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Meranoplus Hospes
''Meranoplus'' is an Old World genus of ants in the subfamily Myrmicinae. With over 80 valid species, it is predicted that over half of the ''Meranoplus'' diversity remains undescribed, most of these from Australia. Classification ''Meranoplus'' is a unique and charismatic myrmicine genus of hairy, slow-moving, and armored ants. The genus was previously classified in its own tribe, the Meranoplini, with one fossil genus, '' Parameranoplus'', from Baltic amber (44.1 ± 1.1 mya), but was moved to Crematogastrini by Ward ''et al.'' (2015). The historic shuffling of ''Meranoplus'' through higher taxa — Cryptoceridae, Cataulacinae, Tetramoriini, Meranoplini — reflects our poor understanding of the phylogenetic position of ''Meranoplus'' within the Formicidae. Brady et ''al''. (2006) recovered a clade of ''Meranoplus'' and '' Cataulacus'', although this relationship was not supported in Moreau ''et al''. (2006). Distribution The extant species of ''Meranoplus'' are distributed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Meranoplus Mayri
''Meranoplus mayri'' is a Madagascar, Malagasy species of ant in the genus ''Meranoplus''. Distribution ''Meranoplus mayri'' is distributed throughout the drier regions of Madagascar from the Southwestern region near Andohahela National Park all the way north into the Mahajanga Province. The elevational range of ''M. mayri'' is 20–1345 m. Description This species displays subtle variation in morphometric and most sculptural characters across its range except for the sculpture of the base of abdominal tergum IV. This character varies from extremely smooth and shining in the southwest to strongly, dense-punctate and costate along the western edge of the High Plateau. Intergrades are common, however, occurring all along the western coast and into the High Plateau. Both smooth and punctate specimens may be found at the same locales, including Ampotoampoto, Ejada, Tsihombe and Ambinanitelo. The variation of this character indicates that although the two extremes are reproductively ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phylogenetics
In biology, phylogenetics () is the study of the evolutionary history of life using observable characteristics of organisms (or genes), which is known as phylogenetic inference. It infers the relationship among organisms based on empirical data and observed heritable traits of DNA sequences, protein amino acid sequences, and morphology. The results are a phylogenetic tree—a diagram depicting the hypothetical relationships among the organisms, reflecting their inferred evolutionary history. The tips of a phylogenetic tree represent the observed entities, which can be living taxa or fossils. A phylogenetic diagram can be rooted or unrooted. A rooted tree diagram indicates the hypothetical common ancestor of the taxa represented on the tree. An unrooted tree diagram (a network) makes no assumption about directionality of character state transformation, and does not show the origin or "root" of the taxa in question. In addition to their use for inferring phylogenetic pa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Meranoplus Ajax
''Meranoplus'' is an Old World genus of ants in the subfamily Myrmicinae. With over 80 valid species, it is predicted that over half of the ''Meranoplus'' diversity remains undescribed, most of these from Australia. Classification ''Meranoplus'' is a unique and charismatic myrmicine genus of hairy, slow-moving, and armored ants. The genus was previously classified in its own tribe (biology), tribe, the Meranoplini, with one fossil genus, ''Parameranoplus'', from Baltic amber (44.1 ± 1.1 Mya (unit), mya), but was moved to Crematogastrini by Ward ''et al.'' (2015). The historic shuffling of ''Meranoplus'' through higher taxa — Cryptoceridae, Cataulacinae, Tetramoriini, Meranoplini — reflects our poor understanding of the Phylogenetics, phylogenetic position of ''Meranoplus'' within the Formicidae. Brady et ''al''. (2006) recovered a clade of ''Meranoplus'' and ''Cataulacus'', although this relationship was not supported in Moreau ''et al''. (2006). Distribution The extant spe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dufour Glands
Dufour's gland is an abdominal gland of certain insects, part of the anatomy of the ovipositor or sting apparatus in female members of Apocrita. The diversification of Hymenoptera took place in the Cretaceous and the gland may have developed at about this time (200 million years ago) as it is present in all three groups of Apocrita, the wasps, bees and ants. Structure Dufour’s gland was first described by Léon Jean Marie Dufour in 1841. Along with the spermatheca and the poison gland, it develops as an invagination of valves of the sternum. It empties at the base of the ovipositor in ants but into the dorsal vaginal wall in bees and wasps. The gland is lined by a single layer of epithelial cells which secrete substances into the hollow interior. Muscles round the opening of the duct and may help control the outflow. Function Dufour’s gland secretes chemicals, the nature and functions of which differs across various hymenopteran groups. The secretion is often used in communic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hemipteran
Hemiptera (; ) is an order of insects, commonly called true bugs, comprising more than 80,000 species within groups such as the cicadas, aphids, planthoppers, leafhoppers, assassin bugs, bed bugs, and shield bugs. They range in size from to around , and share a common arrangement of piercing-sucking mouthparts. The name "true bugs" is sometimes limited to the suborder Heteroptera. Entomologists reserve the term ''bug'' for Hemiptera or Heteroptera,Gilbert Waldbauer. ''The Handy Bug Answer Book.'' Visible Ink, 1998p. 1. which does not include other arthropods or insects of other orders such as ants, bees, beetles, or butterflies. In some varieties of English, all terrestrial arthropods (including non-insect arachnids and myriapods) also fall under the colloquial understanding of ''bug''. Many insects with "bug" in their common name, especially in American English, belong to other orders; for example, the lovebug is a fly and the Maybug and ladybug are beetles. The term is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trophobiosis
