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Physogastric
Physogastrism or physogastry is a characteristic of certain arthropods (mostly insects and mites), where the abdomen is greatly enlarged and membranous. The most common examples are the "queens" of certain species of eusocial insects such as termites, bees and ants, in which the abdomen swells in order to hold enlarged ovaries, thus increasing fecundity. This means that the queen has the ability to hold more and produce more eggs at one time. Physogastric queens produce an enormous number of eggs which can account for a significant amount of their body weight. In the termite species ''Macrotermes subhyalinus'', eggs can make up a third of their body weight, and a 15-gram queen can produce up to 30 eggs per minute. The physogastric queens' egg production is supported by oocyte proteins supplied by the "queen body fat." In termites Physogastrism in termites presents itself in quite an unusual manner. Unlike most physogastric insects, the queen termite is able to increase its size ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Schwarziana Quadripunctata
''Schwarziana quadripunctata'' is a small, stingless bee found in a stretch of the South American Amazon from Goiás, Brazil, through Paraguay, to Misiones, Argentina.Michener, C.D. (2007). ''The Bees of the World''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. This highly eusocial insect constructs earthen nests in the subterranean level of the subtropical environment, an unusual feature among other stingless bees. The species ranges in sizes from and feeds on a diverse diet of flowering plants found abundantly on the forest floor, including guacatonga ('' Casearia sylvestris'') and the mistletoe species '' Struthanthus concinnus''. Taxonomy and phylogeny ''Schwarziana quadripunctata'' was first described by the French entomologist and former president of the French Entomologist Society Amédéé Louis Michel le Peletier in 1836. Although originally placed in the genus ''Trigona'', more recent taxonomic evaluations have since placed it under its current genus, following the 19 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paratrigona Subnuda
''Paratrigona subnuda'', commonly known as the jataí-da-terra ("ground jataí"), is a species of eusocial stingless bee in the family Apidae and tribe Meliponini. These social bees are prevalent in Neotropical moist forests, including Brazilian Atlantic and other South American forests. They inhabit spherical nests in moist underground environments with their forest habitats. Within their Neotropical habitats the ''P. subnuda'' is considered to be a very successful and common species of bee. ''P. subnuda''’s main source of food is pollen and nectar from a large variety of native Mesoamerican tropical plants. They have been extensively studied due to social conflicts arising from single mate behaviors and particular virgin behaviors. ''P. subnuda'' also exhibits the particular daily behavior in which they open the nest entrance at dawn and close the entrance at dusk when all their activities are done. Taxonomy and phylogeny ''P. subnuda'' belongs to the family Apidae, but far e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stingless Bee
Stingless bees (SB), sometimes called stingless honey bees or simply meliponines, are a large group of bees (from about 462 to 552 described species), comprising the Tribe (biology), tribe Meliponini (or subtribe Meliponina according to other authors). They belong in the Family (biology), family Apidae (subfamily Apinae), and are closely related to common honey bees (HB, tribe Apini), orchid bees (tribe Euglossini), and bumblebees (tribe Bombini). These four bee tribes belong to the Pollen basket, corbiculate bees Monophyly, monophyletic group. Meliponines have stingers, but they are highly reduced and cannot be used for defense, though these bees exhibit other defensive behaviors and mechanisms. Meliponines are not the only type of bee incapable of stinging: all male bees and many female bees of several other families, such as Andrenidae and Megachilidae (tribe Dioxyini), also cannot sting. Some stingless bees have powerful mandibles and can inflict painful bites. Some species ca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Melipona Bicolor
''Melipona bicolor'' , commonly known as Guaraipo or Guarupu, is a Eusociality, eusocial bee found primarily in South America. It is an inhabitant of the Araucaria moist forests, Araucaria Forest and the Atlantic Rainforest, and is most commonly found from South to East Brazil, Bolivia, Argentina, and Paraguay. It prefers to nest close to the soil, in hollowed trunks or roots of trees. ''M. bicolor'' is a member of the tribe Meliponini, and is therefore a stingless bee. This species is unique among the stingless bees species because it is polygyny in animals, polygynous, which is rare for Eusociality, eusocial bees. Taxonomy and phylogeny ''M. bicolor'' belongs to the genus ''Melipona'' and the tribe Meliponini, which comprises about 500 species of stingless bees. Although they are called stingless, these bees do have a stinger, but it is extremely small and cannot be used for defense.Michener, C D. The bees of the World. Johns Hopkins University Press, 972 pp. ''M. bicolor'' is c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Termite
Termites are a group of detritivore, detritophagous Eusociality, eusocial cockroaches which consume a variety of Detritus, decaying plant material, generally in the form of wood, Plant litter, leaf litter, and Humus, 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 Apomorphy and synapomorphy, 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 Taxonomic rank#All ranks, epifamily Termitoidae, within the order Blattodea (the cockroaches). Termites were once classified in a separate Order (biology), 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 t ... [...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] |
