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Midge Cozzens
A midge is any small fly, including species in several families of non-mosquito nematoceran Diptera. Midges are found (seasonally or otherwise) on practically every land area outside permanently arid deserts and the frigid zones. Some midges, such as many Phlebotominae (sand fly) and Simuliidae (black fly), are vectors of various diseases. Many others play useful roles as prey for insectivores, such as various frogs and swallows. Others are important as detritivores, and form part of various nutrient cycles. The habits of midges vary greatly from species to species, though within any particular family, midges commonly have similar ecological roles. Examples of families that include species of midges include: * Blephariceridae, net-winged midges * Cecidomyiidae, gall midges * Ceratopogonidae, biting midges (also known as no-see-ums or punkies in North America and sandflies in Australia) * Chaoboridae, phantom midges * Chironomidae, non-biting midges (also known as muckl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ceratopogonidae
Ceratopogonidae is a family of flies commonly known as no-see-ums, sand flies or biting midges, generally in length. The family includes more than 5,000 species, distributed worldwide, apart from the Antarctic and the Arctic. A 2025 study from Oxford University lists the subspecies Ceratopogonidae midges as "the most widely recognised and best-studied cocoa pollinators." Ceratopogonidae are holometabolous, meaning their development includes four life stages: egg, larva, pupa, and imago or adult. Most common species in warmer climates will take about two to six weeks to complete a life cycle. Both adult males and females feed on nectar. Most females also feed on the blood of vertebrates, including humans, to get protein for egg-laying. Their bites are painful, and can cause intensely itchy lesions due to the body producing histamines against the proteins from the midges' saliva. Their mouthparts are well-developed for cutting the skin of their hosts. Some species pre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Great Lakes
The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes spanning the Canada–United States border. The five lakes are Lake Superior, Superior, Lake Michigan, Michigan, Lake Huron, Huron, Lake Erie, Erie, and Lake Ontario, Ontario (though hydrologically, Lake Michigan–Huron, Michigan and Huron are a single body of water, joined at the Straits of Mackinac). The Great Lakes Waterway enables modern travel and shipping by water among the lakes. The lakes connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River, and to the Mississippi River basin through the Illinois Waterway. The Great Lakes are the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total area and the second-largest by total volume. They contain 21% of the world's surface fresh water by volume. The total surface is , and the total volume (measured at the low water datum) is , slightly less than the volume of Lake Baikal (, 22–23% of the world's surface f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Highland Midge
The highland midge (scientific name: ''Culicoides impunctatus''; ; ) is a species of biting midge found across the Palearctic (throughout Britain, Ireland, Scandinavia, other regions of Northern Europe, Russia and Northern China) in upland and lowland areas (fens, bogs and marshes). In the north west of Scotland, and down the Western coast to north Wales, the highland midge is usually very prevalent from late spring to late summer. Female highland midges are well known for gathering in clouds and biting humans, though the majority of the blood they obtain comes from cattle, sheep and deer. The bite of ''Culicoides'' is felt as a sharp prick. It is often followed by irritating lumps that may disappear in a few hours or last for days, depending on the individual. Following Scotland's exceptionally cold winter in the early part of 2010, scientists found that the prolonged freezing conditions, rather than reducing the following summer's midge population in the Scottish Highlands, in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hemoglobin
Hemoglobin (haemoglobin, Hb or Hgb) is a protein containing iron that facilitates the transportation of oxygen in red blood cells. Almost all vertebrates contain hemoglobin, with the sole exception of the fish family Channichthyidae. Hemoglobin in the blood carries oxygen from the respiratory organs (lungs or gills) to the other tissues of the body, where it releases the oxygen to enable aerobic respiration which powers an animal's metabolism. A healthy human has 12to 20grams of hemoglobin in every 100mL of blood. Hemoglobin is a metalloprotein, a chromoprotein, and a globulin. In mammals, hemoglobin makes up about 96% of a red blood cell's dry matter, dry weight (excluding water), and around 35% of the total weight (including water). Hemoglobin has an oxygen-binding capacity of 1.34mL of O2 per gram, which increases the total blood oxygen capacity seventy-fold compared to dissolved oxygen in blood plasma alone. The mammalian hemoglobin molecule can bind and transport up to four ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hessian Fly
The Hessian fly (''Mayetiola destructor''), or barley midge, is a species of fly that is a significant pest of cereal crops, including wheat, barley and rye. Though a native of Asia, upon its discovery it was believed to have been transported into North America in the straw bedding of Hessian troops during the American Revolution (1775–1783), thus the origin of its common name. However, the report of an inquiry made in 1788 by Sir Joseph Banks states that "no such insect could be found to exist in Germany or any other part of Europe". Nonetheless, it appears that this species, or one exactly like it in habits, had been known for at least a century prior to the American Revolution from a locality near Geneva, and also for a long time from some regions in France. The Hessian fly was described by Thomas Say in 1817. It is a very harmful insect. It mainly attacks the stem, although if it is especially hungry it will eat any part of the plant it can find. In 1836, a severe infes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phlebotomus
