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Apocephalus Paraponerae
''Apocephalus paraponerae'' is a species of fly in the family Phoridae discovered by Borgmeier in 1958. This species is a parasitoid of the giant tropical ant '' Paraponera clavata'' (commonly known as the bullet ant) and uses both visual and chemical cues to locate its host. ''A. paraponerae'' can locate fighting or injured ants through host-produced alarm pheromones. Female flies are attracted to the ant to feed and oviposit, while males are attracted to feed and locate females for mating. There is some evidence that suggests that ''A. paraponerae'' is a cryptic species complex of at least four genetically distinct species. Description In 2001, it was suggested that ''A. paraponerae'' may be a cryptic species complex of at least four genetically distinct, but morphologically indistinguishable species of flies that attack several different ant hosts. Evidence for this claim includes the fact that host-location cues used by ''A. paraponerae'' to locate two of the host spec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thomas Borgmeier
Thomas Borgmeier (31 October 1892 – 11 May 1975) was a German-Brazilian priest and entomologist and became a specialist on the ants of Brazil and on the flies in the family Phoridae. He was also the founder of the journals ''Revista de Entomologia'' edited it from 1931 to 1951 and the ''Studia Entomologica'' from 1958. Borgmeier was born in Bielefeld, Germany and after studies at the local gymnasium he joined the Franciscan Order of Friars Minor and went to Brazil in 1910. After studying philosophy in Curitiba and theology in Petropolis he took an interest in ants which was furthered after meeting Professor Herman von Ihering of the Museu Paulista in Sao Paulo. An industrialist in Rio gifted Borgmeier with a binocular microscope and helped with reprints on ants from Ihering's library. Borgmeier was ordained priest in 1918, and while at Petropolis, he saw phorid flies parasitizing ants and discussing this with Jesuit priest and entomologist Hermann Schmitz led him to publish the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nicaragua
Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean Sea, Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the country's capital and largest city. , it was estimated to be the List of largest cities in Central America#Largest cities proper, second largest city in Central America. Nicaragua's multiethnic population of six million includes people of mestizo, indigenous, European and African heritage. The main language is Spanish. Indigenous tribes on the Mosquito Coast speak their own languages and English. Originally inhabited by various indigenous cultures since ancient times, the region was conquered by the Spanish Empire in the 16th century. Nicaragua gained independence from Spain in 1821. The Mosquito Coast followed a different historical path, being colonized by the English in the 17th century and later coming under B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Panama
Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the south. Its capital and largest city is Panama City, whose metropolitan area is home to nearly half the country's million people. Panama was inhabited by indigenous tribes before Spanish colonists arrived in the 16th century. It broke away from Spain in 1821 and joined the Republic of Gran Colombia, a union of Nueva Granada, Ecuador, and Venezuela. After Gran Colombia dissolved in 1831, Panama and Nueva Granada eventually became the Republic of Colombia. With the backing of the United States, Panama seceded from Colombia in 1903, allowing the construction of the Panama Canal to be completed by the United States Army Corps of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Barro Colorado Island
Barro Colorado Island is located in the man-made Gatun Lake in the middle of the Panama Canal. The island was formed when the waters of the Chagres River were dammed to form the lake in 1913. When the waters rose, they covered a significant part of the existing tropical forest, but certain hilltops remained as islands in the middle of the lake. It has an area of . The island was set aside as a nature reserve on April 17, 1923 by the U.S. Government. Initially administered by the Panama Canal Company under the direction of James Zetek, since 1946 Barro Colorado Island has been administered by the Smithsonian, together with five adjacent peninsulas, as the Barro Colorado Nature Monument. This Monument has an area of 54 km2. It is among the most-studied areas of tropical forest in the world. The Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) has a permanent research center on the island, dedicated to studying tropical forest ecosystems. Because the Island's diverse ecosyste ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hexane
Hexane () is an organic compound, a straight-chain alkane with six carbon atoms and has the molecular formula C6H14. It is a colorless liquid, odorless when pure, and with boiling points approximately . It is widely used as a cheap, relatively safe, largely unreactive, and easily evaporated non-polar solvent, and modern gasoline blends contain about 3% hexane. The term ''hexanes'' refers to a mixture, composed largely (>60%) of hexane, with varying amounts of the isomeric compounds 2-methylpentane and 3-methylpentane, and, possibly, smaller amounts of nonisomeric C5, C6, and C7 (cyclo)alkanes. These ''hexanes'' are cheaper than pure hexane and are often used in large-scale operations not requiring a single isomer (e.g., as cleaning solvent or for chromatography). Isomers Uses In industry, hexanes are used in the formulation of glues for shoes, leather products, and roofing. They are also used to extract cooking oils (such as canola oil or soy oil) from seeds, for cleansi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aggression
Aggression is overt or covert, often harmful, social interaction with the intention of inflicting damage or other harm upon another individual; although it can be channeled into creative and practical outlets for some. It may occur either reactively or without provocation. In humans, aggression can be caused by various triggers, from frustration due to blocked goals to feeling disrespected. Human aggression can be classified into direct and indirect aggression; whilst the former is characterized by physical or verbal behavior intended to cause harm to someone, the latter is characterized by behavior intended to harm the social relations of an individual or group. In definitions commonly used in the social sciences and behavioral sciences, aggression is an action or response by an individual that delivers something unpleasant to another person. Some definitions include that the individual must intend to harm another person. In an interdisciplinary perspective, aggression is rega ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Formicinae
