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Driver Ant
''Dorylus'', also known as driver ants, safari ants, or siafu, is a large genus of army ants found primarily in central and east Africa, although the range also extends to southern Africa and tropical Asia. The term siafu is a loanword from Swahili, and is one of numerous similar words from regional Bantu languages used by indigenous peoples to describe various species of these ants. Unlike the New World members of the former subfamily Ecitoninae (now Dorylinae), members of this genus form temporary subterranean bivouacs in underground cavities which they excavate and inhabit - either for a few days or up to three months. Also, unlike some New World army ants, driver ants are not specialized predators of other species of ant, instead being more generalistic with a diet consisting of a diversity of arthropods. Their colonies are enormous compared to other ant species, and can contain over 20 million individuals. As with their American counterparts, workers exhibit caste polymorp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dorylus Gribodoi
''Dorylus gribodoi'' is a West African species of army ants in the genus ''Dorylus''. Habitat and distribution The species occurs in West Africa, from Guinea and Liberia to Cameroon. It is restricted to humid habitats such as rainforest and gallery forest in mixed savanna–forest landscapes and occurs at least up to 1600 m above sea level. Biology Raids are conducted in the leaf-litter stratum. Workers retreat in tunnels when disturbed or exposed to sun. Limited observations indicate that the species seems to prey almost exclusively on earthworms, but this information has to be viewed with caution since variation in prey composition can be considerable in other ''Dorylus'' species. Common chimpanzee, Chimpanzees are known to feed on ''D. gribodoi'' at two sites (Bossou in Guinea and Taï in Ivory Coast); they either use sticks to "dip" for ant workers at trails or nests or open nests and take brood and workers with their hands. Nests are much less conspicuous than those of dri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Americas
The Americas, sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America and South America.''Webster's New World College Dictionary'', 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. When viewed as a single continent, the Americas or America is the 2nd largest continent by area after Asia, and is the 3rd largest continent by population. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with their Lists of islands of the Americas, associated islands, the Americas cover 8% of Earth's total surface area and 28.4% of its land area. The topography is dominated by the American Cordillera, a long chain of mountains that runs the length of the west coast. The flatter eastern side of the Americas is dominated by large river basins, such as the Amazon basin, Amazon, St. Lawrence River–Great Lakes, Mississippi River System, Mississippi, and Río de la Plata Basin, La Plata basins. Since the Americ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pheromone
A pheromone () is a secreted or excreted chemical factor that triggers a social response in members of the same species. Pheromones are chemicals capable of acting like hormones outside the body of the secreting individual, to affect the behavior of the receiving individuals. There are ''alarm signal, alarm pheromones'', ''food trail pheromones'', ''sex pheromones'', and many others that affect behavior or physiology. Pheromones are used by many organisms, from basic unicellular prokaryotes to complex multicellular eukaryotes. Their use among insects has been particularly well documented. In addition, some vertebrates, plants and ciliates communicate by using pheromones. The ecological functions and evolution of pheromones are a major topic of research in the field of chemical ecology. Background The portmanteau word "pheromone" was coined by Peter Karlson and Martin Lüscher in 1959, based on the Greek language, Greek () and (). Pheromones are also sometimes classified as ec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Surgical Staple
Surgical staples are specialized Staple (fastener), staples used in surgery in place of surgical suture, sutures to close skin wounds or to resection (surgery), resect and/or anastomosis, connect parts of an Organ (biology), organ (e.g. bowels, stomach or lungs). The use of staples over sutures reduces the local inflammatory response, width of the wound, and time it takes to close a defect. A more recent development, from the 1990s, uses clips instead of staples for some applications; this does not require the staple to penetrate. History The technique was pioneered by "father of surgical stapling", Hungarian surgeon Hümér Hültl. Hultl's prototype stapler of 1908 weighed , and required two hours to assemble and load. The technology was refined in the 1950s in the Soviet Union, allowing for the first commercially produced re-usable stapling devices for creation of bowel and Surgical anastomosis, anastomoses. Mark M. Ravitch brought a sample of stapling device after attendin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Laceration
A wound is any disruption of or damage to living tissue, such as skin, mucous membranes, or organs. Wounds can either be the sudden result of direct trauma (mechanical, thermal, chemical), or can develop slowly over time due to underlying disease processes such as diabetes mellitus, venous/arterial insufficiency, or immunologic disease. Wounds can vary greatly in their appearance depending on wound location, injury mechanism, depth of injury, timing of onset ( acute vs chronic), and wound sterility, among other factors. Treatment strategies for wounds will vary based on the classification of the wound, therefore it is essential that wounds be thoroughly evaluated by a healthcare professional for proper management. In normal physiology, all wounds will undergo a series of steps collectively known as the wound healing process, which include hemostasis, inflammation, proliferation, and tissue remodeling. Age, tissue oxygenation, stress, underlying medical conditions, and certain me ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Surgical Suture
