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Trophobiosis
Trophobiosis is a symbiosis, symbiotic association between organisms where food is obtained or provided. The provider of food in the association is referred to as a trophobiont. The name is derived from the Ancient Greek τροφή (''trophē''), meaning "nourishment", and -βίωσις (''-biosis''), which is short for the English word ''symbiosis''. Among the more noted trophobiotic groups are ants and members of a number of hemipteran families. A number of ant genera are recorded as tending groups of hemipterans to varying degrees. In most cases the ants collect and transport the Honeydew (secretion), honeydew secretions from the hemipterans back to the nest for consumption. Not all examples of ant trophobiotic interactions are Mutualism (biology), mutualistic, with instances such as ants attracted to ''Cacopsylla pyricola'' feeding on both the honeydew and the ''C. pyricola'' individuals. This interaction has been recorded in Classical Chinese, Ancient Chinese writings and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Honeydew (secretion)
Honeydew is a sugar-rich sticky liquid, secreted by aphids, some scale insects, and many other true bugs and some other insects as they feed on plant sap. When their mouthpart penetrates the phloem, the sugary, high-pressure liquid is forced out of the anus of the insects, allowing them to rapidly process the large volume of sap required to extract essential nutrients present at low concentrations. Honeydew is particularly common as a secretion in hemipteran insects and is often the basis for trophobiosis. Some caterpillars of Lycaenidae butterflies and some moths also produce honeydew. In addition to various sugars, honeydew contains small amounts of amino acids, other organic compounds, and inorganic Salt (chemistry), salts with its precise makeup affected by factors such as insect species, host plant species, and whether a symbiotic organism is present. Honeydew-producing insects, like cicadas, pierce phloem ducts to access the sugar rich sap; the excess fluid released by ci ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Acropyga Glaesaria
''Acropyga glaesaria'' is an extinct species of ant in the subfamily Formicinae known from a group of possibly Miocene fossils found on Hispaniola. ''A. glaesaria'' is the first species of the ant genus '' Acropyga'' to have been described from fossils found in Dominican amber and is the one of several species of ''Acropyga'' found in the West Indies. As with other members of the genus, ''A. glaesaria'' was most likely trophobiotic. History and classification ''Acropyga glaesaria'' is known from six fossil insects which are inclusions in transparent chunks of Dominican amber. The amber was produced by the extinct '' Hymenaea protera'', which formerly grew on Hispaniola, across northern South America and up to southern Mexico. The specimens were collected from undetermined amber mines in fossil bearing rocks of the Cordillera Septentrional mountains, northern Dominican Republic. The amber dates from at least the Burdigalian stage of the Miocene, based on studying the assoc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tetraponera Binghami
''Tetraponera'' is a genus of ants in the subfamily Pseudomyrmecinae that are commonly known as slender ants and are characterized by their arboreal nature and slender bodies. The 96 described species of ''Tetraponera'' all of which live in hollow structures of plants and trees, such as thorns or branches; these hosts are known as myrmecophytes. ''Tetraponera'' species are closely related to the New World genus of ants '' Pseudomyrmex'', but differ in their relationships with host plants. Mutualisms and behaviour ''Tetraponera'' species are generally defined by the myrmecophytes they inhabit and the mutualistic relationship they share. These host plants always have hollow thorns or branches in which the ants can live and form a colony. Also, the myrmecophytes provide energy rich food sources such as extrafloral nectar and/or food bodies. All ''Tetraponera'' species have gut symbionts that allow them to digest amino acid-deficient food provided by their host plants; these ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Electromyrmococcus
''Electromyrmococcus'' is an extinct genus of mealybug in the Pseudococcidae subfamily Rhizoecinae. The genus currently contains three species, all from the early Miocene, Burdigalian stage, Dominican amber deposits on the island of Hispaniola. History and classification The genus was first described by Douglas Williams as an appendix to a 2001 paper published in the journal '' American Museum Novitates''. The genus name is a combination of ''electro'', from the Greek (') meaning " amber", ''myrmo'' from the Greek (') meaning "ant" and '' Coccus'' from the ant-tended genus of mealybugs, in reference to the association of ant and mealybugs in amber. Along with the genus description, the paper contained the description of the type species ''E. abductus'' and the two additional species ''E. inclusus'' and ''E. reginae''. Description ''Electromyrmococcus'' possesses a combination of traits which are not found in any one modern genus belonging to the Rhizoecinae, a subfamily ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Symbiosis
Symbiosis (Ancient Greek : living with, companionship < : together; and ''bíōsis'': living) is any type of a close and long-term biological interaction, between two organisms of different species. The two organisms, termed symbionts, can for example be in Mutualism (biology), mutualistic, commensalism, commensalistic, or parasitism, parasitic relationships. In 1879, Heinrich Anton de Bary defined symbiosis as "the living together of unlike organisms". The term is sometimes more exclusively used in a restricted, mutualistic sense, where both symbionts contribute to each other's subsistence. This means that they benefit each other in some way. Symbiosis can be ''obligate'' (or ''obligative''), which means that one, or both of the organisms depend on each other for survival, or ''facultative'' (optional), when they can also subsist independently. Symbiosis is also classified by physical attachment. Symbionts forming a single body live ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Myrmecology
