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Pieris Oleracea
''Pieris oleracea'', or more commonly known as the mustard white, is a butterfly in the family Pieridae native to a large part of Canada and the northeastern United States. The nearly all-white butterfly is often found in wooded areas or open plains. There are two seasonal forms, which make it distinct from other similar species. Because of climate change, populations are moving further north. As indicated by the common name, ''P. oleracea'' adults and larvae primarily feed on plants in the mustard family, ''Brassicaceae''. The species is threatened by the rapid, and monoculture-forming, spread of the invasive species ''Alliaria petiolata'', which is toxic to larvae. Populations of ''P. oleracea'' have been declining. It may be that this butterfly is slowly adapting to garlic mustard. However, it may not be a fast enough process to ensure its survival, due to the high level of aggression on the part of the plant and the continuing encroachment of human development. Its specific ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thaddeus William Harris
Thaddeus William Harris (November 12, 1795 – January 16, 1856) was an American entomologist and librarian. His focus on insect life cycles and interactions with plants was influential in broadening American entomological studies beyond a narrow taxonomic approach. He was an early agricultural entomologist and served as a mentor and role model for others in this new field. For 25 years Harris served as the librarian of Harvard University where oversaw the rapid growth of the library and introduced one of the earliest American library card catalogs.Elliott 2000 Life and career Thaddeus William Harris was born in Dorchester, Boston, Dorchester, Massachusetts on November 12, 1795. His father, Thaddeus Mason Harris, was a Unitarian minister who served at the church on Meeting House Hill and had also for a time served as librarian of Harvard. Harris himself received his undergraduate degree at Harvard in 1815, and then went on to study medicine there, receiving his M.D. in 1820. He ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prairie
Prairies are ecosystems considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and a composition of grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the dominant vegetation type. Temperate grassland regions include the Pampas of Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay, and the steppe of Romania, Ukraine, Russia, and Kazakhstan. Lands typically referred to as "prairie" (a French loan word) tend to be in North America. The term encompasses the lower and mid-latitude of the area referred to as the Interior Plains of Canada, the United States, and Mexico. It includes all of the Great Plains as well as the wetter, hillier land to the east. From west to east, generally the drier expanse of shortgrass prairie gives way to mixed grass prairie and ultimately the richer and wetter soils of the tallgrass prairie. In the U.S., the area is constituted by most or all of the states, from north to south, of North ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sinigrin
Sinigrin or allyl glucosinolate is a glucosinolate that belongs to the family of glucosides found in some plants of the family Brassicaceae such as Brussels sprouts, broccoli, and the seeds of black mustard (''Brassica nigra''). Whenever sinigrin-containing plant tissue is crushed or otherwise damaged, the enzyme myrosinase degrades sinigrin to a mustard oil ( allyl isothiocyanate), which is responsible for the pungent taste of mustard and horseradish. Seeds of white mustard, ''Sinapis alba'', give a less pungent mustard because this species contains a different glucosinolate, sinalbin. Occurrence The compound was first reported in 1839, after its isolation from black mustard ''Brassica nigra'', also known as ''Sinapis nigra'', after which it was named. Sinigrin is now known to occur widely in other brassica families including Brassicaceae and Capparaceae. Structure The chemical structure of sinigrin had been established by 1930. This showed that it is a glucose derivative w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oviposition
The ovipositor is a tube-like organ used by some animals, especially insects, for the laying of eggs. In insects, an ovipositor consists of a maximum of three pairs of appendages. The details and morphology of the ovipositor vary, but typically its form is adapted to functions such as preparing a place for the egg, transmitting the egg, and then placing it properly. For most insects, the organ is used merely to attach the egg to some surface, but for many parasitic species (primarily in wasps and other Hymenoptera), it is a piercing organ as well. Some ovipositors only retract partly when not in use, and the basal part that sticks out is known as the scape, or more specifically oviscape, the word ''scape'' deriving from the Latin word , meaning "stalk" or "shaft". In insects Grasshoppers use their ovipositors to force a burrow into the earth to receive the eggs. Cicadas pierce the wood of twigs with their ovipositors to insert the eggs. Sawflies slit the tissues of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pieris Virginiensis
''Pieris virginiensis'', the West Virginia white, is a butterfly found in North America in the Great Lakes states, along the Appalachians from New England to Alabama, and in southern Ontario. They are typically found in moist deciduous forests. Forestry, development, and a highly-invasive species that it confuses with its host plant (Cardamine) are causing this species to decline. Two members of the Cardamine genus Cardamine diphyla and Cardamine concatenata are reported to be its host plants in Alabama. Along with the butterfly '' Pieris oleracea'', it is threatened by the invasive weed garlic mustard, ''Alliaria petiolata''. The butterflies, having not evolved to be familiar with the plant, confuse it with their host plants. The offspring laid on garlic mustard do not survive. It has translucent whitish wings of length 4.5–5.5 cm; the hindwing underside has brownish or pale gray scaling along the veins. Literary references In line 316 of ''Pale Fire'' by Vladimir Na ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Weevil
