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Red-backed Flameback
The Red-backed flameback, Lesser Sri Lanka flameback, Sri Lanka red-backed woodpecker or Ceylon red-backed woodpecker (''Dinopium psarodes'') is a species of bird in the family Picidae. It is endemic to Sri Lanka, only absent in the far-north. It is sometimes considered a subspecies of the Black-rumped flameback.Seneviratne, S. S., (2021, February 18). ''From Woodies to Plovers: an untold story of our national identity'' ublic online lecture Monthly Public Lecture of the WNPS, Sri Lanka. https://www.facebook.com/wnpssl/videos/818317168897940/ Phylogenetics It has been considered an endemic species since the time of Legge. It was first placed in the genus ''Brachypternus'' as ''Brachypternus ceylonus.'' It was later lumped as subspecies of the Black-rumped flameback (''Dinopium benghalense''), as ''Dinopium benghalense psarodes''. It was elevated to full species status in a study by Sampath S. Seneviratne, Darren E. Irwin, and Saminda P. Fernando. In this study, it was foun ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yellow-faced Flameback
The yellow-faced flameback (''Chrysocolaptes xanthocephalus'') is a species of bird in the family Picidae. It is found on the Philippine islands of Negros and Panay. It is extinct on Guimaras, Masbate, and Ticao (extinct) . It is one of the most spectacular woodpeckers with its bright yellow head and crimson red back. It is sometimes considered a subspecies of the greater flameback. It is found in moist lowland forests including primary, secondary and even plantations and clearings provided there are still standing trees. It is the rarest woodpecker in the country and it is threatened by habitat loss. Description EBird describes the bird as "A rare large woodpecker of lowland and foothill forest with at least some large trees in the central Philippines. Has a red back, a black tail, a yellow belly and cheek, and a black neck with large white spots. Note the crown sloping to an angular crest, which is bright red in males and yellow in females. Unmistakable in its range. Voice ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fruit
In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particular have long propagated using the movements of humans and animals in a symbiotic relationship that is the means for seed dispersal for the one group and nutrition for the other; in fact, humans and many animals have become dependent on fruits as a source of food. Consequently, fruits account for a substantial fraction of the world's agricultural output, and some (such as the apple and the pomegranate) have acquired extensive cultural and symbolic meanings. In common language usage, "fruit" normally means the seed-associated fleshy structures (or produce) of plants that typically are sweet or sour and edible in the raw state, such as apples, bananas, grapes, lemons, oranges, and strawberries. In botanical usage, the term "fruit" als ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Beetle
Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 described species, is the largest of all orders, constituting almost 40% of described insects and 25% of all known animal life-forms; new species are discovered frequently, with estimates suggesting that there are between 0.9 and 2.1 million total species. Found in almost every habitat except the sea and the polar regions, they interact with their ecosystems in several ways: beetles often feed on plants and fungi, break down animal and plant debris, and eat other invertebrates. Some species are serious agricultural pests, such as the Colorado potato beetle, while others such as Coccinellidae (ladybirds or ladybugs) eat aphids, scale insects, thrips, and other plant-sucking insects that damage crops. Beetles typically have a particularly har ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Weevil
Weevils are beetles belonging to the superfamily Curculionoidea, known for their elongated snouts. They are usually small, less than in length, and herbivorous. Approximately 97,000 species of weevils are known. They belong to several families, with most of them in the family Curculionidae (the true weevils). It also includes bark beetles, which while morphologically dissimilar to other weevils in lacking the distinctive snout, is a subfamily of Curculionidae. Some other beetles, although not closely related, bear the name "weevil", such as the biscuit weevil (''Stegobium paniceum''), which belongs to the family Ptinidae. Many weevils are considered pests because of their ability to damage and kill crops. The grain or wheat weevil (''Sitophilus granarius'') damages stored grain, as does the maize weevil (''Sitophilus zeamais'') among others. The boll weevil (''Anthonomus grandis'') attacks cotton crops; it lays its eggs inside cotton bolls and the larvae eat their way ou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Caterpillar
