Wollschweber

Siphonophore

Siphonophores are cnidarian animals of the hydrozoan order Siphonophorae. According to the World Register of Marine Species, the order contains 194 species described thus far.

Description of a new species of the hyperparasitic barnacle <i>Duplorbis</i> Smith, 1906 and its cypris larva, with the molecular phylogenetic placement of the enigmatic family Duplorbidae Høeg & Rybakov, 1992 (Cirripedia: Rhizocephala)

Abstract Most species of Rhizocephala are obligate parasites of decapod crustaceans, but species in three families parasitize non-decapod hosts: Chthamalophilidae Bocquet-Védrine, 1961 (parasites of barnacles), Duplorbidae Høeg & Rybakov, 1992 (parasites of isopods and cumaceans), and Thompsoniidae Høeg & Rybakov, 1992 (mostly parasites of decapods but includes one species that is a parasite of stomatopods). Hyperparasitism (form of parasitism in which a secondary parasite lives on or in a primary parasite of a host) is extremely rare in Rhizocephala, but Duplorbis Smith, 1906, the type genus of the enigmatic family Duplorbidae, currently contains two named species hyperparasitic on bopyrid isopods (abdominal and branchial parasites of decapods) and one species on free-living isopods. A lectotype is selected for Duplorbis smithi Nierstrasz & Brender à Brandis, 1923. Recent work on the parasites of squat lobsters from New Zealand revealed a putative new species of this genus, described herein as Duplorbis korun. sp., hyperparasitic on branchial bopyrids of the genera Paragigantione Barnard, 1920 and Parapleurocryptella Bourdon, 1972. Each parasitized female bopyrid contained 3–8 externae of D. korun. sp. in the brood chamber. Externae of one host contained mature cypris larvae, a stage previously poorly known in this genus. These larvae are described herein using SEM and are shown to have a pair of long frontal filaments (retained from the nauplius stage), an exclusive feature shared among Duplorbidae. The first molecular (18S rRNA sequence) analysis of the family was also conducted. Duplorbids appear nested within a well-supported monophyletic lineage also comprising of Polyascidae Høeg & Glenner in Høeg, Noever, Rees, Crandall & Glenner, 2019, Polysaccidae Lützen & Takahashi, 1996, Clistosaccidae Boschma, 1928, Thompsoniidae Høeg & Rybakov, 1992, and Chthamalophilidae Bocquet-Védrine, 1961, most closely related to chthamalophilids. The discovery of this new species expands our knowledge of the species diversity, host use, and larval development of hyperparasitic rhizocephalans.

Hummingbird hawk moths and ivy bees: The insects growing in number as temperatures rise

Hummingbird hawk moths - often mistaken for small birds - are being spotted in the West Midlands.

A common red algal origin of the apicomplexan, dinoflagellate, and heterokont plastids

The discovery of a nonphotosynthetic plastid in malaria and other apicomplexan parasites has sparked a contentious debate about its evolutionary origin. Molecular data have led to conflicting conclusions supporting either its green algal origin or red algal origin, perhaps in common with the plastid of related dinoflagellates. This distinction is critical to our understanding of apicomplexan evolution and the evolutionary history of endosymbiosis and photosynthesis; however, the two plastids are nearly impossible to compare due to their nonoverlapping information content. Here we describe the complete plastid genome sequences and plastid-associated data from two independent photosynthetic lineages represented by Chromera velia and an undescribed alga CCMP3155 that we show are closely related to apicomplexans. These plastids contain a suite of features retained in either apicomplexan (four plastid membranes, the ribosomal superoperon, conserved gene order) or dinoflagellate plastids (form II Rubisco acquired by horizontal transfer, transcript polyuridylylation, thylakoids stacked in triplets) and encode a full collective complement of their reduced gene sets. Together with whole plastid genome phylogenies, these characteristics provide multiple lines of evidence that the extant plastids of apicomplexans and dinoflagellates were inherited by linear descent from a common red algal endosymbiont. Our phylogenetic analyses also support their close relationship to plastids of heterokont algae, indicating they all derive from the same endosymbiosis. Altogether, these findings support a relatively simple path of linear descent for the evolution of photosynthesis in a large proportion of algae and emphasize plastid loss in several lineages (e.g., ciliates, Cryptosporidium , and Phytophthora) .

Isopod Site

Pillbugs, sowbugs, roly-polies and woodlice, collectively referred to as isopods, are land-dwelling crustaceans that feed on decaying organic matter.