''Phlebotomus'' is a genus of " sand flies" in the Diptera family Psychodidae. In the past, they have sometimes been considered to belong in a separate family, Phlebotomidae, but this alternative classification has not gained wide acceptance. Epidemiology In the Old World, ''Phlebotomus'' sand flies are primarily responsible for the transmission of leishmaniasis, an important parasitic disease, while transmission in the New World, is generally via sand flies of the genus '' Lutzomyia''. The protozoan parasite itself is a species of the genus ''Leishmania''. Leishmaniasis normally finds a mammalian reservoir in rodents and other small animals such as canids ( canine leishmaniasis) and hyraxes. The female sand fly carries the ''Leishmania'' protozoa from infected animals after feeding, thus transmitting the disease, while the male feeds on plant nectar. The parasite ''Leishmania donovani'' is the main causative agent of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) in India, Nepal, and Banglad ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Psychodidae
Psychodidae, also called drain flies, sink flies, filter flies, sewer flies, or sewer gnats, is a Family (biology), family of Fly, true flies. Some genera have short, hairy bodies and wings, giving them a "furry" moth-like appearance, hence one of their common names, moth flies. Members of the sub-family Phlebotominae, which are hematophagous (feed on blood), may be called sand flies in some countries, although this term is also used for other unrelated flies, such as horse flies (Tabanidae) and no-see-ums (Ceratopogonidae). There are more than 2,600 described species worldwide, most of them native to the humid tropics. This makes them one of the most diverse families of their order. Drain flies sometimes inhabit plumbing drains and sewage systems, where they are harmless, but may be a persistent annoyance. Life cycle The larvae of the subfamilies Psychodinae, Sycoracinae and Horaiellinae live in aquatic to semi-terrestrial or sludge-based habitats, including bathroom sinks, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Theobroma Cacao
''Theobroma cacao'' (cacao tree or cocoa tree) is a small ( tall) evergreen tree in the Malvaceae family. Its seedscocoa beansare used to make chocolate liquor, cocoa solids, cocoa butter and chocolate. Although the tree is native to the tropics of the Americas, the largest producer of cocoa beans in 2022 was Ivory Coast. The plant's leaf, leaves are alternate, entire, unlobed, long and broad. Description Flowers The flowers are produced in clusters directly on the Trunk (botany), trunk and older branches; this is known as cauliflory. The flowers are small, diameter, with pink Calyx (botany), calyx. The floral formula, used to represent the structure of a flower using numbers, is ✶ K5 C5 A(5°+52) (5). While many of the world's flowers are pollinated by bees (Hymenoptera) or Butterfly, butterflies/moths (Lepidoptera), cacao flowers are pollinated by tiny flies, ''Forcipomyia'' biting midges. Using the natural pollinator ''Forcipomyia'' midges produced more fruit tha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ceratopogonidae Midge Sucking Sphodromantis Blood IMG 3045ss
Ceratopogonidae is a family of flies commonly known as no-see-ums, sand flies or biting midges, generally in length. The family includes more than 5,000 species, distributed worldwide, apart from the Antarctic and the Arctic. A 2025 study from Oxford University lists the subspecies Ceratopogonidae midges as "the most widely recognised and best-studied cocoa pollinators." Ceratopogonidae are holometabolous, meaning their development includes four life stages: egg, larva, pupa, and imago or adult. Most common species in warmer climates will take about two to six weeks to complete a life cycle. Both adult males and females feed on nectar. Most females also feed on the blood of vertebrates, including humans, to get protein for egg-laying. Their bites are painful, and can cause intensely itchy lesions due to the body producing histamines against the proteins from the midges' saliva. Their mouthparts are well-developed for cutting the skin of their hosts. Some species prey on other ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bluetongue Disease
Bluetongue (BT) disease is a noncontagious, arthropod-borne viral disease affecting ruminants, primarily sheep and other domestic or wild ruminants, including cattle, yaks, goats, buffalo, deer, dromedaries, and antelope. It is caused by Bluetongue virus (BTV), a non-enveloped, double-stranded RNA virus belongs to the genus ''Orbivirus'' within the family ''Sedoreoviridae''. The virus is mainly transmitted by biting midges, specifically ''Culicoides'' species (e.g. ''Culicoides imicola'', ''Culicoides oxystoma,'' and '' Culicoides variipennis''). BTV has a widespread geographical distribution, encompassing numerous continents and regions, including Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, and various tropical and subtropical regions. At present, there are more than 28 recognized serotypes of BTV. Bluetongue outbreaks have had a significant economic impact, with estimated global losses reaching approximately US$3 billion. Clinical signs In sheep, BTV causes an a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thaumaleidae
Thaumaleidae, the solitary midges or trickle midges, are a group of nematoceran flies related to the Ceratopogonidae, Chironomidae, and the Simuliidae. They are small, stocky, yellow to brown flies (3–4 mm). Very few species are known for this family (about 120 species in five genera). Larvae are found in films on rocks and the nonfeeding adults are usually found on foliage along the same streams in which the larvae are found. A few solitary midges are found in the Southern Hemisphere, but Thaumaleidae are generally an Holarctic family. Description Adults are recognised by the seven veins reaching the margin, the costa running around the entire margin, the absence of ocelli, and particularly by the short antennae which are no longer than the head. Larvae resemble larval ''Lutzomyia'' (Psychodidae), ''Forcipomyia'' (Ceratopogonidae), and some Chironomidae. However, unpaired prolegs, a ventrally directed truncate head, and prothoracic spiracles on a short respiratory t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
