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Granary Weevil
The wheat weevil (''Sitophilus granarius''), also known as the grain weevil or granary weevil, is an insect that feeds on cereal grains, and is a common pest in many places. It can cause significant damage to harvested stored grains, and may drastically decrease crop yields. The females lay many eggs, and the larvae eat the inside of the grain kernels. Identification Adult wheat weevils are about long, with elongated snouts and chewing mouth parts. Depending on the grain kernels, the size of the weevil varies. In small grains, such as millet or grain sorghum, they are small in size, but in maize (corn), they are larger. The adults are a reddish-brown colour and lack distinguishing marks. Adult wheat weevils are not capable of flight. Larvae are legless, humpbacked, and are white with a tan head. Weevils in the pupal stage have snouts similar to those of adults. Natural history Life cycle Female wheat weevils lay between 36 and 254 eggs; usually, one egg is deposited in each gr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Des Helmore
Desmond W. Helmore (born 1940) is a New Zealand artist and illustrator, known both for his fine art and for his scientific work depicting insects, not least illustrating the New Zealand Arthropod Collection. One of the country's most noted and prolific biological illustrators, over 1000 of his illustrations of insects were published in research papers from 1976 to 2006. Life and education Helmore was born in Takapau, Hawke's Bay Region, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand, and lived there on a farm until age 12. Interested in drawing since childhood, he attended Christ's College, Christchurch, Christ's College in Christchurch, and then the Ilam School of Fine Arts at the University of Canterbury from 1959 to 1962, where he was taught by Rudolf Gopas, Rudi Gopas, Russell Clark (artist), Russell Clark, and Bill Sutton (artist), Bill Sutton. His fellow students at Ilam included Dick Frizzell, Tony Fomison, and John Panting. In his survey of New Zealand art, Frizzell described Helmore as s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Barley
Barley (), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains; it was domesticated in the Fertile Crescent around 9000 BC, giving it nonshattering spikelets and making it much easier to harvest. Its use then spread throughout Eurasia by 2000 BC. Barley prefers relatively low temperatures and well-drained soil to grow. It is relatively tolerant of drought and soil salinity, but is less winter-hardy than wheat or rye. In 2023, barley was fourth among grains in quantity produced, 146 million tonnes, behind maize, rice, and wheat. Globally, 70% of barley production is used as animal feed, while 30% is used as a source of fermentable material for beer, or further distilled into whisky, and as a component of various foods. It is used in soups and stews and in barley bread of various cultures. Barley grains are commonly made into malt using a traditional and ancient method of preparatio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Beetles Of Africa
Beetles are insects that form the Taxonomic rank, order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Holometabola. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 described species, is the largest of all orders, constituting almost 40% of described arthropods and 25% of all known animal species; new species are discovered frequently, with estimates suggesting that there are between 0.9 and 2.1 million total species. However, the number of beetle species is challenged by the number of species in Fly, dipterans (flies) and hymenopterans (wasps). Found in almost every habitat except the sea and the polar regions, they interact with their ecosystems in several ways: beetles often feed on plants and fungi, break down animal and plant debris, and eat other invertebrates. Some species are serious agricultural pests, such as the Colorado potato beetle, while others such as Coccinellidae (ladybirds or ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
