1.
Cicada
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The cicadas are a superfamily, the Cicadoidea, of insects in the order Hemiptera. They are in the suborder Auchenorrhyncha, along with smaller jumping bugs such as leafhoppers and froghoppers and it is divided into the Tettigarctidae, with two species in Australia, and Cicadidae, with more than 1,300 species described from around the world, many undescribed species remain. Cicadas have prominent eyes set wide apart, short antennae, and they have an exceptionally loud song, produced not by stridulation, but by vibrating drumlike tymbals rapidly. The earliest known fossil Cicadomorpha appeared in the Upper Permian period and they typically live in trees, feeding on sap, and laying their eggs in a slit in the bark. Most cicadas are cryptic, singing at night to avoid predators, Cicadas have been featured in literature since the time of Homers Iliad, and as motifs in art from the Chinese Shang dynasty. They have been used in myths and folklore to represent carefree living, Cicadas are eaten in various countries, including China, where the nymphs are served deep-fried in Shandong cuisine. The name is directly from the Latin cicada, meaning tree cricket, Cicadas are arranged into two families, the Tettigarctidae and Cicadidae. The two extant species of Tettigarctidae include one in southern Australia and the other in Tasmania, the family Cicadidae is subdivided into the subfamilies Cicadinae, Tettigadinae, and Cicadettinae, they are found on all continents except Antarctica. Some previous works included a family-level taxon called the Tibiceninae. The largest species is the Malaysian emperor cicada Megapomponia imperatoria, its wingspan is up to about 20 cm and they are also notable for the great length of time some species take to mature. At least 1300 cicada species are distributed worldwide with the majority being in the tropics, most genera are restricted to a single biogeographical region and many species have a very limited range. This high degree of endemism has been used to study the biogeography of complex island groups such as in Indonesia, about 100 species occur in the Palaearctic. A few species are found in southern Europe, and a species is in England, the New Forest cicada, Melampsalta montana. Most of the North American species are in the genus Neotibicen, the best-known North American genus, however, is Magicicada. These periodical cicadas have a long life cycle of 13 or 17 years. Many of them go by names such as cherry nose, brown baker, red eye, greengrocer, yellow Monday, whisky drinker, double drummer. The Australian greengrocer, Cyclochila australasiae, is among the loudest insects in the world, forty-two species from five genera populate New Zealand, ranging from sea level to mountain tops, and all are endemic to New Zealand and the surrounding islands. Fossil Cicadomorpha first appeared in the Upper Permian, the superfamily Palaeontinoidea contains three families
2.
Moulting
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Moulting can involve shedding the epidermis, pelage, or other external layer. In some groups, other parts may be shed, for example. In birds, moulting is the replacement of feathers by shedding old feathers while producing new ones. Feathers are dead structures at maturity which are gradually abraded and need to be replaced, adult birds moult at least once a year, although many moult twice and a few three times each year. It is generally a slow process as birds rarely shed all their feathers at any one time, the number and area of feathers that are shed varies. In some moulting periods, a bird may renew only the feathers on the head and body, shedding the wing, some species of bird become flightless during an annual wing moult and must seek a protected habitat with a reliable food supply during that time. The process of moulting in birds is as follows, First, as the pin feathers become full feathers, other feathers are shed. This is a process that occurs in many phases. It is usually symmetrical, with feather loss equal on each side of the body, because feathers make up 4–12% of a birds body weight, it takes a large amount of energy to replace them. For this reason, moults often occur immediately after the breeding season, the plumage produced during this time is called postnuptial plumage. Prenuptial moulting occurs in red-collared widowbirds where the males replace their nonbreeding plumage with breeding plumage and it is thought that large birds can advance the moult of severely damaged feathers. In some countries, flocks of commercial layer hens are force-moulted to reinvigorate egg-laying and this causes a body weight loss of 25 to 35%, which stimulates the hen to lose her feathers, but also reinvigorates egg-production. Some flocks may be force-moulted several times, in 2003, more than 75% of all flocks were force-moulted in the US. Other methods of inducing a moult include low-density diets or dietary manipulation to create an imbalance of a particular nutrient, the most important among these include manipulation of minerals including sodium, calcium, iodine and zinc, with full or partially reduced dietary intakes. The most familiar example of moulting in reptiles is when snakes shed their skin and this is usually achieved by the snake rubbing its head against a hard object, such as a rock or piece of wood, causing the already stretched skin to split. This is similar to how one might remove a sock from ones foot by grabbing the open end, the snakes skin is often left in one piece after the moulting process, including the discarded brille, so that the moult is vital for maintaining the animals quality of vision. The skins of lizards, in contrast, generally fall off in pieces, in arthropods, such as insects, arachnids and crustaceans, moulting is the shedding of the exoskeleton, typically to let the organism grow. The new exoskeleton is soft but hardens after the moulting of the old exoskeleton
3.
