|
Dendrobium Christyanum
''Dendrobium christyanum'' is a species of orchid (Orchidaceae) Endemism, endemic to the Chinese island of Hainan. It produces a volatile organic compound that is unrecorded in other plant species. The flowers of this orchid produce a bee pheromone which attracts its pollinator, ''Vespa bicolor'', a species of hornet. The novel feature, first reported in 2009, is supposed to mimic the distress pheromone of the indigenous Asian honey bee ''Apis cerana'' (the same chemical as in the European ''Apis mellifera'', which does not occur naturally on Hainan). The chemical compound, (Z)-11-eicosen-1-ol, can be detected by the hornet and is it is assumed this mimicry deceives the insect into visiting the flower without reward (the flowers offer no nectar). ''V. bicolor'' preys on honey bees to feed its larvae. The European beewolf (''Philanthus triangulum'') is also able to detect this compound when hunting bees. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heinrich Gustav Reichenbach
Heinrich Gustav Reichenbach (Dresden, 3 January 1823 – Hamburg, 6 May 1889) was a botanist and the foremost Germany, German orchidologist of the 19th century. His father Ludwig Reichenbach, Heinrich Gottlieb Ludwig Reichenbach (author of ''Icones Florae Germanicae et Helveticae'') was also a well-known botanist. Biography He started his study of orchids at the age of 18 and assisted his father in the writing of ''Icones''. He became a Doctor in Botany with his work on the pollen of orchids (see ‘Selected Works’). Soon after his graduation, Reichenbach was appointed to the post of extraordinary professor of botany at the University of Leipzig, Leipzig in 1855. He then became director of the botanical gardens at the University of Hamburg, Hamburg University (1863-1889). At that time, thousands of newly discovered orchids were being sent back to Europe. He was responsible for identifying, describing, classifying. Reichenbach named and recorded many of these new discoveries. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Endemic Flora Of Hainan
Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsewhere. For example, the Cape sugarbird is found exclusively in southwestern South Africa and is therefore said to be ''endemic'' to that particular part of the world. An endemic species can also be referred to as an ''endemism'' or, in scientific literature, as an ''endemite''. Similarly, many species found in the Western ghats of India are examples of endemism. Endemism is an important concept in conservation biology for measuring biodiversity in a particular place and evaluating the risk of extinction for species. Endemism is also of interest in evolutionary biology, because it provides clues about how changes in the environment cause species to undergo range shifts (potentially expanding their range into a larger area or bec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dendrobium
''Dendrobium'' is a genus of mostly Epiphyte, epiphytic and Lithophyte, lithophytic orchids in the Family (biology), family Orchidaceae. It is a very large genus, containing more than 1,800 species that are found in diverse habitats throughout much of South Asia, south, East Asia, east and southeast Asia, including China, Japan, India, the Philippines, Indonesia, Australia, New Guinea, Vietnam and many of the islands of the Pacific Islands, Pacific. Orchids in this genus have roots that creep over the surface of trees or rocks, rarely having their roots in soil. Up to six leaves develop in a tuft at the tip of a shoot and from one to a large number of flowers are arranged along an unbranched flowering stem. Several attempts have been made to separate ''Dendrobium'' into smaller genera, but most have not been accepted by the World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. Description ''Dendrobium'' species are mostly Epiphyte, epiphytic, or Lithophyte, lithophytic although a few spec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Philanthus Triangulum
The European beewolf (''Philanthus triangulum''), also known as the bee-killer wasp or the bee-eating philanthus (from the now obsolete synonym ''Philanthus apivorus''), is a solitary wasp that lives in the Western Palearctic and Afrotropics. Although the adults of the species are herbivores (feeding on nectar and pollen), the species derives its name from the behaviour of the inseminated females, who hunt Western honey bees. The female places several of its paralysed prey together with an egg in a small underground chamber, to serve as food for the wasp larvae. All members of the genus '' Philanthus'' hunt various species of bees, but ''P. triangulum'' is apparently the only one that specialises in Western honey bees. Identification The European beewolf is a species of solitary wasp with bold yellow and black markings on the abdomen, males have trident-shaped markings between their bluish eyes while the larger females have a reddish stripe behind the eyes and a pale face. H ... [...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] |
Mimicry
