|
Pseudostigmatidae
The Pseudostigmatidae are a family of tropical damselflies, known as helicopter damselflies, giant damselflies, or forest giants. The family includes the largest of all damselfly species. They specialize in preying on web-building spiders, and breed in phytotelmata, the small bodies of water held by plants such as bromeliads. Range The species traditionally placed in Pseudostigmatidae are all Neotropical. Two range as far as northeastern Mexico: ''Mecistogaster ornata'' occurs in Tamaulipas and ''Pseudostigma aberrans'' in both Tamaulipas and Nuevo León. In 2006, Molecular phylogeny, molecular phylogenetic analysis confirmed that the African damselfly ''Coryphagrion grandis'', previously often classified within Megapodagrionidae or in a monotypic family Coryphagrionidae, belonged within family Pseudostigmatidae, close to genus ''Mecistogaster'', as was proposed already ten years before. This finding suggests that the family dates back to before the breakup of the supercont ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Damselflies
Damselflies are flying insects of the suborder Zygoptera in the order Odonata. They are similar to dragonflies (which constitute the other odonatan suborder, Epiprocta) but are usually smaller and have slimmer bodies. Most species fold the wings along the body when at rest, unlike dragonflies which hold the wings flat and away from the body. Damselflies have existed since the Late Jurassic, and are found on every continent except Antarctica. All damselflies are predatory insects: both nymphs and adults actively hunt and eat other insects. The nymphs are aquatic, with different species living in a variety of freshwater habitats including acidic bogs, ponds, lakes and rivers. The nymphs moult repeatedly, at the last moult climbing out of the water to undergo metamorphosis. The skin splits down the back, they emerge and inflate their wings and abdomen to gain their adult form. Their presence on a body of water indicates that it is relatively unpolluted, but their dependence on ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Megaloprepus Caerulatus
''Megaloprepus caerulatus'', also known as the blue-winged helicopter, is a forest giant damselfly of the family Coenagrionidae. Forest giant damselflies were previously recognized as their own family, Pseudostigmatidae. ''M. caerulatus'' is found in wet and moist forests in Central and South America. It has the greatest wingspan of any living damselfly or dragonfly, up to in the largest males. Its large size and the markings on its wings make it a conspicuous species; a hovering ''Megaloprepus'' has been described as a "pulsating blue-and-white beacon". As an adult it feeds on orb-weaver spiders in the forest understory, which it plucks from their webs. It lays its eggs in water-filled holes in trees; males defend the larger holes as breeding territories. The naiad is a top predator in its tree-hole habitat, feeding on tadpoles and aquatic insects, including the larvae of mosquito species that are vectors of human disease. Egg and naiad ''Megaloprepus'' lays its eggs in th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coryphagrion Grandis
''Coryphagrion grandis'' is a species of damselfly found in coastal forests and on the lower slopes of the Eastern Arc Mountains in Kenya, Tanzania and Mozambique.Clausnitzer, V. 2010''Coryphagrion grandis''.The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2014.2. Downloaded on 29 August 2014. Its monotypic genus ''Coryphagrion'' is considered as the only member of the family Coryphagrionidae (sometimes placed in the Megapodagrionidae as subfamily Coryphagrioninae). It was once placed within the family Pseudostigmatidae, whose other members are all Neotropical The Neotropical realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting Earth's land surface. Physically, it includes the tropical terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and the entire South American temperate zone. Definition In biogeogra ..., but further studies showed this family was paraphyletic. References * Coenagrionoidea Insects described in 1924 {{Coenagrionoidea-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Neotropical
The Neotropical realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting Earth's land surface. Physically, it includes the tropical terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and the entire South American temperate zone. Definition In biogeography, the Neotropic or Neotropical realm is one of the eight terrestrial realms. This realm includes South America, Central America, the Caribbean Islands, and southern North America. In Mexico, the Yucatán Peninsula and southern lowlands, and most of the east and west coastlines, including the southern tip of the Baja California Peninsula are Neotropical. In the United States southern Florida and coastal Central Florida are considered Neotropical. The realm also includes temperate southern South America. In contrast, the Neotropical Floristic Kingdom excludes southernmost South America, which instead is placed in the Antarctic kingdom. The Neotropic is delimited by similarities in fauna or flora. Its fauna and flora are distinct ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mecistogaster
''Mecistogaster'' is a genus of large Neotropical damselflies in the family Coenagrionidae, commonly known as helicopter damsels. There are eleven species distributed from Mexico to Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt .... Members of this genus have very long abdomens which they use to deposit their eggs in the water-filled rosettes of bromeliads growing on trees in the forest. Species include: *'' Mecistogaster amalia'' – Amalia Helicopter *'' Mecistogaster amazonica'' *'' Mecistogaster asticta'' *'' Mecistogaster buckleyi'' – Blue-tipped Helicopter *'' Mecistogaster jocaste'' *'' Mecistogaster linearis'' *'' Mecistogaster lucretia'' *'' Mecistogaster martinezi'' *'' Mecistogaster modesta'' *'' Mecistogaster ornata'' – Ornate Helicopter *'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Megaloprepus