Myrmecology (; from Greek: μύρμηξ, ''myrmex'', "ant" and λόγος, ''logos'', "study") is a branch of entomology focusing on the study of ants. Ants continue to be a model of choice for the study of questions on the evolution of social systems because of their complex and varied forms of social organization. Their diversity and prominence in ecosystems also has made them important components in the study of biodiversity and conservation. In the 2000s, ant colonies began to be studied and modeled for their relevance in machine learning, complex interactive networks, stochasticity of encounter and interaction networks, parallel computing, and other computing fields. History The word myrmecology was coined by William Morton Wheeler (1865–1937), although human interest in the life of ants goes back to ancient times. The earliest scientific thinking based on observation of ant life was that of Auguste Forel (1848–1931), a Swiss psychologist who initially was interest ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ecology
Ecology () is the natural science of the relationships among living organisms and their Natural environment, environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community (ecology), community, ecosystem, and biosphere levels. Ecology overlaps with the closely related sciences of biogeography, evolutionary biology, genetics, ethology, and natural history. Ecology is a branch of biology, and is the study of abundance (ecology), abundance, biomass (ecology), biomass, and distribution of organisms in the context of the environment. It encompasses life processes, interactions, and adaptations; movement of materials and energy through living communities; ecological succession, successional development of ecosystems; cooperation, competition, and predation within and between species; and patterns of biodiversity and its effect on ecosystem processes. Ecology has practical applications in fields such as conservation biology, wetland management, natural resource m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hemiptera
Hemiptera (; ) is an order of insects, commonly called true bugs, comprising more than 80,000 species within groups such as the cicadas, aphids, planthoppers, leafhoppers, assassin bugs, bed bugs, and shield bugs. They range in size from to around , and share a common arrangement of piercing-sucking mouthparts. The name "true bugs" is sometimes limited to the suborder Heteroptera. Entomologists reserve the term ''bug'' for Hemiptera or Heteroptera,Gilbert Waldbauer. ''The Handy Bug Answer Book.'' Visible Ink, 1998p. 1. which does not include other arthropods or insects of other orders such as ants, bees, beetles, or butterflies. In some varieties of English, all terrestrial arthropods (including non-insect arachnids and myriapods) also fall under the colloquial understanding of ''bug''. Many insects with "bug" in their common name, especially in American English, belong to other orders; for example, the lovebug is a fly and the Maybug and ladybug are beetles. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ants
Ants are eusocial insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from vespoid wasp ancestors in the Cretaceous period. More than 13,800 of an estimated total of 22,000 species have been classified. They are easily identified by their geniculate (elbowed) antennae and the distinctive node-like structure that forms their slender waists. Ants form colonies that range in size from a few dozen individuals often living in small natural cavities to highly organised colonies that may occupy large territories with sizeable nest that consist of millions of individuals or into the hundreds of millions in super colonies. Typical colonies consist of various castes of sterile, wingless females, most of which are workers (ergates), as well as soldiers (dinergates) and other specialised groups. Nearly all ant colonies also have some fertile males called "drones" and one or more fertile females called "queens ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trophallaxis
Trophallaxis () is the transfer of food or other fluids among members of a community through mouth-to-mouth (stomodeum, stomodeal) or anus-to-mouth (proctodeum, proctodeal) feeding. Along with nutrients, trophallaxis can involve the transfer of molecules such as pheromones, organisms such as Symbiosis, symbionts, and information to serve as a form of communication. Trophallaxis is used by some birds, gray wolf, gray wolves, vampire bats, and is most highly developed in eusocial insects such as ants, wasps, bees, and termites. Etymology Tropho- (prefix or suffix) is derived from the Greek trophé, meaning 'nourishment'. The Greek 'allaxis' means 'exchange'. The word was introduced by the entomologist William Morton Wheeler in 1918. Evolutionary significance Trophallaxis was used in the past to support theories on the origin of sociality in insects. The Swiss psychologist and entomologist Auguste Forel also believed that food sharing was key to ant society and he used an illust ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ant–fungus Mutualism
Ant–fungus mutualism is a symbiosis seen between certain ant and fungal species, in which ants actively cultivate fungus much like humans farm crops as a food source. There is only evidence of two instances in which this form of agriculture evolved in ants resulting in a dependence on fungi for food. These instances were the attine ants and some ants that are part of the '' Megalomyrmex'' genus. In some species, the ants and fungi are dependent on each other for survival. This type of codependency is prevalent among herbivores who rely on plant material for nutrition. The fungus’ ability to convert the plant material into a food source accessible to their host makes them the ideal partner. The leafcutter ant is a well-known example of this symbiosis. Leafcutter ants species can be found in southern South America up to the United States. However, ants are not the only ground-dwelling arthropods which have developed symbioses with fungi. A similar mutualism with fungi is also not ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bamboo
Bamboos are a diverse group of mostly evergreen perennial plant, perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily (biology), subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family, in the case of ''Dendrocalamus sinicus'' having individual stalks (Culm (botany), culms) reaching a length of , up to in thickness and a weight of up to . The internodes of bamboos can also be of great length. ''Kinabaluchloa, Kinabaluchloa wrayi'' has internodes up to in length. and ''Arthrostylidium schomburgkii'' has internodes up to in length, exceeded in length only by Cyperus papyrus, papyrus. By contrast, the stalks of the tiny bamboo Raddiella, ''Raddiella vanessiae'' of the savannas of French Guiana measure only in length by about in width. The origin of the word "bamboo" is uncertain, but it most likely comes from the Dutch language, Dutch or Portuguese language, Portuguese language, which originally borrowed it from Malay langua ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
