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Mutillidae
Velvet ants (Mutillidae) are a family of more than 7,000 species of wasps whose wingless females resemble large, hairy ants. Their common name velvet ant refers to their resemblance to an ant, and their dense pile of hair, which most often is bright scarlet or orange, but may also be black, white, silver, or gold. Their bright colors serve as aposematic signals. They are known for their extremely painful stings, (the sting of the species '' Dasymutilla klugii'' rated a 3 on the Schmidt pain index and lasts up to 30 minutes), and has resulted in the common name "cow killer" or "cow ant" being applied to the species '' Dasymutilla occidentalis.'' However, mutillids are not aggressive and sting only in defense. In addition, the actual toxicity of their venom is much lower than that of honey bees or harvester ants. Unlike true ants, they are solitary, and lack complex social systems. Distribution Mutillidae can be found worldwide with about 230 genera or subgenera and around 8,0 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dasymutilla Occidentalis
''Dasymutilla occidentalis'' (red velvet ant, eastern velvet ant, cow ant or cow killer) is a species of parasitoid wasp that ranges from Connecticut to Kansas in the north and Florida to Texas in the south. Adults are mostly seen in the summer months. The eastern velvet ant is the largest of the Mutillidae, velvet ant species in the eastern United States, attaining an approximate length of 0.75 in (1.9 cm). Adults display Aposematism, aposematic coloration, consisting of black overall coloring with an orange-red pattern on the dorsal surface of the thorax and abdomen. Characteristics and description Commonly mistaken for an ant because of its appearance and its common name, it is a parasitoid wasp species in which the females are wingless, as is true for all females of Mutillidae. It can be recognized by its distinctive coloring, black with bright red on the upper side of the head, thorax, and abdomen. They are quick-moving and often take a defensive posture when threatene ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dasymutilla
''Dasymutilla'' is a wasp genus belonging to the family Mutillidae. Their larvae are external parasites to various types of ground-nesting Hymenoptera. Most of the velvet ants in North Americathe wingless females of which are conspicuous as colorful, fast, and "fuzzy" bugsare in the genus ''Dasymutilla''. Selected species * ''D. albiceris'' * ''D. alesia'' * ''D. arachnoides'' * ''D. archboldi'' * ''D. arenivaga'' * ''D. asopus'' * ''D. aureola'' * ''D. bioculata'' * ''D. californica'' * ''D. calorata'' * ''D. chattahoochei'' * ''D. chiron'' * ''D. chisos'' * ''D. coccineohirta'' * ''D. creon'' * ''D. creusa'' * ''D. dilucida'' * ''D. eminentia'' * ''D. fasciventroides'' * ''D. flammifera'' * ''D. foxi'' * ''D. gibbosa'' * ''D. gloriosa'' (thistledown velvet ant) * ''D. gorgon'' * ''D. heliophila'' * ''D. klugii'' * ''D. leda'' * ''D. lepeletierii'' * ''D. magnifica'' * ''D. meracula'' * ''D. monticola'' * ''D. montivagoides'' * ''D. mutata'' * ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vespoidea
Vespoidea is a superfamily of wasps in the order Hymenoptera. Vespoidea includes wasps with a large variety of lifestyles including eusocial, social, and solitary habits, predators, scavengers, parasitoids, and some herbivores. Description Vespoid wasp females have antennae with 10 flagellomeres, while males have 11 flagellomeres. The edge of the pronotum reaches or passes the tegula. Many species display some level of sexual dimorphism. Most species have fully developed wings, but some have reduced or absent wings in one or both sexes. As in other Aculeata, only the females are ever capable of stinging. Phylogenetics and taxonomy Research based on four nuclear genes (elongation factor-1α F2 copy, long-wavelength rhodopsin, wingless and the D2–D3 regions of 28S ribosomal RNA—2700 bp in total) suggests the historical view of family relationships need to be changed, with Rhopalosomatidae as a sister group of the Vespidae and the clade Rhopalosomatidae + Vespidae a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chyphotidae
The Chyphotidae are a family of wasps with wingless females similar to the Mutillidae, differing most visibly in the presence, in females, of a suture separating the pronotum from the mesonotum. These species are found primarily in arid regions in the southwestern United States and adjacent regions in Mexico. Taxonomy Recent classifications of Vespoidea ''sensu lato'' (beginning in 2008) removed two of the subfamilies formerly placed in the family Bradynobaenidae to a separate family Chyphotidae, thus restricting true bradynobaenids to the Old World, with chyphotids being restricted to the New World The term "New World" is used to describe the majority of lands of Earth's Western Hemisphere, particularly the Americas, and sometimes Oceania."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: .... The genera are classified as follows: Subfamily Chyphotinae * '' Chyphotes'' Blake, 1886 Subfamily Typhoctinae Tribe Eotil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aposematism
Aposematism is the Advertising in biology, advertising by an animal, whether terrestrial or marine, to potential predation, predators that it is not worth attacking or eating. This unprofitability may consist of any defenses which make the prey difficult to kill and eat, such as toxicity, venom, foul taste or smell, sharp spines, or aggressive nature. These advertising signals may take the form of conspicuous animal coloration, coloration, sounds, odours, or other perception, perceivable characteristics. Aposematic Signalling theory, signals are beneficial for both predator and prey, since both avoid potential harm. The term was coined in 1877 by Edward Bagnall Poulton for Alfred Russel Wallace's concept of warning coloration. Aposematism is exploited in Müllerian mimicry, where species with strong defences evolve to resemble one another. By mimicking similarly coloured species, the warning signal to predators is shared, causing them to learn more quickly at less of a cost. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bradynobaenidae