''Megaloprepus'' is a genus of large Neotropical damselflies in the family Coenagrionidae, commonly known as helicopter damsels. There are four species distributed from Mexico to Ecuador and Peru.Feindt, W., & Hadrys, H. (2022)The damselfly genus Megaloprepus (Odonata: Pseudostigmatidae): Revalidation and delimitation of species-level taxa including the description of one new species.''Zootaxa'', 5115(4): 487-510. Species include: * '' Megaloprepus brevistigma'' * ''Megaloprepus caerulatus ''Megaloprepus caerulatus'', also known as the blue-winged helicopter, is a forest giant damselfly of the family Coenagrionidae. Forest giant damselflies were previously recognized as their own family, Pseudostigmatidae. ''M. caerulatus'' is fou ...'' * '' Megaloprepus diaboli'' * '' Megaloprepus latipennis'' References Zygoptera genera Coenagrionidae Taxa named by Jules Pierre Rambur Insects of Mexico {{Coenagrionidae-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Microstigma
''Microstigma'' is a species of damselfly, damselflies belonging to the family Coenagrionidae. Species * ''Microstigma anomalum'' Rambur, 1842 * ''Microstigma maculatum'' Hagen in Selys, 1860 * ''Microstigma rotundatum'' Selys, 1860 References Coenagrionidae Zygoptera genera Odonata of South America Taxa named by Jules Pierre Rambur {{Coenagrionoidea-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tree
In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, e.g., including only woody plants with secondary growth, only plants that are usable as lumber, or only plants above a specified height. But wider definitions include taller palms, tree ferns, bananas, and bamboos. Trees are not a monophyletic taxonomic group but consist of a wide variety of plant species that have independently evolved a trunk and branches as a way to tower above other plants to compete for sunlight. The majority of tree species are angiosperms or hardwoods; of the rest, many are gymnosperms or softwoods. Trees tend to be long-lived, some trees reaching several thousand years old. Trees evolved around 400 million years ago, and it is estimated that there are around three trillion mature trees in the world currently. A tree typically has many secondary branches supported cle ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Convergent Evolution
Convergent evolution is the independent evolution of similar features in species of different periods or epochs in time. Convergent evolution creates analogous structures that have similar form or function but were not present in the last common ancestor of those groups. The cladistic term for the same phenomenon is Cladogram#Homoplasies, homoplasy. The recurrent evolution of flight is a classic example, as flying pterygota, insects, birds, pterosaurs, and bats have independently evolved the useful capacity of flight. Functionally similar features that have arisen through convergent evolution are ''analogous'', whereas ''homology (biology), homologous'' structures or traits have a common origin but can have dissimilar functions. Bird, bat, and pterosaur wings are analogous structures, but their forelimbs are homologous, sharing an ancestral state despite serving different functions. The opposite of convergence is divergent evolution, where related species evolve different trai ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nymph (biology)
In biology, a nymph (from Ancient Greek wikt:νύμφα, νύμφα ''nūmphē'' meaning "bride") is the juvenile (organism), juvenile form of some invertebrates, particularly insects, which undergoes gradual metamorphosis (biology), metamorphosis (hemimetabolism) before reaching its adult stage. Unlike a typical larva, a nymph's overall form already resembles that of the adult, except for a lack of wings (in winged species) and the emergence of genitalia. In addition, while a nymph ecdysis, moults, it never enters a pupal stage. Instead, the final moult results in an adult insect. Nymphs undergo multiple stages of development called instars. Taxa with nymph stages Many species of Arthropod, arthropods have nymph stages. This includes the insect orders such as Orthoptera (cricket (insect), crickets, grasshoppers and locusts), Hemiptera (cicadas, shield bugs, Whitefly, whiteflies, aphids, leafhoppers, froghoppers, treehoppers), mayfly, mayflies, termites, cockroaches, mantises, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fresh Water
Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salt (chemistry), salts and other total dissolved solids. The term excludes seawater and brackish water, but it does include non-salty mineral water, mineral-rich waters, such as chalybeate springs. Fresh water may encompass frozen water, frozen and meltwater in ice sheets, ice caps, glaciers, snowfields and icebergs, natural precipitations such as rainfall, snowfall, hail/ice pellets, sleet and graupel, and surface runoffs that form inland bodies of water such as wetlands, ponds, lakes, rivers, streams, as well as groundwater contained in aquifers, subterranea (geography), subterranean subterranean river, rivers and underground lake, lakes. Water is critical to the survival of all living organisms. Many organisms can thrive on salt water, but the great majority of vascular plants and most insects, amphibians, reptiles, mammals and birds need fresh water to sur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bamboo
Bamboos are a diverse group of mostly evergreen perennial plant, perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily (biology), subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family, in the case of ''Dendrocalamus sinicus'' having individual stalks (Culm (botany), culms) reaching a length of , up to in thickness and a weight of up to . The internodes of bamboos can also be of great length. ''Kinabaluchloa, Kinabaluchloa wrayi'' has internodes up to in length. and ''Arthrostylidium schomburgkii'' has internodes up to in length, exceeded in length only by Cyperus papyrus, papyrus. By contrast, the stalks of the tiny bamboo Raddiella, ''Raddiella vanessiae'' of the savannas of French Guiana measure only in length by about in width. The origin of the word "bamboo" is uncertain, but it most likely comes from the Dutch language, Dutch or Portuguese language, Portuguese language, which originally borrowed it from Malay langua ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