A surgical suture, also known as a stitch or stitches, is a medical device used to hold Tissue (biology), body tissues together and approximate wound edges after an injury or surgery. Application generally involves using a Sewing needle, needle with an attached length of thread (yarn), thread. There are numerous types of suture which differ by needle shape and size as well as thread material and characteristics. Selection of surgical suture should be determined by the characteristics and location of the wound or the specific body tissues being approximated. In selecting the needle, thread, and suturing technique to use for a specific patient, a medical care provider must consider the tensile strength of the specific suture thread needed to efficiently hold the tissues together depending on the mechanical and shear forces acting on the wound as well as the thickness of the tissue being approximated. One must also consider the elasticity of the thread and ability to adapt to differe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eldana
''Eldana'' is a genus of moths of the family Pyralidae containing only one species, the African sugar-cane borer (''Eldana saccharina''), which is commonly found in Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, Mozambique, Sierra Leone and South Africa. Adults have a wingspan of 35mm. This species is particularly relevant to humans because the larvae are a pest of the '' Saccharum'' species as well as several grain crops such as sorghum and maize. Other recorded host plants are cassava, rice and '' Cyperus'' species. When attacking these crops, ''E. saccharina'' bores into the stems of their host plant, causing severe damage to the crop. This behavior is the origin of the ''E. saccharrina's'' common name, the African sugar-cane borer. The African sugar-cane borer is a resilient pest, as it can survive crop burnings. Other methods such as intercropping and parasitic wasps have been employed to prevent further damage to crops. Taxonomy The only member of the genus ''Eldana'', ''E. saccharina'' was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maasai People
The Maasai (;) are a Nilotic peoples, Nilotic ethnic group inhabiting northern, central and southern Kenya and northern Tanzania, near the African Great Lakes region.Maasai - Introduction Jens Fincke, 2000–2003 Their native language is the Maasai language, a Nilotic languages, Nilotic language related to Dinka language, Dinka, Kalenjin languages, Kalenjin and Nuer language, Nuer. Except for some elders living in rural areas, most Maasai people speak the official languages of Kenya and Tanzania—Swahili language, Swahili and English language, English. The Maasai population has been reported as numbering 1,189,522 in Kenya in the 2019 census compared to 377,089 in the 1989 census. However, many Maasai view the census as government meddling and either refuse to participate or actively pro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Food
Food is any substance consumed by an organism for Nutrient, nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or Fungus, fungal origin and contains essential nutrients such as carbohydrates, fats, protein (nutrient), proteins, vitamins, or Mineral (nutrient), minerals. The substance is Ingestion, ingested by an organism and assimilated by the organism's Cell (biology), cells to provide energy, maintain life, or stimulate growth. Different species of animals have different List of feeding behaviours, feeding behaviours that satisfy the needs of their metabolisms and have evolved to fill a specific ecological niche within specific geographical contexts. Omnivore, Omnivorous humans are highly adaptable and have adapted to obtaining food in many different ecosystems. Humans generally use cooking to prepare food for consumption. The majority of the food energy required is supplied by the industrial food industry, which produces food through Intensive farming, intensive agricu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Safari Ants Tunnel
A safari (; originally ) is an overland journey to observe wildlife, wild animals, especially in East Africa. The so-called big five game, "Big Five" game animals of Africa – lion, African leopard, leopard, rhinoceros, African elephant, elephant, and African buffalo, Cape buffalo – particularly form an important part of the safari market, both for wildlife observation, wildlife viewing and big-game hunting. Etymology The Swahili language, Swahili word means "journey", originally from the Arabic noun , meaning "journey", "travel", "trip", or "tour"; the verb for "to travel" in Swahili is . These words are used for any type of journey, e.g., by bus from Nairobi to Mombasa or by ferry from Dar es Salaam to Unguja. ''Safari'' entered the English language at the end of the 1850s thanks to explorer Richard Francis Burton. The Regimental March of the King's African Rifles was "Funga Safari", literally 'set out on a journey', or, in other words, pack up equipment ready for tra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harvard University Press
Harvard University Press (HUP) is an academic publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University. It is a member of the Association of University Presses. Its director since 2017 is George Andreou. The press maintains offices in Cambridge, Massachusetts, near Harvard Square, and in London, England. The press co-founded the distributor TriLiteral LLC with MIT Press and Yale University Press. TriLiteral was sold to LSC Communications in 2018. Notable authors published by HUP include Eudora Welty, Walter Benjamin, E. O. Wilson, John Rawls, Emily Dickinson, Stephen Jay Gould, Helen Vendler, Carol Gilligan, Amartya Sen, David Blight, Martha Nussbaum, and Thomas Piketty. The Display Room in Harvard Square, dedicated to selling HUP publications, closed on June 17, 2009. Related publishers, imprints, and series HUP owns the Belknap Press imprint (trade name), imprint, which it inaugurated in May 1954 with the publication of the ''Harvard Guide to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Ants
''The Ants'' is a zoology textbook by the German entomologist Bert Hölldobler and the American entomologist E. O. Wilson, first published in 1990. It won the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction in 1991. Contents This book is primarily aimed at academics as a reference work, detailing the ants' anatomy, physiology, social organization including their caste system, altruistic behaviour, and chemical communication with pheromones, their ecology (vital for turning the soil and controlling insect pests), and natural history. An account of some of Hölldobler and Wilson's most interesting findings, popularized for the layman, can be found in their 1994 book '' Journey to the Ants''. Reception The ''Science'' magazine reviewer described the book as a "mighty tome" and commented that it would "surely take its place among the greatest of all entomology books", as it was "a wonderful exploration of almost every ramification of evolutionary biology, from developmental biology to the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