Caterpillars ( ) are the larva, larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterfly, butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawfly, sawflies (suborder Symphyta) are commonly called caterpillars as well. Both lepidopteran and symphytan larvae have eruciform body shapes. Caterpillars of most species herbivore, eat plant material (Folivore, often leaves), but not all; some (about 1%) insectivore, eat insects, and some are even cannibalistic. Some feed on other animal products. For example, clothes moths feed on wool, and Ceratophaga vastella, horn moths feed on the hooves and horns of dead ungulates. Caterpillars are typically voracious feeders and many of them are among the most serious of Agriculture, agricultural Pest (organism), pests. In fact, many moth species are best known in their caterpillar stages because of the damage they cause to fruits and other agricult ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spider
Spiders (order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species diversity among all orders of organisms. Spiders are found worldwide on every continent except for Antarctica, and have become established in nearly every land habitat. , 50,356 spider species in 132 families have been recorded by taxonomists. However, there has been debate among scientists about how families should be classified, with over 20 different classifications proposed since 1900. Anatomically, spiders (as with all arachnids) differ from other arthropods in that the usual body segments are fused into two tagmata, the cephalothorax or prosoma, and the opisthosoma, or abdomen, and joined by a small, cylindrical pedicel, however, as there is currently neither paleontological nor embryological evidence that spiders ever had a sep ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oecophylla Smaragdina
''Oecophylla smaragdina'' (common names include Asian weaver ant, weaver ant, green ant, green tree ant, semut rangrang, semut kerangga, and orange gaster) is a species of arboreal ant found in tropical Asia and Australia. These ants form colonies with multiple nests in trees, each nest being made of leaves stitched together using the silk produced by the ant larvae: hence the name 'oecophylla' reek for 'leaf-house' Description Workers and major workers are mostly coloured orange. Workers are long; they look after larvae and farm scale bugs for honeydew. Major workers are long, with long strong legs and large mandibles. They forage, assemble and expand the nest. Queens are typically long, and normally greenish-brown, giving the species its name ''smaragdina'' (Latin: emerald). Distribution and habitat ''Oecophylla smaragdina'' has a widespread distribution in tropical Asia and Australia, its range extending from India through Indonesia and the Philippines to Northern Terri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Larva
A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. The larva's appearance is generally very different from the adult form (''e.g.'' caterpillars and butterflies) including different unique structures and organs that do not occur in the adult form. Their diet may also be considerably different. Larvae are frequently adapted to different environments than adults. For example, some larvae such as tadpoles live almost exclusively in aquatic environments, but can live outside water as adult frogs. By living in a distinct environment, larvae may be given shelter from predators and reduce competition for resources with the adult population. Animals in the larval stage will consume food to fuel their transition into the adult form. In some organisms like polychaetes and barnacles, adults are im ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pupa
A pupa ( la, pupa, "doll"; plural: ''pupae'') is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation between immature and mature stages. Insects that go through a pupal stage are holometabolous: they go through four distinct stages in their life cycle, the stages thereof being egg, larva, pupa, and imago. The processes of entering and completing the pupal stage are controlled by the insect's hormones, especially juvenile hormone, prothoracicotropic hormone, and ecdysone. The act of becoming a pupa is called pupation, and the act of emerging from the pupal case is called eclosion or emergence. The pupae of different groups of insects have different names such as ''chrysalis'' for the pupae of butterflies and ''tumbler'' for those of the mosquito family. Pupae may further be enclosed in other structures such as cocoons, nests, or shells. Position in life cycle The pupal stage follows the larval stage and precedes adulthood ('' imago'') in insects with complete metamo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Meranoplus
''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] |
Carpenter Ant
Carpenter ants (''Camponotus'' spp.) are large () ants indigenous to many forested parts of the world. They build nests inside wood consisting of galleries chewed out with their mandibles or jaws, preferably in dead, damp wood. However, unlike termites, they do not consume wood, discarding a material that resembles sawdust outside their nest. Sometimes, carpenter ants hollow out sections of trees. They also commonly infest wooden buildings and structures, and are a widespread problem and major cause of structural damage. Nevertheless, their ability to excavate wood helps in forest decomposition. The genus includes over 1,000 species. They also farm aphids. In their farming, the ants protect the aphids from predators (usually other insects) while they excrete a sugary fluid called honeydew, which the ants get by stroking the aphids with their antennae. Description ''Camponotus'' are generally large ants, with workers being 4-7 mm long in small species or 7-13 mm in large s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