ResearchGate
ResearchGate is a European commercial social networking site for scientists and researchers to share papers, ask and answer questions, and find collaborators. According to a 2014 study by ''Nature'' and a 2016 article in ''Times Higher Education'', it is the largest academic social network in terms of active users, although other services have more registered users, and a 2015–2016 survey suggests that almost as many academics have Google Scholar profiles. While reading articles does not require registration, people who wish to become site members need to have an email address at a recognized institution or to be manually confirmed as a published researcher in order to sign up for an account. Articles are free to read by visitors, however additional features (such as job postings or advertisements) are accessible only as a paid subscription. Members of the site each have a user profile and can upload research output including papers, data, chapters, negative results, patents, r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Acari
Mites are small arachnids (eight-legged arthropods) of two large orders, the Acariformes and the Parasitiformes, which were historically grouped together in the subclass Acari. However, most recent genetic analyses do not recover the two as each other's closest relative within Arachnida, rendering the group invalid as a clade. Most mites are tiny, less than in length, and have a simple, unsegmented body plan. The small size of most species makes them easily overlooked; some species live in water, many live in soil as decomposers, others live on plants, sometimes creating galls, while others are predators or parasites. This last type includes the commercially destructive '' Varroa'' parasite of honey bees, as well as scabies mites of humans. Most species are harmless to humans, but a few are associated with allergies or may transmit diseases. The scientific discipline devoted to the study of mites is called acarology. Evolution and taxonomy Mites are not a defined taxon, b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tunga Penetrans
''Tunga penetrans'' is a species of flea also known as the jigger, jigger flea, chigoe, chigo, chigoe flea, chigo flea, nigua, sand flea, or burrowing flea. It is a parasitic insect found in most tropical and sub-tropical climates. In its parasitic phase it has significant impact on its hosts, which include humans and certain other mammalian species. A parasitical infestation of ''T. penetrans'' is called tungiasis. Jiggers are often confused with chiggers, a type of mite. Jiggers are native to Central and South America, and have been introduced to sub-Saharan Africa.Cestari TF, Pessato S, Ramos-e-Silva M Tungiasis and myiasis.' Clin Dermatol. 2007 Mar-Apr;25(2):158-64. Synonyms for ''Tunga penetrans'' include ''Sarcopsylla penetrans'', ''Pulex penetrates'', and many others. Description ''T. penetrans'' is a small flea around in length. Adults have an angled head and lack pronotal and genal ctenidia. To facilitate reproduction males have a long intromittent organ, one of t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Parasitism
Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives (at least some of the time) on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The entomologist E. O. Wilson characterised parasites' way of feeding as "predators that eat prey in units of less than one". Parasites include single-celled protozoans such as the agents of malaria, sleeping sickness, and amoebic dysentery; animals such as hookworms, lice, mosquitoes, and vampire bats; fungi such as honey fungus and the agents of ringworm; and plants such as mistletoe, dodder, and the broomrapes. There are six major parasitic strategies of exploitation of animal hosts, namely parasitic castration, directly transmitted parasitism (by contact), trophicallytransmitted parasitism (by being eaten), vector-transmitted parasitism, parasitoidism, and micropredation. One major axis of classification concerns invasiveness: ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Megetra
''Megetra'' is a genus of blister beetles in the family Meloidae Blister beetles are beetles of the family Meloidae, so called for their defensive secretion of a blistering agent, cantharidin. About 7,500 species are known worldwide. Many are conspicuous and some are aposematically colored, announcing their .... There are at least three described species in ''Megetra''. Species These three species belong to the genus ''Megetra'': * '' Megetra cancellata'' (Brandt & Erichson, 1832) * '' Megetra punctata'' Selander, 1965 * '' Megetra vittata'' (LeConte, 1853) References Further reading * * * Meloidae Articles created by Qbugbot Tenebrionoidea genera {{meloidae-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Meloidae
Blister beetles are beetles of the family Meloidae, so called for their defensive secretion of a blistering agent, cantharidin. About 7,500 species are known worldwide. Many are conspicuous and some are aposematically colored, announcing their toxicity to would-be predators. Description Blister beetles are hypermetamorphic, going through several larval stages, the first of which is typically a mobile triungulin. The larvae are insectivorous, mainly attacking bees, though a few feed on grasshopper eggs. While sometimes considered parasitoids, in general, the meloid larva apparently consumes the immature host along with its provisions, and can often survive on the provisions alone; thus it is not an obligatory parasitoid, but rather a facultative parasitoid, or simply a kleptoparasite. The adults sometimes feed on flowers and leaves of plants of such diverse families as the Amaranthaceae, Asteraceae, Fabaceae, and Solanaceae. Cantharidin, a poisonous chemical that causes blis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
