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Anoplolepis Custodiens
''Anoplolepis custodiens'', commonly known as the common pugnacious ant, is a species of ant in the genus ''Anoplolepis'', native to central and southern Africa. Individual ants may come in a range of colors and sizes. Found in dry and cultivated areas, it is an important source of prey for some pangolins and aardvarks. Although generally aggressive, ants from other colonies of ''Anoplolepis custodiens'' are not attacked. Description The worker common pugnacious ant varies greatly in size and is up to long, and Polymorphism (biology), polymorphic, being yellowish-brown, reddish-brown or darker chocolate-brown, often with the abdomen darker than the rest of the ant. Darker individuals can be distinguished from the Anoplolepis steingroeveri, black pugnacious ant (''Anoplolepis steingroeveri'') by the chequer-board dark pattern on the gaster (insect anatomy), gaster, which is caused by reflection of light by pubescent hairs which lie in different directions on the two sides. Distri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frederick Smith (entomologist)
Frederick Smith (30 December 1805 – 16 February 1879) was a British entomologist who worked at the zoology department of the British Museum from 1849, specialising in the Hymenoptera. Smith was born near York to William Smith and went to school at Leeds. He then studied under landscape engraver William Bernard Cooke, W.B. Cooke along with his nephew William Edward Shuckard. Together they took an interest in insects, especially the ants and bees. In 1841, following the death of William Bainbridge, he became a curator of the collections and the library of the Entomological Society of London. As an engraver he produced copies based on the works of Turner, Constable and David Roberts. He also worked with Gray arranging Hymenoptera in the British Museum. In 1849 he succeeded Edward Doubleday as a member of the zoologicy department. He then gave up his art work but produced the plates for Wollaston's ''Insecta Maderensia'' (1854) and for papers in the Transactions of the Entomologic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anoplolepis
''Anoplolepis'', also known as the "pugnacious ants", is a genus of ants in the subfamily Formicinae and tribe Lasiini. The genus is mainly found in the Afrotropics, with a few native species known from the Malagasy and Oriental The Orient is a term referring to the East in relation to Europe, traditionally comprising anything belonging to the Eastern world. It is the antonym of the term ''Occident'', which refers to the Western world. In English, it is largely a meto ... regions (and some introduced in other places). Species *'' Anoplolepis carinata'' (Emery, 1899) *'' Anoplolepis custodiens'' (Smith, 1858) *'' Anoplolepis fallax'' (Mayr, 1865) *'' Anoplolepis gracilipes'' (Smith, 1857) *'' Anoplolepis nuptialis'' (Santschi, 1917) *'' Anoplolepis opaciventris'' (Emery, 1899) *'' Anoplolepis rufescens'' (Santschi, 1917) *'' Anoplolepis steingroeveri'' (Forel, 1894) *'' Anoplolepis tenella'' (Santschi, 1911) References External links * Formicinae Ant genera Ta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polymorphism (biology)
In biology, polymorphism is the occurrence of two or more clearly different morphs or forms, also referred to as alternative '' phenotypes'', in the population of a species. To be classified as such, morphs must occupy the same habitat at the same time and belong to a panmictic population (one with random mating). Ford E.B. 1965. ''Genetic polymorphism''. Faber & Faber, London. Put simply, polymorphism is when there are two or more possibilities of a trait on a gene. For example, there is more than one possible trait in terms of a jaguar's skin colouring; they can be light morph or dark morph. Due to having more than one possible variation for this gene, it is termed 'polymorphism'. However, if the jaguar has only one possible trait for that gene, it would be termed "monomorphic". For example, if there was only one possible skin colour that a jaguar could have, it would be termed monomorphic. The term polyphenism can be used to clarify that the different forms arise from the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anoplolepis Steingroeveri
