larvae are found in the stems and roots of various plants. As larvae, some also feed on decaying plant material. The well-known grey "seaweed flies" or "kelp flies" (''Fucellia'') are examples. Others are scavengers in such places as birds' nests; yet other species are leaf miners; the family also includes inquilines, commensals, and parasitic larvae. Some species in the family are significant agricultural pests, particularly some from the genus '' Delia'', which includ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flies
Flies are insects of the order Diptera, the name being derived from the Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwings having evolved into advanced mechanosensory organs known as halteres, which act as high-speed sensors of rotational movement and allow dipterans to perform advanced aerobatics. Diptera is a large order containing an estimated 1,000,000 species including horse-flies, crane flies, hoverflies and others, although only about 125,000 species have been described. Flies have a mobile head, with a pair of large compound eyes, and mouthparts designed for piercing and sucking (mosquitoes, black flies and robber flies), or for lapping and sucking in the other groups. Their wing arrangement gives them great maneuverability in flight, and claws and pads on their feet enable them to cling to smooth surfaces. Flies undergo complete metamorphosis; the eggs are often laid on the la ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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