The Formicinae are a subfamily within the Formicidae containing ants of moderate evolutionary development. Formicines retain some primitive features, such as the presence of cocoons around pupae, the presence of ocelli in workers, and little tendency toward reduction of palp or antennal segmentation in most species, except subterranean groups. Extreme modification of mandibles is rare, except in the genera '' Myrmoteras'' and '' Polyergus''. However, some members show considerable evolutionary advancement in behaviors such as slave-making and symbiosis with root-feeding hemipterans. Finally, all formicines have very reduced stings and enlarged venom reservoirs, with the venom gland, specialized (uniquely among ants) for the production of formic acid. All members of the Formicinae "have a one-segmented petiole in the form of a vertical scale". Identification Formicine ants have a single node-like or scale-like petiole (postpetiole entirely lacking) and the apex of th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Myrmicinae
Myrmicinae is a subfamily of ants, with about 140 extant genera; their distribution is cosmopolitan. The pupae lack cocoons. Some species retain a functional sting. The petioles of Myrmicinae consist of two nodes. The nests are permanent and in soil, rotting wood, under stones, or in trees.Goulet, H & Huber, JT (eds.) (1993) Hymenoptera of the world: an identification guide to families. Agriculture Canada. p. 224 Identification Myrmicine worker ants have a distinct postpetiole, i.e., abdominal segment III is notably smaller than segment IV and set off from it by a well-developed constriction; the pronotum is inflexibly fused to the rest of the mesosoma, such that the promesonotal suture is weakly impressed or absent, and a functional sting is usually present. The clypeus is well-developed; as a result, the antennal sockets are well separated from the anterior margin of the head. Most myrmicine genera possess well-developed eyes and frontal lobes that partly conceal the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Host (biology)
In biology and medicine, a host is a larger organism that harbours a smaller organism; whether a parasitic, a mutualistic, or a commensalist ''guest'' (symbiont). The guest is typically provided with nourishment and shelter. Examples include animals playing host to parasitic worms (e.g. nematodes), cells harbouring pathogenic (disease-causing) viruses, a bean plant hosting mutualistic (helpful) nitrogen-fixing bacteria. More specifically in botany, a host plant supplies food resources to micropredators, which have an evolutionarily stable relationship with their hosts similar to ectoparasitism. The host range is the collection of hosts that an organism can use as a partner. Symbiosis Symbiosis spans a wide variety of possible relationships between organisms, differing in their permanence and their effects on the two parties. If one of the partners in an association is much larger than the other, it is generally known as the host. In parasitism, the parasite benefits ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scavenger
Scavengers are animals that consume dead organisms that have died from causes other than predation or have been killed by other predators. While scavenging generally refers to carnivores feeding on carrion, it is also a herbivorous feeding behavior. Scavengers play an important role in the ecosystem by consuming dead animal and plant material. ''Decomposers'' and detritivores complete this process, by consuming the remains left by scavengers. Scavengers aid in overcoming fluctuations of food resources in the environment. The process and rate of scavenging is affected by both biotic and abiotic factors, such as carcass size, habitat, temperature, and seasons. Etymology Scavenger is an alteration of ''scavager,'' from Middle English ''skawager'' meaning " customs collector", from ''skawage'' meaning "customs", from Old North French ''escauwage'' meaning "inspection", from ''schauwer'' meaning "to inspect", of Germanic origin; akin to Old English ''scēawian'' and German ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pupa
A pupa ( la, pupa, "doll"; plural: ''pupae'') is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation between immature and mature stages. Insects that go through a pupal stage are holometabolous: they go through four distinct stages in their life cycle, the stages thereof being egg, larva, pupa, and imago. The processes of entering and completing the pupal stage are controlled by the insect's hormones, especially juvenile hormone, prothoracicotropic hormone, and ecdysone. The act of becoming a pupa is called pupation, and the act of emerging from the pupal case is called eclosion or emergence. The pupae of different groups of insects have different names such as ''chrysalis'' for the pupae of butterflies and ''tumbler'' for those of the mosquito family. Pupae may further be enclosed in other structures such as cocoons, nests, or shells. Position in life cycle The pupal stage follows the larval stage and precedes adulthood ('' imago'') in insects with complete metamo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sclerite
A sclerite ( Greek , ', meaning " hard") is a hardened body part. In various branches of biology the term is applied to various structures, but not as a rule to vertebrate anatomical features such as bones and teeth. Instead it refers most commonly to the hardened parts of arthropod exoskeletons and the internal spicules of invertebrates such as certain sponges and soft corals. In paleontology, a scleritome is the complete set of sclerites of an organism, often all that is known from fossil invertebrates. Sclerites in combination Sclerites may occur practically isolated in an organism, such as the sting of a cone shell. Also, they can be more or less scattered, such as tufts of defensive sharp, mineralised bristles as in many marine Polychaetes. Or, they can occur as structured, but unconnected or loosely connected arrays, such as the mineral "teeth" in the radula of many Mollusca, the valves of Chitons, the beak of Cephalopod, or the articulated exoskeletons of Arthropoda. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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