Social Insects : Ecology and Behavioural Biology

1 online resource; Here is a guide to the ecology of social insects. It is intended for general ecologists and entomologists as well as for undergraduates and those about to start research on social insects; even the experienced investigator may find the comparison between different groups of social insects illuminating. Most technical terms are translated into common language as far as can be done without loss of accuracy but scientific names are unavoidable. Readers will become familiar with the name even though they cannot visualize the animal and could reflect that only a very few of the total species have been studied so far! References too are essential and with these it should be possible to travel more deeply into the vast research literature, still increasing monthly. When I have cited an author in another author's paper, this implies that I have not read the original and the second author must take responsi bility for accuracy! Many hands and heads have helped to make this book. I thank all my colleagues past and present for their enduring though critical support, and I thank with special pleasure: E.]. M. Evesham who fashioned the diagrams;]. Free, D.J. Stradling and]. P.E.C. Darlington who supplied photographs; D.Y. Brian and R.A. Weller who were meticulous on the linguistic side; and G. Frith and R.M. Jones who collated the references. List of plates 1. Fungus combs of Acromyrmex octospinosus and Macrotermes michaelseni. 13 2. Mouthparts of larval Myrmica; 1 Introduction -- 2 Food -- 2.1 Termites as decomposers -- 2.2 Wasps and ants as predators -- 2.3 Sugars as fuel save prey -- 2.4 Seed eaters -- 2.5 Leaf eaters -- 2.6 Pollen eaters -- 3 Foraging by individuals -- 3.1 Foraging strategy -- 3.2 Worker variability -- 4 Foraging in groups -- 4.1 Communication about food -- 4.2 Group slave-raiding -- 4.3 Tunnels and tracks -- 4.4 Nomadic foraging -- 5 Cavity nests and soil mounds -- 5.1 Cavities and burrows -- 5.2 Soil mounds -- 6 Nests of fibre, silk and wax -- 6.1 Mounds of vegetation and tree nests -- 6.2 Combs of cells -- 7 Microclimate -- 7.1 Environmental regulation -- 7.2 Metabolic regulation -- 8 Defence -- 8.1 Painful and paralysing injections -- 8.2 Toxic smears and repellants -- 9 Food processing -- 9.1 Mastication, extraction and regurgitation -- 9.2 Yolk food supplements -- 9.3 Head food glands -- 10 Early population growth -- 10.1 Food distribution -- 10.2 Colony foundation -- 10.3 The growth spurt -- 11 Maturation -- 11.1 Simple models of reproduction -- 11.2 Social control over caste -- 11.3 Males in social Hymenoptera -- 11.4 Maturation in general -- 12 Reproduction -- 12.1 Caste morphogenesis -- 12.2 Copulation and dispersal -- 12.3 Production -- 12.4 Summary -- 13 Evolution of insect societies -- 13.1 Theories of individual selection -- 13.2 Models of these theories -- 13.3 Group selection -- 13.4 Conclusions -- 14 Colonies -- 14.1 The colony barrier -- 14.2 Queen number and species ecology -- 14.3 Queen interaction and queen relatedness -- 15 Comparative ecology of congeneric species -- 15.1 Ant and termite races -- 15.2 Desert ants and termites -- 15.3 Ants and termites in grassland -- 15.4 Forest ants and termites -- 15.5 Wasps and bumblebees -- 15.6 Advanced bees -- 16 Communities -- 16.1 Temperate zone communities in grass and woodland -- 16.2 Desert communities -- 16.3 Tropical rain forest -- 16.4 Conclusions -- 17 Two themes -- 17.1 Plant mutualism -- 17.2 Social organization -- References -- Author index

Dragonfly

So far, dragonflies have experienced the following stages of development.

FlyWeb – Pure Web Cross-Device Interaction – Mozilla Hacks - the Web developer blog

FlyWeb is an experimental project we’ve been prototyping from within the depths of Mozilla’s platform division.  It started as a side-project late last year, and since then a small, ad-hoc ...

Star (Art)

Der Star, auch als Gemeiner Star bezeichnet, ist der in Eurasien am weitesten verbreitete und häufigste Vertreter der Familie der Stare (Sturnidae). Durch zahlreiche Einbürgerungen auf anderen Kontinenten ist der Star heute einer der häufigsten Vögel der Welt. Im Niederdeutschen werden Stare Spreen genannt.

Nymph (biology)

In biology, a nymph is the juvenile form of some invertebrates, particularly insects, which undergoes gradual metamorphosis (hemimetabolism) before reaching its adult stage. Unlike a typical larva, a nymph's overall form already resembles that of the adult, except for a lack of wings and the emergence of genitalia. In addition, while a nymph moults, it never enters a pupal stage. Instead, the final moult results in an adult insect. Nymphs undergo multiple stages of development called instars.

Extreme Macro Photos of Insect Wings by Chris Perani Layer Thousands of Images

The undulating surfaces of Perani's high-resolution photos resemble chromatic pixels, stained glass, or even beadwork.

z428: status /

☀️ 9am and on, sunlight through walnut leaves, butterflies dancing in between. The morning is warmer than expected.

Willkommen

Sachsens Mitte: Freilichtmuseum • Baukultur • Denkmalpflege Mit dem Projekt „Freilichtmuseum für Sachsens Mitte“ soll mehr als nur ein weiteres Museum entstehen.

Instar

An instar is a developmental stage of arthropods, such as insects, which occurs between each moult (ecdysis) until sexual maturity is reached. Arthropods must shed the exoskeleton in order to grow or assume a new form. Differences between instars can often be seen in altered body proportions, colors, patterns, changes in the number of body segments or head width.

Tal Piterbraut-Merx / La domination oubliée : politiser les rapports adulte-enfant / Blast / Rencontre

Mercredi 30 octobre à 19h30, suite au suicide de Tal Piterbraut-Merx, à partir du manuscrit inachevé de sa thèse, un collectif d’ami·es chercheureuses a établi un ouvrage La domination oublié…

Pheromone

A pheromone is a chemical that is secreted or excreted by an organism, which triggers a social response in members of the same species. There are 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.