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Mound-building Termites
Mound-building termites are a group of termite species that live in mounds which are made of a combination of soil, termite saliva and dung. These termites live in Africa, Australia and South America. The mounds sometimes have a diameter of . Most of the mounds are in well-drained areas. Termite mounds usually outlive the colonies themselves. If the inner tunnels of the nest are exposed it is usually dead. Sometimes other colonies, of the same or different species, occupy a mound after the original builders' deaths. Mound structure The structure of the mounds can be very complicated. Inside the mound is an extensive system of tunnels and conduits that serves as a ventilation system for the underground nest. In order to get good ventilation, the termites will construct several shafts leading down to the cellar located beneath the nest. The mound is built above the subterranean nest. The nest itself is a spheroidal structure consisting of numerous gallery chambers. They come ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Litchfield National Park-03
Litchfield may refer to: Places Antarctica * Litchfield Island, Palmer Archipelago Australia * Litchfield Municipality, Northern Territory * Litchfield National Park, Northern Territory * Litchfield Station, Northern Territory Canada * Litchfield, Nova Scotia * Litchfield, Quebec United Kingdom * Litchfield, Hampshire, England * Litchfield Street, Westminster, London United States * Litchfield Park, Arizona * Litchfield, California * Litchfield, Connecticut * Litchfield (borough), Connecticut * Litchfield County, Connecticut * Litchfield Hills, Connecticut * Litchfield, Illinois * Litchfield, Kansas * Litchfield, Maine * Litchfield, Michigan * Litchfield, Minnesota * Litchfield, Nebraska * Litchfield, New Hampshire * Litchfield, New York * Litchfield, Ohio * Litchfield Beach, South Carolina * Litchfield Plantation, South Carolina * Litchfield Township (other) Education * Litchfield Female Academy, in Litchfield, Connecticut; defunct * Litchfield High School (disa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stack Effect
The stack effect or chimney effect is the movement of air into and out of buildings through unsealed openings, chimneys, flue-gas stacks, or other purposefully designed openings or containers, resulting from air buoyancy. Buoyancy occurs due to a difference in indoor-to-outdoor air density resulting from temperature and moisture differences. The result is either a positive or negative buoyancy force. The greater the thermal difference and the height of the structure, the greater the buoyancy force, and thus the stack effect. The stack effect can be useful to drive natural ventilation in certain climates, but in other circumstances may be a cause of unwanted air infiltration or fire hazard. In buildings Since buildings are not totally sealed (at the very minimum, there is always a ground level entrance), the stack effect will cause air infiltration. During the heating season, the warmer indoor air rises up through the building and escapes at the top either through open windows, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Termites
Termites are a group of detritophagous eusocial cockroaches which consume a variety of decaying plant material, generally in the form of wood, leaf litter, and soil humus. They are distinguished by their moniliform antennae and the soft-bodied, unpigmented worker caste for which they have been commonly termed "white ants"; however, they are not ants but highly derived cockroaches. About 2,997 extant species are currently described, 2,125 of which are members of the family Termitidae. Termites comprise the infraorder Isoptera, or alternatively the epifamily Termitoidae, within the order Blattodea (the cockroaches). Termites were once classified in a separate order from cockroaches, but recent phylogenetic studies indicate that they evolved from cockroaches, as they are deeply nested within the group, and the sister group to wood-eating cockroaches of the genus '' Cryptocercus''. Previous estimates suggested the divergence took place during the Jurassic or Triassic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eusociality
Eusociality ( Greek 'good' and social) is the highest level of organization of sociality. It is defined by the following characteristics: cooperative brood care (including care of offspring from other individuals), overlapping generations within a colony of adults, and a division of labor into reproductive and non-reproductive groups. The division of labor creates specialized behavioral groups within an animal society, sometimes called castes. Eusociality is distinguished from all other social systems because individuals of at least one caste usually lose the ability to perform behaviors characteristic of individuals in another caste. Eusocial colonies can be viewed as superorganisms. Eusociality has evolved among the insects, crustaceans, trematoda and mammals. It is most widespread in the Hymenoptera (ants, bees, and wasps) and in Isoptera (termites). A colony has caste differences: queens and reproductive males take the roles of the sole reproducers, while soldiers ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amitermes Meridionalis
''Amitermes meridionalis'', commonly known as the magnetic termite or compass termite, is a species of eusocial insect in the family Termitidae. It is endemic to northern Australia and the common names derive from the fact that the wedge-shaped mound is aligned with its main axis running north and south. Description A large mound may house up to a million individual termites. Each is the nest of a colony of ''Amitermes meridionalis'' and houses the queen, king, reproductives, soldiers and workers. The outer surface of the mound is hard and durable whereas the material separating the chambers and galleries inside is more papery. The soldiers are long and their curved mandibles bear a single in-turned tooth. Many termites never leave the mound and as a result of this protected environment they have thin cuticles, colourless bodies, little sight and little ability to protect themselves. Distribution and habitat ''Amitermes meridionalis'' is native to the northern part of Northern T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Syntermes