The Bradynobaenidae are a family of wasps similar to the Mutillidae, differing most visibly in the presence, in females, of a suture separating the pronotum from the mesonotum. These species are often found in arid regions. Taxonomy Recent classifications (beginning in 2008) remove two of the constituent subfamilies, both from the New World, to a separate family Chyphotidae, thus restricting true bradynobaenids to the Old World The "Old World" () is a term for Afro-Eurasia coined by Europeans after 1493, when they became aware of the existence of the Americas. It is used to contrast the continents of Africa, Europe, and Asia in the Eastern Hemisphere, previously .... The retained genera are classified as follows: Subfamily Apterogyninae * '' Apterogyna'' Latreille, 1809 * '' Gynecaptera'' Skorikov, 1935 * '' Macroocula'' Panfilov, 1954 * '' Micatagla'' Argaman, 1994 (at least 54 living species per Gadallah, et al., 2019) Subfamily Bradynobaeninae * '' Brady ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stridulation
Stridulation is the act of producing sound by rubbing together certain body parts. This behavior is mostly associated with insects, but other animals are known to do this as well, such as a number of species of fish, snakes and spiders. The mechanism is typically that of one structure with a well-defined lip, ridge, or nodules (the "scraper" or ''plectrum'') being moved across a finely-ridged surface (the "file" or ''stridulitrum''—sometimes called the ''pars stridens'') or vice versa, and vibrating as it does so, like the dragging of a phonograph needle across a vinyl record. Sometimes it is the structure bearing the file which resonates to produce the sound, but in other cases it is the structure bearing the scraper, with both variants possible in related groups. Common onomatopoeic words for the sounds produced by stridulation include ''chirp'' and ''chirrup''. Arthropod stridulation Insects and other arthropods stridulate by rubbing together two parts of the body. These a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aposematic
Aposematism is the Advertising in biology, advertising by an animal, whether terrestrial or marine, to potential predation, predators that it is not worth attacking or eating. This unprofitability may consist of any defenses which make the prey difficult to kill and eat, such as toxicity, venom, foul taste or smell, sharp spines, or aggressive nature. These advertising signals may take the form of conspicuous animal coloration, coloration, sounds, odours, or other perception, perceivable characteristics. Aposematic Signalling theory, signals are beneficial for both predator and prey, since both avoid potential harm. The term was coined in 1877 by Edward Bagnall Poulton for Alfred Russel Wallace's concept of warning coloration. Aposematism is exploited in Müllerian mimicry, where species with strong defences evolve to resemble one another. By mimicking similarly coloured species, the warning signal to predators is shared, causing them to learn more quickly at less of a cost. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dasymutilla Klugii
''Dasymutilla klugii'', also known as Klug's velvet ant, is a species of velvet ant. Found in south-central North America from Utah to Puebla, it is the most commonly encountered velvet ant in Texas. Velvet ants are actually parasitic wasps, among the species used by ''D. klugii'' used to incubate their young are cicada The cicadas () are a superfamily, the Cicadoidea, of insects in the order Hemiptera (true bugs). They are in the suborder Auchenorrhyncha, along with smaller jumping bugs such as leafhoppers and froghoppers. The superfamily is divided into two ...-killer wasps ('' Sphecius grandis''). The specific name honors German entomologist Johann C. F. Klug. References Mutillidae Insects described in 1872 Hymenoptera of North America Biota of Texas {{Hymenoptera-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Müllerian Mimicry
Müllerian mimicry is a natural phenomenon in which two or more well-defended species, often foul-tasting and sharing common predators, have come to mimicry, mimic each other's honest signal, honest aposematism, warning signals, to their mutualism (biology), mutual benefit. The benefit to Müllerian mimics is that predators only need one unpleasant encounter with one member of a set of Müllerian mimics, and thereafter avoid all similar coloration, whether or not it belongs to the same species as the initial encounter. It is named after the German Brazilian, German Brazilian naturalist Fritz Müller, who first proposed the concept in 1878, supporting his theory with the first mathematical model of frequency-dependent selection, one of the first such models anywhere in biology. Müllerian mimicry was first identified in tropical butterfly, butterflies that shared colourful wing patterns, but it is found in many groups of insects such as bumblebees, and other animals such as Poiso ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Metasoma
The metasoma is the posterior part of the body, or tagma (biology), tagma, of arthropods whose body is composed of three parts, the other two being the prosoma and the mesosoma. In insects, it contains most of the digestive tract, respiratory system, and circulatory system, and the Apical (anatomy), apical segments are typically modified to form genitalia. In a few of the most primitive insects (the Archaeognatha), the metasomal segments bear small, articulated appendages called "styli", which are often considered to be vestigial. There are also pre-apical appendages in most insect orders, called cercus, cerci, which may be multi-segmented and almost resembling a posterior pair of Antenna (biology), antennae; these may be variously modified, or lost entirely. Otherwise, most adult insects lack appendages on the metasoma, though many larval insects (e.g., caterpillars) have some form of appendages, such as prolegs or, in aquatic insects, gills. In apocritan Hymenoptera (wasps, bee ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
