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Varroa Mites
''Varroa destructor'', the ''Varroa'' mite is an external parasitic mite that attacks and feeds on the honey bees ''Apis cerana'' and ''Apis mellifera''. The disease caused by the mites is called varroosis. The ''Varroa'' mite can reproduce only in a honey bee colony. It attaches to the body of the bee and weakens the bee by sucking fat bodies. The species is a vector for at least five debilitating bee viruses, including RNA viruses such as the deformed wing virus (DWV). A significant mite infestation leads to the death of a honey bee colony, usually in the late autumn through early spring. The ''Varroa'' mite is the parasite with possibly the most pronounced economic impact on the beekeeping industry. ''Varroa'' is considered to be one of multiple stress factors contributing to the higher levels of bee losses around the world. Physical description File:Varroa destructor protonymph (5048063601).jpg, ''V. destructor'' protonymph File:Varroa destructor deutonymph.jpg, Deutonymph ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ectoparasite
Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The entomologist E. O. Wilson has characterised parasites as "predators that eat prey in units of less than one". Parasites include single-celled protozoans such as the agents of malaria, sleeping sickness, and amoebic dysentery; animals such as hookworms, lice, mosquitoes, and vampire bats; fungi such as honey fungus and the agents of ringworm; and plants such as mistletoe, dodder, and the broomrapes. There are six major parasitic strategies of exploitation of animal hosts, namely parasitic castration, directly transmitted parasitism (by contact), trophicallytransmitted parasitism (by being eaten), vector-transmitted parasitism, parasitoidism, and micropredation. One major axis of classification concerns invasiveness: an endoparasite lives inside the host's body; ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Population Dynamics
Population dynamics is the type of mathematics used to model and study the size and age composition of populations as dynamical systems. History Population dynamics has traditionally been the dominant branch of mathematical biology, which has a history of more than 220 years,Malthus, Thomas Robert. An Essay on the Principle of Population: Library of Economics although over the last century the scope of mathematical biology has greatly expanded. The beginning of population dynamics is widely regarded as the work of Malthus, formulated as the Malthusian growth model. According to Malthus, assuming that the conditions (the environment) remain constant ('' ceteris paribus''), a population will grow (or decline) exponentially. This principle provided the basis for the subsequent predictive theories, such as the demographic studies such as the work of Benjamin Gompertz and Pierre François Verhulst in the early 19th century, who refined and adjusted the Malthusian demographic model. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Varroa On Larvae
''Varroa'' is a genus of parasitic mesostigmatan mites associated with honey bees, placed in its own family, Varroidae. The genus was named for Marcus Terentius Varro, a Roman scholar and beekeeper. The condition of a honeybee colony being infested with ''Varroa'' mites is called varroosis (also, incorrectly, varroatosis). ''Varroa'' mites, specifically the species ''Varroa destructor'', are recognised as the biggest pest to honeybees worldwide due to their ability to transmit diseases such as deformed wing virus (or DWV) to larval or pupating bees, resulting in death or severe deformity of the pupae. History and behavior ''Varroa'' mites feed off the fat body tissue of adult, pupal, and larval honey bees, and may carry viruses that are particularly damaging to the bees (e.g., deformed wings, and IAPV), and accordingly they have been implicated in colony collapse disorder. Research has indicated that alone, neither ''Varroa'' mites nor deformed wing virus are particularly de ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phoresy
Phoresis or phoresy is a non-permanent, Commensalism, commensalistic interaction in which one organism (a phoront or phoretic) attaches itself to another (the host) solely for the purpose of travel. Phoresis has been observed directly in Acari, ticks and mites since the 18th century, and indirectly in fossils 320 million years old. It is not restricted to arthropods or animals; plants with seeds that disperse by attaching themselves to animals are also considered to be phoretic. ''Phoresis'' is rooted in the Greek words ''phoras'' (bearing) and ''phor'' (thief). The term, originally defined in 1896 as a relationship in which the host acts as a vehicle for its passenger, clashed with other terminology being developed at the time, so constraints on the length of time, feeding and ontogeny are now considered. Phoresis is used as a strategy for Biological dispersal, dispersal, Migration (ecology), seasonal migration, transport to new host/habitat escaping ephemeral habitats, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flower-fly
Hover flies, also called flower flies or syrphid flies, make up the insect family Syrphidae. As their common name suggests, they are often seen hovering or nectaring at flowers; the adults of many species feed mainly on nectar and pollen, while the larvae (maggots) eat a wide range of foods. In some species, the larvae are saprotrophs, eating decaying plant and animal matter in the soil or in ponds and streams. In other species, the larvae are insectivores and prey on aphids, thrips, and other plant-sucking insects. Insects such as aphids are considered a crop pest, and therefore the aphid-eating larvae of some hover flies serve as an economically (as well as ecologically) important predator and even potential agents for use in biological control, while the adults may be pollinators. About 6,000 species in 200 genera have been described. Hover flies are common throughout the world and can be found on all continents except Antarctica. Hover flies are harmless to most mammals, th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phanaeus Vindex