''Anoplolepis steingroeveri'' is a species of ant Ants are Eusociality, eusocial insects of the Family (biology), family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the Taxonomy (biology), order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from Vespoidea, vespoid wasp ancestors in the Cre .... It is commonly known as the black pugnacious ant. It is native to southern Africa, and occurs in South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana and Namibia. The worker is similar in appearance to darker morphs of the common pugnacious ant (''Anoplolepis custodiens''), but that species has a chequer-board-like dark pattern on the gaster, which is caused by reflection of light by pubescent hairs which lie in different directions on the two sides. References {{DEFAULTSORT:Anoplolepis steingroeveri Formicinae Hymenoptera of Africa Insects described in 1894 Taxa named by Auguste Forel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gaster (insect Anatomy)
The gaster () is the bulbous posterior portion of the metasoma found in hymenopterans of the suborder Apocrita (bees, wasps and ants). This begins with abdomen, abdominal segment III on most ants, but some make a constricted Petiole (insect anatomy) , postpetiole out of segment III, in which case the gaster begins with abdominal segment IV. The gaster in ants contains what is sometimes called the "social stomach," which is named for the fact that food can be carried within it and then shared with other members of the colony. It also contains the ant's heart as well as the rest of their digestive system. In the ant subfamily Formicinae, the gaster houses an acidiphore which they can use to spray formic acid. Certain ants in the genus ''Cataglyphis'', including ''Cataglyphis bicolor'' and ''Cataglyphis fortis'', have a cubiform petiole that allows them to decrease their inertia (and therefore increase their speed) by raising their gaster into an upright position. The ant speci ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Karoo
The Karoo ( ; from the Afrikaans borrowing of the South Khoekhoe Khoemana (also known as !Orakobab or Korana) word is a semidesert natural region of South Africa. No exact definition of what constitutes the Karoo is available, so its extent is also not precisely defined. The Karoo is partly defined by its topography, Karoo Supergroup, geology and climate, and above all, its low rainfall, arid air, cloudless skies, and extremes of heat and cold. The Karoo also hosted a well-preserved ecosystem hundreds of millions of years ago which is now represented by many fossils. The Karoo formed an almost impenetrable barrier to the interior from Cape Town, and the early adventurers, explorers, hunters, and travelers on the way to the Highveld unanimously denounced it as a frightening place of great heat, great frosts, great floods, and great droughts. Today, it is still a place of great heat and frosts, and an annual rainfall of between 50 and 250 mm, though on some of the mountains i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nectar
Nectar is a viscous, sugar-rich liquid produced by Plant, plants in glands called nectaries, either within the flowers with which it attracts pollination, pollinating animals, or by extrafloral nectaries, which provide a nutrient source to animal Mutualism (biology), mutualists, which in turn provide plant defense against herbivory#Indirect defenses, herbivore protection. Common nectar-consuming pollinators include mosquitoes, hoverfly, hoverflies, wasps, bees, butterfly, butterflies and moths, hummingbirds, honeyeaters and Bat#Fruit and nectar, bats. Nectar is an economically important substance as it is the sugar source for honey. It is also useful in agriculture and horticulture because the adult stages of some predatory insects feed on nectar. For example, a number of predacious or Parasitoid wasp, parasitoid wasps (e.g., the social wasp species ''Apoica flavissima'') rely on nectar as a primary food source. In turn, these wasps then hunt agricultural pest insects as food ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Honeydew (secretion)
Honeydew is a sugar-rich sticky liquid, secreted by aphids, some scale insects, and many other true bugs and some other insects as they feed on plant sap. When their mouthpart penetrates the phloem, the sugary, high-pressure liquid is forced out of the anus of the insects, allowing them to rapidly process the large volume of sap required to extract essential nutrients present at low concentrations. Honeydew is particularly common as a secretion in hemipteran insects and is often the basis for trophobiosis. Some caterpillars of Lycaenidae butterflies and some moths also produce honeydew. In addition to various sugars, honeydew contains small amounts of amino acids, other organic compounds, and inorganic Salt (chemistry), salts with its precise makeup affected by factors such as insect species, host plant species, and whether a symbiotic organism is present. Honeydew-producing insects, like cicadas, pierce phloem ducts to access the sugar rich sap; the excess fluid released by ci ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Forage