''Syntermes'' is a genus of large Neotropical higher termites within the subfamily Syntermitinae. The genus is found only in South America where members are distributed widely throughout the continent, being found from the tropical rainforests of Colombia to the savannas of Brazil and Northern Argentina. Most known species forage in the open and collect either leaf or grass litter which is stored in subterranean chambers for later consumption. The nests are primarily subterranean with epigeal mound A mound is a wikt:heaped, heaped pile of soil, earth, gravel, sand, rock (geology), rocks, or debris. Most commonly, mounds are earthen formations such as hills and mountains, particularly if they appear artificial. A mound may be any rounded ... structures built from loose dirt of varying compactness. Some species, such as '' Syntermes dirus'', construct highly impressive mounds with the most well known being found in a large complex of mounds spanning an area the size of Gr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Caatinga
Caatinga () is a type of semi-arid tropical vegetation, and an ecoregion characterized by this vegetation in interior northeastern Brazil. The name "Caatinga" comes from the Tupi word '' ka'atinga'', meaning "white forest" or "white vegetation" ('' ka'a'' = forest, vegetation, '' tinga'' = white). The Caatinga is a xeric shrubland and thorn forest, which consists primarily of small, thorny trees that shed their leaves seasonally. Cacti, thick-stemmed plants, thorny brush, and arid-adapted grasses make up the ground layer. Most vegetation experiences a brief burst of activity during the three-month-long rainy season. Caatinga falls entirely within earth's tropical zone and is one of six major biomes of Brazil. It covers 912,529 km², nearly 10% of Brazil's territory. It is home to 26 million people and over 2000 species of plants, fish, reptiles, amphibians, birds, and mammals. The Caatinga is the only exclusively Brazilian biome, which means that a large part of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Odontotermes Obesus
''Odontotermes obesus'' is a species of termite in the family Termitidae. It is native to tropical southwestern Asia. This termite cultivates a symbiotic fungus in a special chamber in the nest. Workers gather vegetable detritus which they bring back to the colony, chewing up the material to make a suitable substrate on which the fungus will grow. The colony Termites of this species swarm from April and May onwards, before and during the wet season. After their nuptial flight, a pair of winged termites will search for a soil crevice or loose soil in which to establish their nest. The initial structure is a cone-shaped mound, with cone-shaped turrets; the fungus garden (sometimes called the comb) is at the centre of the cone with the royal chamber beneath. Galleries, runways and vaults are added as the colony expands, and the nest principally grows upwards. Ecology The colony feeds exclusively on the fungus that they grow in their underground fungus garden. The workers forage for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Macrotermes Michaelseni
''Macrotermes michaelseni'' is a species of termite in the family Termitidae, found in sub-Saharan Africa. It is associated with the fungus '' Termitomyces schimperi''. Distribution and habitat ''Macrotermes michaelseni'' is one of several different species of the genus ''Macrotermes'' which occur in savannahs in sub-Saharan Africa. These species vary in their soil preferences, some favoring moister habitats, but ''M. michaelseni'' can be more tolerant of drier habitats. The species is common in the Okavango Delta in northern Botswana, especially in catchment areas that sees periodic flooding from summer rains. Areas with clay soils and high groundwater levels are favourable to it, and there are up to six mounds per hectare in the delta area. Colony structure Nests of ''Macrotermes michaelseni'' initially consists of a number of chambers and tunnels completely underground. A mound is built above the ground only in a mature colony, which in time can become an enormous structure, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Odontotermes Transvaalensis
''Odontotermes'' is a termite genus belonging to subfamily Macrotermitinae (fungus-growing termites), which is native to the Old World. They are most destructive in wooden homes, and are agricultural pests in the tropics and subtropics of Africa and Asia. It is the most diverse termite genus in Africa, with 78 species recorded (as of 2002). Nests Their underground nests form a slight mound above ground, which may be covered in grass. In large colonies, the mounds may be up to in diameter, and may be covered by shrubs and trees. Some species construct open chimneys or vent holes that descend into the mound. The fungal garden is enveloped by a thick layer of clay. Castes The queen lives in a clay cell in the midst of the fungal garden at the center of the hive. The African species have a single soldier caste, unlike the related genus ''Macrotermes''. Alarmed soldier termites of ''Odontotermes badius'' Haviland 1898 expel an odoriferous brown defensive secretion between their mand ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Venturi Effect
The Venturi effect is the reduction in fluid pressure that results when a moving fluid speeds up as it flows from one section of a pipe to a smaller section. The Venturi effect is named after its discoverer, the Italian physicist Giovanni Battista Venturi, and was first published in 1797. The effect has various engineering applications, as the reduction in pressure inside the constriction can be used both for measuring the fluid flow and for moving other fluids (e.g. in a vacuum ejector). Background In inviscid fluid dynamics, an incompressible fluid's velocity must ''increase'' as it passes through a constriction in accord with the principle of mass continuity, while its static pressure must ''decrease'' in accord with the principle of conservation of mechanical energy (Bernoulli's principle) or according to the Euler equations. Thus, any gain in kinetic energy a fluid may attain by its increased velocity through a constriction is balanced by a drop in pressure because ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Macrotermes Natalensis
''Macrotermes natalensis'' is a fungus-growing termite species of South Africa that belongs to the genus ''Macrotermes.'' This species is associated with the ''Termitomyces'' fungal genus. ''M. natalensis'' has domesticated ''Termitomyces'' to produce food for the Colony (biology), colony. Both termite species- fungal genus- are obligate and mutually beneficial where termite relies on the fungus to break down for plant materiel and nutrient resource. In contrast, the fungal species obtain plant material and optimal conditions for growth. ''M. natalensis'' has become a well-studied fungus-growing termite species, and its genomic sequence reads generate 1.3 gigabytes of data, making it the largest insect, termite genome to date. Colony caste system All the fungus-growing termite colonies are similar Eusociality, caste systems. Each caste plays a different role in the colony, but it is not yet known how caste selection occurs. The primary reproductive caste or royal pair is ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