In evolutionary biology, mimicry is an evolved resemblance between an organism and another object, often an organism of another species. Mimicry may evolve between different species, or between individuals of the same species. In the simplest case, as in Batesian mimicry, a mimic resembles a model, so as to deceive a dupe, all three being of different species. A Batesian mimic, such as a hoverfly, is harmless, while its model, such as a wasp, is harmful, and is avoided by the dupe, such as an insect-eating bird. Birds hunt by sight, so the mimicry in that case is visual, but in other cases mimicry may make use of any of the senses. Most types of mimicry, including Batesian, are deceptive, as the mimics are not harmful, but Müllerian mimicry, where different harmful species resemble each other, is Honest signal, honest, as when species of wasps and of bees all have genuinely Aposematism, aposematic warning coloration. More complex types may be bipolar, involving only two speci ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Apis Mellifera
The western honey bee or European honey bee (''Apis mellifera'') is the most common of the 7–12 species of honey bees worldwide. The genus name ''Apis'' is Latin for 'bee', and ''mellifera'' is the Latin for 'honey-bearing' or 'honey-carrying', referring to the species' production of honey. Like all honey bee species, the western honey bee is eusocial, creating colonies with a single fertile female (or "queen"), many normally non-reproductive females or "workers", and a small proportion of fertile males or " drones". Individual colonies can house tens of thousands of bees. Colony activities are organized by complex communication between individuals, through both pheromones and the waggle dance. The western honey bee was one of the first domesticated insects, and it is the primary species maintained by beekeepers to this day for both its honey production and pollination activities. With human assistance, the western honey bee now occupies every continent except Antarctica. Wes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Orchid
Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Orchids are cosmopolitan plants that are found in almost every habitat on Earth except glaciers. The world's richest diversity of orchid genera and species is in the tropics. Orchidaceae is one of the two largest families of flowering plants, the other being the Asteraceae. It contains about 28,000 currently accepted species in 702 genera. The Orchidaceae family encompasses about 6–11% of all species of seed plants. The largest genera are '' Bulbophyllum'' (2,000 species), '' Epidendrum'' (1,500 species), '' Dendrobium'' (1,400 species) and '' Pleurothallis'' (1,000 species). It also includes '' Vanilla'' (the genus of the vanilla plant), the type genus '' Orchis'', and many commonly cultivated plants such as '' Phalaenopsis'' and '' Cattleya''. Moreover, since the introduction of tropical species into cu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Apis Cerana
''Apis cerana'', the eastern honey bee, Asiatic honey bee or Asian honey bee, is a species of honey bee native to South, Southeast and East Asia. This species is the sister species of '' Apis koschevnikovi'' and both are in the same subgenus as the western (European) honey bee, '' Apis mellifera''. Engel, M.S. (1999) The taxonomy of recent and fossil honey bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae: ''Apis''). ''Journal of Hymenoptera Research'' 8: pp. 165–196. ''A. cerana'' is known to live sympatrically along with '' Apis koschevnikovi'' within the same geographic location. ''Apis cerana'' colonies are known for building nests consisting of multiple combs in cavities containing a small entrance, presumably for defense against invasion by individuals of another nest.Nanork, P., et al. "Social parasitism by workers in queenless and queenright Apis cerana colonies." Molecular ecology 16.5 (2007): 1107-1114. The diet of this honey bee species consists mostly of pollen and nectar, or honey.Haydak ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hornet
Hornets (insects in the genus ''Vespa'') are the largest of the Eusociality, eusocial wasps, and are similar in appearance to yellowjackets, their close relatives. Some species can reach up to in length. They are distinguished from other Vespinae, vespine wasps by the relatively large vertex (anatomy), top margin of the head. Worldwide, 22 species of ''Vespa'' are recognized.A.H. Smith-Pardo, J.M. Carpenter, L. Kimsey (2020) The diversity of hornets in the genus ''Vespa'' (Hymenoptera: Vespidae; Vespinae), their importance and interceptions in the United States. Insect Systematics and Diversity 4(3) https://doi.org/10.1093/isd/ixaa006 Most species only occur in the tropics of Asia, though the European hornet (''V. crabro'') is widely distributed throughout Europe, Russia, North America, and north-eastern Asia. Wasps native to North America in the genus ''Dolichovespula'' are commonly referred to as hornets (e.g., baldfaced hornets), but all of them are actually yellowjackets. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
