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Pseudocopulation
Pseudocopulation is a behavior similar to Copulation (zoology), copulation that serves a reproductive function for one or both participants but does not involve actual sexual union between the individuals. It is most generally applied to a pollinator attempting to copulate with a flower adapted to mimicry, mimic a potential female mate. The resemblance may be visual, but the key stimuli are often chemical and tactile. The form of mimicry in plants that deceives an insect into pseudocopulation is called Pouyannian mimicry after the French lawyer and amateur botanist Maurice-Alexandre Pouyanne. A non-mimetic form of pseudocopulation has been observed in some Parthenogenesis, parthenogenetic, all-female species of lizard. The behaviour does not appear to be necessary to trigger parthenogenesis. Definition In zoology, pseudocopulation is attempted Copulation (zoology), copulation that serves a reproductive function for one or both participants but does not involve actual sexual un ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pouyannian Mimicry
Pouyannian mimicry is a form of mimicry in plants that deceives an insect into pseudocopulation, attempting to copulate with a flower. The flower mimicry, mimics a potential female mate of a male insect, which then serves the plant as a pollinator. The mechanism is named after the French lawyer and amateur botanist Maurice-Alexandre Pouyanne. The resemblance that he noted is visual, but the key stimuli that deceive the pollinator are often chemical and tactile. In orchids, the resemblance is to a species of bee; Pouyanne observed the bee ''Dasyscolia ciliata'' pollinating the orchid ''Ophrys speculum''. The flower uses morphology, coloration, and scent to deceive the pollinator. The chemicals secreted from the flower's osmophore glands are indistinguishable from the Chemical communication in insects, insect's pheromones. The pollinator is not rewarded with nectar, and may waste significant amounts of sperm while trying to mate with the flower. Definition The form of mimicr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mimicry In Plants
In evolutionary biology, mimicry in plants is where a plant evolves to resemble another organism physically or chemically. Mimicry in plants has been studied far less than mimicry in animals. It may provide protection against herbivory, or may deceptively encourage mutualists, like pollinators, to provide a service without offering a reward in return. Types of plant mimicry include Bakerian, where female flowers imitate males of the same species; Dodsonian, where a plant mimics a rewarding flower, luring pollinators by mimicking another species of flower, or fruit where feeders of the other species are attracted to a fake fruit to distribute seeds; Gilbertian, where a plant has structures like butterfly eggs, dissuading egg-laying; Vavilovian, where a weed is unintentionally selected to resemble a crop plant; Pouyannian, in which a flower imitates a female mate, deceiving a male pollinating insect into pseudocopulation; Batesian, where a harmless species deter predators by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Animal Sexuality
Animal sexual behaviour takes many different forms, including within the same species. Common mating or reproductively motivated systems include monogamy, polygyny, polyandry, polygamy and promiscuity. Other sexual behaviour may be reproductively motivated (e.g. sex apparently due to duress or coercion and situational sexual behaviour) or non-reproductively motivated (e.g. homosexual sexual behaviour, bisexual sexual behaviour, cross-species sex, sexual arousal from objects or places, sex with dead animals, etc.). When animal sexual behaviour is reproductively motivated, it is often termed ''mating'' or '' copulation''; for most non-human mammals, mating and copulation occur at oestrus (the most fertile period in the mammalian female's reproductive cycle), which increases the chances of successful impregnation. Some animal sexual behaviour involves competition, sometimes fighting, between multiple males. Females often select males for mating only if they appear strong ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flower
Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, modified leaves; corolla, the petals; androecium, the male reproductive unit consisting of stamens and pollen; and gynoecium, the female part, containing style and stigma, which receives the pollen at the tip of the style, and ovary, which contains the ovules. When flowers are arranged in groups, they are known collectively as inflorescences. Floral growth originates at stem tips and is controlled by MADS-box genes. In most plant species flowers are heterosporous, and so can produce sex cells of both sexes. Pollination mediates the transport of pollen to the ovules in the ovaries, to facilitate sexual reproduction. It can occur between different plants, as in cross-pollination, or between flowers on the same plant or even the same f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dasyscolia Ciliata
''Dasyscolia ciliata'' is a species of scoliid wasp found throughout the Mediterranean. It is the only species in the genus ''Dasyscolia''. It is the only known pollinator of the European ''Ophrys speculum''. The male wasp is tricked into pollinating the ''Ophrys'' orchid via pseudocopulation. The orchid's Pouyannian mimicry has the flower effectively mimicking the female wasp in appearance and scent. References External links * Dasyscolia ciliata – Encyclopedia of Life Scoliidae Orchid pollinators Insects described in 1787 Monotypic Hymenoptera genera {{Apocrita-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ophrys Apifera