''Phanaeus vindex'', the rainbow scarab, is a North American dung beetle, found from the eastern US to Arizona and Mexico. The head is a metallic yellow color, and males have a black horn which curves backward toward the thorax. Both sexes have yellow antennae which can retract into a ball on the underside of the head. The thorax is a shiny coppery color, with yellow or green on the sides. The abdomen is metallic green. The underbelly is black and green. The beetles are about 1–2.2 cm long. Males and females work in pairs to dig burrows beneath animal excrement. They move some of the excrement down into the tunnel, where the female lays her eggs in it. The grubs feed on the excrement for several instars until pupating. This species, like other dung beetles, is not a pest, and plays an important role in reducing waste in the environment. References {{Reflist vindex Gaius Julius Vindex (c. AD 2568) was a Roman governor in the province of Gallia Lugdunensis. He was o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scarabaeidae
The family Scarabaeidae, as currently defined, consists of over 30,000 species of beetles worldwide; they are often called scarabs or scarab beetles. The classification of this family has undergone significant change in recent years. Several subfamilies have been elevated to family rank (e.g., Bolboceratidae, Geotrupidae, Glaresidae, Glaphyridae, Hybosoridae, Ochodaeidae, and Pleocomidae), and some reduced to lower ranks. The subfamilies listed in this article are in accordance with those in Bouchard (2011). Description Scarabs are stout-bodied beetles, many with bright metallic colours, measuring between . They have distinctive, clubbed antennae composed of plates called lamellae that can be compressed into a ball or fanned out like leaves to sense odours. Many species are fossorial, with legs adapted for digging. In some groups males (and sometimes females) have prominent horns on the head and/or pronotum to fight over mates or resources. The largest fossil scaraba ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bombus Pensylvanicus
''Bombus pensylvanicus'', the American bumblebee, is a threatened species of bumblebee native to North America. It occurs in eastern Canada, throughout much of the Eastern United States, and much of Mexico.Hatfield, R., et al. 2015''Bombus pensylvanicus''.The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 09 March 2016. Once the most prevalent bumblebee in the southern United States, populations of ''Bombus pensylvanicus'' have decreased significantly in recent years, including in its scientific namesake state of Pennsylvania where its numbers are considered critically low. Overall, the population has dropped nearly 90% in just the last 20 years. ''Bombus pensylvanicus'' tends to live and nest in open farmland and fields. It feeds on several food plants, favoring sunflowers and clovers, and functions as a pollinator. Taxonomy and phylogenetics ''Bombus pensylvanicus'' belongs to the order Hymenoptera (consisting of ants, wasps, bees, and sawflies), the family Apidae (consist ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bumblebee
A bumblebee (or bumble bee, bumble-bee, or humble-bee) is any of over 250 species in the genus ''Bombus'', part of Apidae, one of the bee families. This genus is the only extant group in the tribe Bombini, though a few extinct related genera (e.g., ''Calyptapis'') are known from fossils. They are found primarily in higher altitudes or latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere, although they are also found in South America, where a few lowland tropical species have been identified. European bumblebees have also been introduced to New Zealand and Tasmania. Female bumblebees can sting repeatedly, but generally ignore humans and other animals. Most bumblebees are social insects that form colonies with a single queen. The colonies are smaller than those of honey bees, growing to as few as 50 individuals in a nest. Cuckoo bumblebees are brood parasitic and do not make nests or form colonies; their queens aggressively invade the nests of other bumblebee species, kill the resident queen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vespula Vulgaris
''Vespula vulgaris'', known as the Common wasp, is a species found in regions that include the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, India, China, New Zealand and Australia. It is sometimes known in English as the European wasp, but the same name is used for the species ''Vespula germanica'' or German wasp. In 2010, the ostensible ''Vespula vulgaris'' wasps in North America were found to be a different species, ''Vespula alascensis''. Basic features ''Vespula vulgaris'' is a eusocial vespid that builds its tan paper nest in or on a structure capable of supporting it. A founding queen searches for a hollow tree, wall cavity, rock crevice, or even a mammal-made hole to build a nest. One colony cycle lasts for about 6–11 months and each colony cycle produces around 3000–8000 larvae. The extraordinary adaptation skills of ''V. vulgaris'' enable it to live in a wide range of habitats, from very humid areas to artificial environments such as gardens and human structures. This species, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
