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Squash Bees
The name squash bee, also squash and gourd bee, is applied to two related genera of bees in the tribe Eucerini; ''Peponapis'' and ''Xenoglossa''. Both genera are oligoleges (pollen specialists) on the plant genus ''Cucurbita'' and closely related plants, although they usually do not visit watermelon, cucumber, and melon plants. They are small genera, containing only 13 and 7 described species, respectively, and their combined range is nearly identical to the range of ''Cucurbita'' in the New World, from South America to North America. Their range has become somewhat expanded along with the movement of cucurbits into other areas (as crop plants). Species such as ''Peponapis pruinosa'' have been in decline due to several reasons, probably at least in part to pesticide sensitivity. Description These bees are of moderate size, equal to various bumblebees. Compared to honeybees, squash bees are larger and bulkier, with longer antennae and rounder faces. The pollen-carrying hairs o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peponapis Pruinosa
''Peponapis pruinosa'' is a species of solitary bee in the tribe Eucerini, the long-horned bees. Its common name is the eastern cucurbit bee. It may be called the squash bee, but this name can also apply to other species in its genus, as well as the other squash bee genus, ''Xenoglossa''. This bee occurs in North America from the East Coast of the United States to the West Coast and into Mexico. It is an oligolege, specializing on a few host plants, the squashes and gourds of genus ''Cucurbita''. Its range expanded as human agriculture spread throughout North America and squash plants became more abundant and widespread.Williams, R., et alPumpkin Pollinator: Biology and Behavior of the Squash Bee. Fact Sheet. Agriculture and Natural Resources. Ohio State University Extension. 2009.Shuler, R. E., et al. (2005)Farming practices influence wild pollinator populations on squash and pumpkin.''J Econ Entomol'' 98(3) 790-95. It may also have spread naturally as the range of its favored wi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peponapis
''Peponapis'' is a genus of bees belonging to the family Apidae. They are Squash bees, specialized pollinators of squashes and related plants. The species of this genus are found in North America. Species: *'' Peponapis apiculata'' *'' Peponapis atrata'' *''Peponapis azteca ''Peponapis'' is a genus of bees belonging to the family Apidae. They are Squash bees, specialized pollinators of squashes and related plants. The species of this genus are found in North America. Species: *''Peponapis apiculata'' *''Peponapi ...'' *'' Peponapis citrullina'' *'' Peponapis crassidentata'' *'' Peponapis fervens'' *'' Peponapis limitaris'' *'' Peponapis melonis'' *'' Peponapis michelbacherorum'' *'' Peponapis pacifica'' *'' Peponapis parkeri'' *'' Peponapis pruinosa'' *'' Peponapis smithi'' *'' Peponapis timberlakei'' *'' Peponapis utahensis'' References {{Authority control Apidae Bee genera ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Matinal
Matutinal, matinal (in entomological writings), and matutine are terms used in the life sciences to indicate something of, relating to, or occurring in the early morning. The term may describe the morning activities of crepuscular animals that are significantly active during the predawn or early hours and which may or may not then be active again at dusk, in which case the animal is also said to be vespertinal/ vespertine. During the morning twilight period and shortly thereafter, these animals partake in important tasks, such as scanning for mates, mating, and foraging. Matutinal behaviour is thought to be adaptive because there may be less competition between species, and sometimes even a higher prevalence of food during these hours. It may also serve as an anti-predator adaptation by allowing animals to sit between the brink of danger that may come with diurnal and nocturnal activity. Etymology The word ''matutinal'' is derived from the Latin word ', meaning "of or pert ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gourd
Gourds include the fruits of some flowering plant species in the family Cucurbitaceae, particularly '' Cucurbita'' and '' Lagenaria''. The term refers to a number of species and subspecies, many with hard shells, and some without. Many gourds have large, bulbous bodies and long necks, such as Dipper Gourds, many variations of Bottle Gourd and caveman club gourds. One of the earliest domesticated types of plants, subspecies of the bottle gourd, '' Lagenaria siceraria'', have been discovered in archaeological sites dating from as early as 13,000 BC. Gourds have had numerous uses throughout history, including as tools, musical instruments, objects of art, film, and food. Terminology ''Gourd'' is occasionally used to describe crop plants in the family Cucurbitaceae, like pumpkins, cucumbers, squash, luffa, and melons. More specifically, ''gourd'' refers to the fruits of plants in the two Cucurbitaceae genera '' Lagenaria'' and '' Cucurbita'', or also to their hollow, dried-ou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Winter Squash
Winter squash is an annual fruit representing several squash species within the genus '' Cucurbita''. Late-growing, less symmetrical, odd-shaped, rough or warty varieties, small to medium in size, but with long-keeping qualities and hard rinds, are usually called winter squash.Victor E. Boswell and Else Bostelmann. "Our Vegetable Travelers." ''The National Geographic Magazine.'' 96.2: August 1949. They differ from summer squash in that they are harvested and eaten in the mature stage when their seeds within have matured fully and their skin has hardened into a tough rind. At this stage, most varieties of this vegetable can be stored for use during the winter. Winter squash is generally cooked before being eaten, and the skin or rind is not usually eaten as it is with summer squash. Varieties Four species in the genus '' Cucurbita'' yield cultivars that are grown as winter squashes: '' C. argyrosperma'', '' C. maxima'', '' C. moschata'', and '' C. pepo''. Cultivars of wint ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Summer Squash
Summer squash are squashes that are harvested when immature, while the rind is still tender and edible. Most summer squashes are varieties of ''Cucurbita pepo'', though some are '' C. moschata''. Most summer squash have a bushy growth habit, unlike the rambling vines of many winter squashes. The term "summer squash" refers to the early harvest period and short storage life of these squashes, unlike that of winter squashes. Summer squashes include the ''C. pepo'' varieties: * Crookneck squash * Gem squash * Kamokamo * Pattypan squash * Straightneck squash *Zucchini Zucchini (; : ''zucchini'' or ''zucchinis''), courgette () or ''Cucurbita pepo'' is a summer squash, a Vine, vining herbaceous plant whose fruit are harvested when their immature seeds and Fruit anatomy#Epicarp, epicarp (rind) are still soft a ... (courgette) and marrow, respectively immature and mature fruits of the same variety of ''C. pepo'' Other summer squashes include the ''C. moschata'' varieties: * Aeh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Evolution (journal)