Forage is a plant material (mainly plant leaves and stems) eaten by grazing livestock. Historically, the term ''forage'' has meant only plants eaten by the animals directly as pasture, crop residue, or immature cereal crops, but it is also used more loosely to include similar plants cut for fodder and carried to the animals, especially as hay or silage. While the term ''forage'' has a broad definition, the term ''forage crop'' is used to define crops, annual or biennial, which are grown to be utilized by grazing or harvesting as a whole crop. Common forages Grasses Grass forages include: *''Agrostis'' spp. – bentgrasses **''Agrostis capillaris'' – common bentgrass **''Agrostis stolonifera'' – creeping bentgrass *''Andropogon hallii'' – sand bluestem *''Arrhenatherum elatius'' – false oat-grass *''Bothriochloa bladhii'' – Australian bluestem *''Bothriochloa pertusa'' – hurricane grass *''Brachiaria decumbens'' – Surinam grass *''Brachiaria humidicola'' – kor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pangolin
Pangolins, sometimes known as scaly anteaters, are mammals of the order Pholidota (). The one extant family, the Manidae, has three genera: '' Manis'', '' Phataginus'', and '' Smutsia''. ''Manis'' comprises four species found in Asia, while ''Phataginus'' and ''Smutsia'' include two species each, all found in sub-Saharan Africa. These species range in size from . Several extinct pangolin species are also known. In September 2023, nine species were reported. Pangolins have large, protective keratin scales, similar in material to fingernails and toenails, covering their skin; they are the only known mammals with this feature. Depending on the species, they live in hollow trees or burrows. Pangolins are nocturnal, and their diet consists of mainly ants and termites, which they capture using their long tongues. They tend to be solitary animals, meeting only to mate and produce a litter of one to three offspring, which they raise for about two years. Pangolins superficially resemb ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sabi Sand Game Reserve
Sabi Sand Game Reserve consists of a group of private game reserves located adjacent to the Kruger National Park in the Lowveld of Mpumalanga, South Africa. Its name comes from the Sabie River on its southern boundary and the Sand River flowing through it. The area of the reserve is . Reserves in Sabi Sand include Buffelshoek, Djuma Game Reserve, Elephant Plains, Cheetah Plains, Mala Mala Game Reserve, Chitwa Chitwa, Nkorho, Simbambili, Arathusa, Londolozi Private Game Reserve, Umzumbe, Nottens, Sabi Sabi, Lion Sands Reserve, Kirkman's Kamp, Singita, Exeter Leadwood, Inyati Game Lodge, Idube, Dulini, Leopard Hills, Savanna and Ulusaba Private Game Reserve. Wildlife Some of the species roaming in this game reserve includes the Big five game. Other animals that roam this reserve are the cheetah, hippopotamus, wildebeest, zebra, giraffe The giraffe is a large Fauna of Africa, African even-toed ungulate, hoofed mammal belonging to the genus ''Giraffa.'' It ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aardvark
Aardvarks ( ; ''Orycteropus afer'') are medium-sized, burrowing, nocturnal mammals native to Africa. Aardvarks are the only living species of the family Orycteropodidae and the order Tubulidentata. They have a long proboscis, similar to a pig's snout, which is used to sniff out food. They are afrotheres, a clade that also includes elephants, manatees, and hyraxes. They are found over much of the southern two-thirds of the African continent, avoiding areas that are mainly rocky. Nocturnal feeders, aardvarks subsist on ants and termites by using their sharp claws and powerful legs to dig the insects out of their hills. Aardvarks also dig to create burrows in which to live and rear their young. Name and taxonomy Name The aardvark is sometimes colloquially called the "African ant bear", "anteater" (not to be confused with the South American anteaters), or the "Cape anteater" after the Cape of Good Hope. The name "aardvark" is Afrikaans () and comes from earlier Afrikaa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
