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Horse Guard
The horse guard wasp (''Stictia carolina'') is a type of sand wasp (Bembicini) from the eastern United States which preys primarily upon horse-flies (Tabanidae). It is a large, colorful, fast-flying wasp, one of 28 species in the genus ''Stictia'' (which occur throughout North and South America), all of which have similar biology. Biology A female wasp of this species may take anywhere from 30 to 60 flies as food to provision each one of her nests; she makes a new nest for every egg she lays. Nests are simple burrows some 15 cm deep, with a single enlarged chamber at the bottom. An egg is laid in the empty chamber, and the female wasp brings back paralyzed flies and sometimes silver-spotted skipper larvae until the chamber is full (mass provisioning), at which point she closes the nest and begins another. Numerous females often excavate nests within a small area where the soil is suitable, creating large and sometimes very dense nesting aggregations. Nearly all the prey ar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Johan Christian Fabricius
Johann Christian Fabricius (7 January 1745 – 3 March 1808) was a Danish zoologist, specialising in "Insecta", which at that time included all arthropods: insects, arachnids, crustaceans and others. He was a student of Carl Linnaeus, and is considered one of the most important entomologists of the 18th century, having named nearly 10,000 species of animals, and established the basis for the modern insect classification. Biography Johann Christian Fabricius was born on 7 January 1745 at Tønder in the Duchy of Schleswig, where his father was a doctor. He studied at the gymnasium at Altona and entered the University of Copenhagen in 1762. Later the same year he travelled together with his friend and relative Johan Zoëga to Uppsala, where he studied under Carl Linnaeus for two years. On his return, he started work on his , which was finally published in 1775. Throughout this time, he remained dependent on subsidies from his father, who worked as a consultant at Frederiks H ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bembicini
The Bembicini, or sand wasps, are a large tribe of bembicid wasps, comprising 20 genera. Bembicines are parasitoids on various groups of insects. The type of prey captured tends to be rather consistent within each genus, with flies (Diptera) being the most common type of prey taken. Nests are typically short, simple burrows, with a single enlarged chamber at the bottom which is stocked with freshly paralysed prey items for the developing wasp larva; the egg may sometimes be laid before the chamber is completely stocked. It is common for numerous females to excavate nests within a small area where the soil is suitable, creating large and sometimes very dense nesting aggregations, which tend to attract various species of parasitic flies and wasps, many of which are cleptoparasites; in some cases, the sand wasps prey on their own parasites (e.g.,), a surprisingly rare phenomenon in the animal kingdom. Although sand wasps are normally yellow and black, some are black and white with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous states border Canada to the north and Mexico to the south, with the semi-exclave of Alaska in the northwest and the archipelago of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean. The United States asserts sovereignty over five Territories of the United States, major island territories and United States Minor Outlying Islands, various uninhabited islands in Oceania and the Caribbean. It is a megadiverse country, with the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, third-largest land area and List of countries and dependencies by population, third-largest population, exceeding 340 million. Its three Metropolitan statistical areas by population, largest metropolitan areas are New York metropolitan area, New York, Greater Los Angeles, Los Angel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Horse-fly
Horse flies and deer flies are true flies in the family Tabanidae in the insect Order (biology), order Diptera. The adults are often large and agile in flight. Only females bite land vertebrates, including humans, to hematophagy, obtain blood. They prefer to fly in sunlight, avoiding dark and shady areas, and are inactive at night. They are found all over the world except for some islands and the polar regions (Hawaii, Greenland, Iceland). Both horse flies and botflies (Oestridae) are sometimes referred to as gadflies. Adult horse flies feed on nectar and plant exudates; males have weak insect mouthparts, mouthparts, but females have mouthparts strong enough to puncture the skin of large animals. This is for the purpose of obtaining enough protein from blood to produce eggs. The mouthparts of females are formed into a stout stabbing organ with two pairs of sharp cutting blades, and a spongelike part used to lap up the blood that flows from the wound. The larvae are predaceous ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stictia
''Stictia'' is a largely neotropical genus of large, often brightly colored predatory sand wasps, consisting of about 30 species. List of species (selected) * '' Stictia andrei'' (Handlirsch, 1890) * '' Stictia antiopa'' (Handlirsch, 1890) * '' Stictia arcuata'' (Gruppe Taschenberg, 1870) * '' Stictia carolina'' (Fabricius, 1793) * '' Stictia croceata'' (Lepeletier, 1845) * '' Stictia decemmaculata'' (Packard, 1869) * '' Stictia decorata'' (Gruppe Taschenberg, 1870) * '' Stictia dives'' (Handlirsch, 1890) * '' Stictia flexuosa'' (Gruppe Taschenberg, 1870) * '' Stictia heros'' (Fabricius, 1804) * '' Stictia infracta'' J.Parker, 1929 * '' Stictia maccus'' (Handlirsch, 1895) * '' Stictia maculata'' (Fabricius, 1804) * '' Stictia medea'' (Handlirsch, 1890) * '' Stictia megacera'' Parker * '' Stictia mexicana'' (Handlirsch, 1890) * '' Stictia pantherina'' (Handlirsch, 1890) * '' Stictia punctata'' (Fabricius, 1775) * '' Stictia signata'' (Linnaeus, 1758) * '' Stictia sombrana'' J. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Caribbean Sea, and to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean. The region includes Middle America (Americas), Middle America (comprising the Caribbean, Central America, and Mexico) and Northern America. North America covers an area of about , representing approximately 16.5% of Earth's land area and 4.8% of its total surface area. It is the third-largest continent by size after Asia and Africa, and the list of continents and continental subregions by population, fourth-largest continent by population after Asia, Africa, and Europe. , North America's population was estimated as over 592 million people in list of sovereign states and dependent territories in North America, 23 independent states, or about 7.5% of the world's popula ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion of the Americas. South America is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean, on the north and east by the Atlantic Ocean, and to the south by the Drake Passage; North America and the Caribbean Sea lie to the northwest. The continent includes twelve sovereign states: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, and Venezuela; two dependent territory, dependent territories: the Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands; and one administrative division, internal territory: French Guiana. The Dutch Caribbean ABC islands (Leeward Antilles), ABC islands (Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao) and Trinidad and Tobago are geologically located on the South-American continental shel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Burrow
file:Chipmunk-burrow (exits).jpg, An eastern chipmunk at the entrance of its burrow A burrow is a hole or tunnel excavated into the ground by an animal to construct a space suitable for habitation or temporary refuge, or as a byproduct of Animal locomotion, locomotion. Burrows provide a form of shelter against predation and exposure to the elements, and can be found in nearly every biome and among various biological interactions. Many animal species are known to form burrows. These species range from small amphipods, to very large vertebrate species such as the polar bear. Burrows can be constructed into a wide variety of substrates and can range in complexity from a simple tube a few centimeters long to a complex network of interconnecting tunnels and chambers hundreds or thousands of meters in total length; an example of the latter level of complexity, a well-developed burrow, would be a rabbit Warren (burrow), warren. Vertebrate burrows A large variety of vertebrates constru ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paralysis
Paralysis (: paralyses; also known as plegia) is a loss of Motor skill, motor function in one or more Skeletal muscle, muscles. Paralysis can also be accompanied by a loss of feeling (sensory loss) in the affected area if there is sensory damage. In the United States, roughly 1 in 50 people have been diagnosed with some form of permanent or transient paralysis. The word "paralysis" derives from the Greek language, Greek παράλυσις, meaning "disabling of the nerves" from παρά (''para'') meaning "beside, by" and λύσις (''lysis'') meaning "making loose". A paralysis accompanied by involuntary tremors is usually called "palsy". Causes Paralysis is most often caused by damage in the nervous system, especially the spinal cord. Other major causes are stroke, Physical trauma, trauma with nerve injury, poliomyelitis, cerebral palsy, peripheral neuropathy, Parkinson's disease, ALS, botulism, spina bifida, multiple sclerosis and Guillain–Barré syndrome. Incidents th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Epargyreus Clarus
''Epargyreus clarus'', the silver-spotted skipper, is a butterfly of the family Hesperiidae. It is claimed to be the most recognized skipper in North America. occurs in fields, gardens, and at forest edges and ranges from southern Canada throughout most of the United States to northern Mexico, but is absent in the Great Basin and western Texas. larvae create and reside in unique shelters stuck together with silk, which do not protect them from predators. Natural predators of the species include Paper wasp, paper wasp foragers, Sphecidae, sphecid wasp and ''Crematogaster opuntiae'' ants. The species is also considered to be a perching species, meaning that adult males compete for territory to attract females. Although is considered to be a pest of a few crop plants such as beans, its pest activity is not serious enough to warrant initiating major control measures. Geographic range ''Epargyreus clarus'' has a wide distribution throughout North America: it ranges from souther ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mass Provisioning
Mass provisioning is a form of parental investment in which an adult insect, most commonly a hymenopteran such as a bee or wasp, stocks all the food for each of her offspring in a small chamber (a "cell") before she lays the egg. This behavior is common in both solitary and eusocial bees, though essentially absent in social wasp, eusocial wasps. Diversity In bees, stored provisions typically consist of masses of mixed pollen and nectar, though a few species store floral oils. In a few cases, such as stingless bees and some Halictidae, sweat bees, the number of cells in a single nest can number in the hundreds to thousands, but more typically a nest contains either a single cell, or a small number (fewer than 10). In predatory wasps, the food is typically in the form of paralyzed or dead prey items; after digging the nest they quickly catch one or a few prey animals, bring them to the nest and lay eggs on them, seal the nest and leave. Some wasp lineages (e.g. Crabronidae) show v ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bot Fly
Botflies, also known as warble flies, heel flies, and gadflies, are flies of the family Oestridae. Their larvae are internal parasites of mammals, some species growing in the host's flesh and others within the gut. '' Dermatobia hominis'' is the only species of botfly known to parasitize humans routinely, though other species of flies cause myiasis in humans. General A botfly, also written bot fly, bott fly or bot-fly in various combinations, is any fly in the family Oestridae. Their life cycles vary greatly according to species, but the larvae of all species are internal parasites of mammals. Largely according to species, they also are known variously as warble flies, heel flies, and gadflies. The larvae of some species grow in the flesh of their hosts, while others grow within the hosts' alimentary tracts. The word "bot" in this sense means a maggot. A warble is a skin lump or callus such as might be caused by an ill-fitting harness, or by the presence of a warble fly m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