''Evolution: International Journal of Organic Evolution'', is a monthly scientific journal In academic publishing, a scientific journal is a periodical publication designed to further the progress of science by disseminating new research findings to the scientific community. These journals serve as a platform for researchers, schola ... that publishes significant new results of empirical or theoretical investigations concerning facts, processes, mechanics, or concepts of evolutionary phenomena and events. ''Evolution'' is published by Oxford Academic (formerly by Wiley) for the Society for the Study of Evolution. Its current editor-in-chief is Jason Wolf of the University of Bath, United Kingdom. Former editors-in-chief The journal was founded soon after the Second World War. Its first editor was the systematic ornithologist Ernst Mayr. * Ruth Geyer Shaw, July 2013 – 2017 * Daphne Fairbairn, 2010 – June 2013 References External links * at Oxford AcademicForm ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Convergent Evolution
Convergent evolution is the independent evolution of similar features in species of different periods or epochs in time. Convergent evolution creates analogous structures that have similar form or function but were not present in the last common ancestor of those groups. The cladistic term for the same phenomenon is Cladogram#Homoplasies, homoplasy. The recurrent evolution of flight is a classic example, as flying pterygota, insects, birds, pterosaurs, and bats have independently evolved the useful capacity of flight. Functionally similar features that have arisen through convergent evolution are ''analogous'', whereas ''homology (biology), homologous'' structures or traits have a common origin but can have dissimilar functions. Bird, bat, and pterosaur wings are analogous structures, but their forelimbs are homologous, sharing an ancestral state despite serving different functions. The opposite of convergence is divergent evolution, where related species evolve different trai ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sister Taxa
In phylogenetics, a sister group or sister taxon, also called an adelphotaxon, comprises the closest relative(s) of another given unit in an evolutionary tree. Definition The expression is most easily illustrated by a cladogram: Taxon A and taxon B are sister groups to each other. Taxa A and B, together with any other extant or extinct descendants of their most recent common ancestor (MRCA), form a monophyletic group, the clade AB. Clade AB and taxon C are also sister groups. Taxa A, B, and C, together with all other descendants of their MRCA form the clade ABC. The whole clade ABC is itself a subtree of a larger tree which offers yet more sister group relationships, both among the leaves and among larger, more deeply rooted clades. The tree structure shown connects through its root to the rest of the universal tree of life. In cladistic standards, taxa A, B, and C may represent specimens, species, genera, or any other taxonomic units. If A and B are at the same taxonomic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ocelli
A simple eye or ocellus (sometimes called a pigment pit) is a form of eye or an optical arrangement which has a single lens without the sort of elaborate retina that occurs in most vertebrates. These eyes are called "simple" to distinguish them from " compound eyes", which have multiple lenses. They are not necessarily simple in the sense of being uncomplicated or basic. The structure of an animal's eye is determined by the environment in which it lives, and the behavioural tasks it must fulfill to survive. Arthropods differ widely in the habitats in which they live, as well as their visual requirements for finding food or conspecifics, and avoiding predators. Consequently, an enormous variety of eye types are found in arthropods to overcome visual problems or limitations. Use of the term ''simple eye'' is flexible, and must be interpreted in proper context; for example, the eyes of most large animals are '' camera eyes'' and are sometimes considered "simple" because a sing ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bumblebee
A bumblebee (or bumble bee, bumble-bee, or humble-bee) is any of over 250 species in the genus ''Bombus'', part of Apidae, one of the bee families. This genus is the only Extant taxon, extant group in the tribe Bombini, though a few extinct related genera (e.g., ''Calyptapis'') are known from fossils. They are found primarily in the Northern Hemisphere, although they are also found in South America, where a few lowland tropical species have been identified. European bumblebees have also been introduced to New Zealand and Tasmania. Female bumblebees can sting repeatedly, but generally ignore humans and other animals. Most bumblebees are eusociality, social insects that form colony (biology), colonies with a single queen. The colonies are smaller than those of honey bees, growing to as few as 50 individuals in a nest. Psithyrus, Cuckoo bumblebees are brood parasite, brood parasitic and do not make nests or form colonies; their queens aggressively invade the nests of other bumble ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scopa (biology)
A scopa (plural scopae; Latin for "broom") is any of a number of different modifications on the body of a non-parasitic bee that form a pollen-carrying apparatus. In most species of bees, the scopa is simply a dense mass of elongated, often branched, hairs (or setae) on the hind leg. When present on the hind legs, the modified hairs are, at a minimum, on the tibia, but some bees also have modified hairs on the femur and/or trochanter. A few bees have, in addition to the leg hairs, many modified hairs on the ventral surface of the abdomen which are also used in pollen transport; one family of bees, the Megachilidae, lack modified leg hairs, but have an extensive scopa on the underside of the abdomen (see photo). Honey bees and bumblebees have a more highly-developed structure than the scopa: the corbicula, or pollen basket. Various species of bees have other types of modified hairs that collect pollen, floral oils, or other chemicals from plants; such hairs may be borne on th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