Trophobiosis is a symbiosis, symbiotic association between organisms where food is obtained or provided. The provider of food in the association is referred to as a trophobiont. The name is derived from the Ancient Greek τροφή (''trophē''), meaning "nourishment", and -βίωσις (''-biosis''), which is short for the English word ''symbiosis''. Among the more noted trophobiotic groups are ants and members of a number of hemipteran families. A number of ant genera are recorded as tending groups of hemipterans to varying degrees. In most cases the ants collect and transport the Honeydew (secretion), honeydew secretions from the hemipterans back to the nest for consumption. Not all examples of ant trophobiotic interactions are Mutualism (biology), mutualistic, with instances such as ants attracted to ''Cacopsylla pyricola'' feeding on both the honeydew and the ''C. pyricola'' individuals. This interaction has been recorded in Classical Chinese, Ancient Chinese writings and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Malaysia
Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula and East Malaysia on the island of Borneo. Peninsular Malaysia shares land and maritime Malaysia–Thailand border, borders with Thailand, as well as maritime borders with Singapore, Vietnam, and Indonesia; East Malaysia shares land borders with Brunei and Indonesia, and a maritime border with the Philippines and Vietnam. Kuala Lumpur is the country's national capital, List of cities and towns in Malaysia by population, largest city, and the seat of the Parliament of Malaysia, legislative branch of the Government of Malaysia, federal government, while Putrajaya is the federal administrative capi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Granivore
Seed predation, often referred to as granivory, is a type of plant-animal interaction in which granivores (seed predators) feed on the seeds of plants as a main or exclusive food source,Hulme, P.E. and Benkman, C.W. (2002) "Granivory", pp. 132–154 in ''Plant animal Interactions: An Evolutionary Approach'', ed. C.M. Herrera and O. Pellmyr. Oxford: Blackwell. . in many cases leaving the seeds damaged and not viable. Granivores are found across many families of vertebrates (especially mammals and birds) as well as invertebrates (mainly insects); thus, seed predation occurs in virtually all terrestrial ecosystems. Seed predation is commonly divided into two distinctive temporal categories, pre-dispersal and post-dispersal predation, which affect the fitness of the parental plant and the dispersed offspring (the seed), respectively. Mitigating pre- and post-dispersal predation may involve different strategies. To counter seed predation, plants have evolved both physical defenses ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crypsis
In ecology, crypsis is the ability of an animal or a plant to avoid observation or detection by other animals. It may be part of a predation strategy or an antipredator adaptation. Methods include camouflage, nocturnality, subterranean lifestyle and mimicry. Crypsis can involve visual, olfactory (with pheromones) or auditory concealment. When it is visual, the term cryptic coloration, effectively a synonym for animal camouflage, is sometimes used, but many different methods of camouflage are employed in nature. Overview There is a strong evolutionary pressure for prey animals to avoid predators through camouflage, and for predators to be able to detect camouflaged prey. There can be a self-perpetuating coevolution, in the shape of an evolutionary arms race, between the perceptive abilities of animals attempting to detect the cryptic animal and the cryptic characteristics of the hiding species. Methods Methods of crypsis include (visual) camouflage, nocturnality, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thanatosis
Apparent death is a behavior in which animals take on the appearance of being dead. It is an immobile state most often triggered by a predatory attack and can be found in a wide range of animals from insects and crustaceans to mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Apparent death is separate from the freezing behavior seen in some animals. Apparent death is a form of animal deception considered to be an anti-predator strategy, but it can also be used as a form of aggressive mimicry. When induced by humans, the state is sometimes colloquially known as animal hypnosis. The earliest written record of "animal hypnosis" dates back to the year 1646 in a report by Athanasius Kircher, in which he subdued chickens. Description Tonic immobility (also known as the act of feigning death, or exhibiting thanatosis) is a behaviour in which some animals become apparently temporarily paralysed and unresponsive to external stimuli. Tonic immobility is most generally considered to b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
New Caledonia
New Caledonia ( ; ) is a group of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean, southwest of Vanuatu and east of Australia. Located from Metropolitan France, it forms a Overseas France#Sui generis collectivity, ''sui generis'' collectivity of the French Republic, a legal status unique in overseas France, and is enshrined in a dedicated chapter of the French Constitution. The archipelago, part of the Melanesia subregion, includes the main island of Grande Terre (New Caledonia), Grande Terre, the Loyalty Islands, the Chesterfield Islands, the Belep archipelago, the Isle of Pines (New Caledonia), Isle of Pines, and a few remote islets. The Chesterfield Islands are in the Coral Sea. French people, especially locals, call Grande Terre , a nickname also used more generally for the entire New Caledonia. Kanak people#Agitation for independence, Pro-independence Kanak parties use the name (''pron.'' ) to refer to New Caledonia, a term coined in the 1980s from the ethnic name of the indi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