''Ophrys apifera'', known in Europe as the bee orchid, is a perennial plant, perennial herbaceous plant of the genus ''Ophrys'', in the family of Orchidaceae. It serves as an example of Sexual mimicry#Interspecific deceptive mimicry, sexually deceptive pollination and floral mimicry, a highly selective and highly evolved plant–pollinator relationship. Description ''Ophrys apifera'' grows to a height of . This hardy orchid develops small rosettes of leaf, leaves in autumn that continue to grow slowly during winter. Basal leaves are ovate or oblong-lanceolate, and upper leaves and bracts are ovate-lanceolate and sheathing. Leaves exhibit parallel venation. The plant blooms from mid-April in continental Europe, but in the United Kingdom it flowers June to July. A flower spike is produced, composed from one to twelve flowers. Three large, purple sepals surround the base of the flower, which can easily be mistaken for petals. The true petals lie just above the sepals as two sho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Speciation
Speciation is the evolutionary process by which populations evolve to become distinct species. The biologist Orator F. Cook coined the term in 1906 for cladogenesis, the splitting of lineages, as opposed to anagenesis, phyletic evolution within lineages. Charles Darwin was the first to describe the role of natural selection in speciation in his 1859 book ''On the Origin of Species''. He also identified sexual selection as a likely mechanism, but found it problematic. There are four geographic modes of speciation in nature, based on the extent to which speciating populations are isolated from one another: allopatric speciation, allopatric, peripatric speciation, peripatric, parapatric speciation, parapatric, and sympatric speciation, sympatric. Whether genetic drift is a minor or major contributor to speciation is the subject of much ongoing discussion. Rapid sympatric speciation can take place through polyploidy, such as by doubling of chromosome number; the result is progeny wh ... [...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] |
Parthenogenesis
Parthenogenesis (; from the Greek + ) is a natural form of asexual reproduction in which the embryo develops directly from an egg without need for fertilization. In animals, parthenogenesis means the development of an embryo from an unfertilized Gametophyte, egg cell. In plants, parthenogenesis is a component process of apomixis. In algae, parthenogenesis can mean the development of an embryo from either an individual sperm or an individual egg. Parthenogenesis occurs naturally in some plants, algae, invertebrate animal species (including nematodes, some tardigrades, water fleas, some scorpions, aphids, some mites, some bees, some Phasmatodea, and parasitic wasps), and a few vertebrates, such as some fish, amphibians, and reptiles. This type of reproduction has been induced artificially in animal species that naturally reproduce through sex, including fish, amphibians, and mice. Normal egg cells form in the process of meiosis and are haploid, with half as many chromosomes as t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Desert Grassland Whiptail Lizard
The desert grassland whiptail lizard (''Aspidoscelis uniparens'') is an all-female species of reptiles in North America. It was formerly placed in the genus ''Cnemidophorus''. A common predator of the whiptail lizard is the leopard lizard that preys on ''A. uniparens'' by using ambush and stalk hunting tactics. These reptiles reproduce by parthenogenesis. In this process, eggs undergo a chromosome doubling after meiosis, developing into lizards without being fertilized. However, ovulation is enhanced by female-female courtship and mating (pseudo-copulation) rituals that resemble the behavior of closely related species that reproduce sexually. Description The desert grassland whiptail lizard is a relatively small reptile, whose size ranges from . Desert grassland whiptails are very long and slim, with a thin tail that is longer than their body length. Their distinct identifying feature are the six yellowish lines that run the length of their body. The majority of the whiptail's b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Laredo Striped Whiptail
The Laredo striped whiptail (''Aspidoscelis laredoensis'') is a species of lizard found in the southern United States, in Texas, and northern Mexico in Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, and Tamaulipas. Some sources believe it to be the result of extensive hybridization between the Texas spotted whiptail, '' Aspidoscelis gularis'' and the six-lined racerunner, '' Aspidoscelis sexlineatus''. It is one of many lizard species known to be parthenogenic. Description The Laredo striped whiptail grows from 6 to 11 inches in length. It has an overall color of dark green or dark brown, with 7 yellow or white stripes that run from head to tail, and a white underside. They are thin bodied, with a long tail. Behavior Like other species of whiptail lizard, it is diurnal and insectivorous. They are wary, energetic, and fast moving, darting for cover if approached. Its preferred habitat is areas with sandy soils and sparse vegetation. They are often found in cultivated fields and pasture land. The spe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aspidoscelis Laredoensis, Hidalgo Co
''Aspidoscelis'' is a genus of whiptail lizards in the family Teiidae. Taxonomy The nomenclature for the genus ''Aspidoscelis'' was published by T.W. Reeder et al. in 2002. Many species that were formerly included in the genus ''Cnemidophorus'' are now considered ''Aspidoscelis'' based upon divergent characters between the two groups. Etymology The name ''Aspidoscelis'' literally means "shield-leg", from the Ancient Greek ("shield") and ("leg"). Species The following species are recognized as being valid. *''Aspidoscelis angusticeps'' – Yucatán whiptail *''Aspidoscelis arizonae'' – Arizona striped whiptail *''Aspidoscelis burti'' – canyon spotted whiptail *''Aspidoscelis calidipes'' – Tepalcatepec Valley whiptail *''Aspidoscelis carmenensis'' – Carmen Island whiptail *''Aspidoscelis ceralbensis'' – Cerralvo Island whiptail *''Aspidoscelis communis'' – Colima giant whiptail *''Aspidoscelis costatus'' – western Mexico whiptail lizard *''Aspidoscelis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