Weevils are beetles belonging to the superfamily Curculionoidea, known for their elongated snouts. They are usually small – less than in length – and herbivorous. Approximately 97,000 species of weevils are known. They belong to several families, with most of them in the family Curculionidae (the true weevils). It also includes bark beetles, which while morphologically dissimilar to other weevils in lacking the distinctive snout, is a subfamily of Curculionidae. Some other beetles, although not closely related, bear the name "weevil", such as the leaf beetle subfamily Bruchinae, known as "bean weevils", or the biscuit weevil (''Stegobium paniceum''), which belongs to the family Ptinidae. Many weevils are considered pests because of their ability to damage and kill crops. The grain or wheat weevil (''Sitophilus granarius'') damages stored grain, as does the maize weevil (''Sitophilus zeamais''), among others. The boll weevil (''Anthonomus grandis'') attacks cotton crop ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Monophagous
A generalist species is able to thrive in a wide variety of environmental conditions and can make use of a variety of different resources (for example, a heterotroph with a varied diet). A specialist species can thrive only in a narrow range of environmental conditions or has a limited diet. Most organisms do not all fit neatly into either group, however. Some species are highly specialized (the most extreme case being monophagous, eating one specific type of food), others less so, and some can tolerate many different environments. In other words, there is a continuum from highly specialized to broadly generalist species. Description Omnivores are usually generalists. Herbivores are often specialists, but those that eat a variety of plants may be considered generalists. A well-known example of a specialist animal is the monophagous koala, which subsists almost entirely on eucalyptus leaves. The raccoon is a generalist, because it has a natural range that includes most of North ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
USDA
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that aims to meet the needs of commercial farming and livestock food production, promotes agricultural trade and production, works to assure food safety, protects natural resources, fosters rural communities and works to end hunger in the United States and internationally. It is headed by the secretary of agriculture, who reports directly to the president of the United States and is a member of the president's Cabinet of the United States, Cabinet. The current secretary is Brooke Rollins, who has served since February 13, 2025. Approximately 71% of the USDA's $213 billion budget goes towards nutrition assistance programs administered by the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS). The largest component of the FNS budget is the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Biological Control
Biological control or biocontrol is a method of controlling pests, whether pest animals such as insects and mites, weeds, or pathogens affecting animals or plants by using other organisms. It relies on predation, parasitism, herbivory, or other natural mechanisms, but typically also involves an active human management role. It can be an important component of integrated pest management (IPM) programs. There are three basic strategies for biological control: classical (importation), where a natural enemy of a pest is introduced in the hope of achieving control; inductive (augmentation), in which a large population of natural enemies are administered for quick pest control; and inoculative (conservation), in which measures are taken to maintain natural enemies through regular reestablishment. Natural enemies of insects play an important part in limiting the densities of potential pests. Biological control agents such as these include predators, parasitoids, pathogens, and co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Glucosinolate
Glucosinolates are natural components of many pungent plants such as mustard, cabbage, and horseradish. The pungency of those plants is due to mustard oils produced from glucosinolates when the plant material is chewed, cut, or otherwise damaged. These natural chemicals most likely contribute to plant defence against pests and diseases, and impart a characteristic bitter flavor property to cruciferous vegetables. Occurrence Glucosinolates occur as secondary metabolites of almost all plants of the order Brassicales. This includes the economically important family Brassicaceae as well as Capparaceae and Caricaceae. Outside of the Brassicales, the genera '' Drypetes'' and '' Putranjiva'' in the family Putranjivaceae, are the only other known occurrence of glucosinolates. Glucosinolates occur in various edible plants such as cabbage (white cabbage, Chinese cabbage, broccoli), Brussels sprouts, watercress, arugula, horseradish, capers, and radishes where the breakdown products of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Boechera
''Boechera'' (rockcress) is a genus of the family Brassicaceae. It was named after the Danish botanist Tyge W. Böcher (1909–1983), who was known for his research in alpine plants, including the mustards ''Draba'' and ''Boechera holboellii''. According to recent molecular-based studies, ''Boechera'' is closely related to the genus ''Arabidopsis'' which also includes the widely known model plant ''Arabidopsis thaliana''. Until recently, members of this genus were included in the genus ''Arabis'', but have been separated from that genus based on recent genetic and cytological data. Unlike the genus ''Arabis'' (x=8) ''Boechera'' has a base chromosome number of x=7. Many taxa are triploid. ''Boechera'' is a primarily North American genus, most diverse in the western United States, and its distribution range also includes Greenland and the Russian Far East. The genus is poorly known, and species within are difficult to separate morphologically though some clearly distinct species ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cardamine
''Cardamine'' is a large genus of flowering plants in the mustard family, Brassicaceae, known as bittercresses and toothworts. It contains more than 200 species of annuals and perennials. Species in this genus can be found in diverse habitats worldwide, except the Antarctic. The name ''Cardamine'' is derived from the Greek ''kardaminē'', water cress, from ''kardamon'', pepper grass. Description The leaves can have different forms, from minute to medium in size. They can be simple, pinnate or bipinnate. They are basal and cauline (growing on the upper part of the stem), with narrow tips. They are rosulate (forming a rosette). The blade margins can be entire, serrate or dentate. The stem internodes lack firmness. The radially symmetrical flowers grow in a racemose many-flowered inflorescence or in corymbs. The white, pink or purple flowers are minute to medium-sized. The petals are longer than the sepals. The fertile flowers are hermaphroditic. Taxonomy The genus ''Cardami ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