Tanning (leather)
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Tanning is the process of treating skins and hides of animals to produce leather. A tannery is the place where the skins are processed, Tanning hide into leather involves a process which permanently alters the protein structure of skin, making it more durable and less susceptible to decomposition, and also possibly coloring it. Before tanning, the skins are unhaired, degreased, desalted and soaked in water over a period of 6 hours to 2 days, historically this process was considered a noxious or odoriferous trade and relegated to the outskirts of town. Traditionally, tanning used tannin, a chemical compound from which the tanning process draws its name. The use of a solution was adopted by tanners in the Industrial Revolution. The English word for tanning is from medieval Latin tannāre, deriv. of tannum and this refers to use of the bark of oaks in some kinds of hide preservation. Ancient civilizations used leather for waterskins, bags, harnesses and tack, boats, armour, quivers, scabbards, boots, Tanning was being carried out by the inhabitants of Mehrgarh in India between 7000 and 3300 BC. Around 2500 BC, the Sumerians began using leather, affixed by copper studs, formerly, tanning was considered a noxious or odoriferous trade and relegated to the outskirts of town, amongst the poor. Indeed, tanning by ancient methods is so foul smelling, tanneries are still isolated from those towns today where the old methods are used, Skins typically arrived at the tannery dried stiff and dirty with soil and gore. First, the ancient tanners would soak the skins in water to clean, then they would pound and scour the skin to remove any remaining flesh and fat. Next, the tanner needed to remove the hair from the skin and this was done by either soaking the skin in urine, painting it with an alkaline lime mixture, or simply allowing the skin to putrefy for several months then dipping it in a salt solution. After the hairs were loosened, the tanners scraped them off with a knife, once the hair was removed, the tanners would bate the material by pounding dung into the skin, or soaking the skin in a solution of animal brains. Bating was a process which relied on enzymes produced by bacteria found in the dung. Among the kinds of dung commonly used were those of dogs or pigeons, sometimes, the dung was mixed with water in a large vat, and the prepared skins were kneaded in the dung water until they became supple from bacterial enzyme action, but not too soft. The ancient tanner might use his feet to knead the skins in the dung water. This combination of urine, animal feces, and decaying flesh made ancient tanneries malodorous, children employed as dung gatherers were a common sight in ancient cities. Also common were piss-pots located on street corners, where human urine could be collected for use in tanneries or by washerwomen, historically the actual tanning process used vegetable tanning. In some variations of the process, cedar oil, alum, as the skin was stretched, it would lose moisture and absorb the agent
4.
Animal coloration
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Animal coloration is the general appearance of an animal resulting from the reflection or emission of light from its surfaces. Some animals are coloured, while others are hard to see. In some species, such as the peacock, the male has strong patterns, conspicuous colours and is iridescent, there are several separate reasons why animals have evolved colours. Camouflage enables an animal to remain hidden from view, some animals use flashes of colour to divert attacks by startling predators. Zebras may possibly use motion dazzle, confusing a predators attack by moving a bold pattern rapidly, some animals are coloured for physical protection, with pigments in the skin to protect against sunburn, while some frogs can lighten or darken their skin for temperature regulation. Finally, animals can be coloured incidentally, for example, blood is red because the haem pigment needed to carry oxygen is red. Animals coloured in these ways can have striking natural patterns, Animals produce colour in different ways. Pigments are particles of coloured material, chromatophores are cells containing pigment, which can change their size to make their colour more or less visible. Some animals, including butterflies and birds, have microscopic structures in scales, bristles or feathers which give them brilliant iridescent colours. Other animals including squid and some fish can produce light. Animals often use two or more of these together to produce the colours and effects they need. Animal coloration has been a topic of interest and research in biology for centuries, so each of those threads in the Microscope appears a large long body, consisting of a multitude of bright reflecting parts. According to Charles Darwins 1859 theory of selection, features such as coloration evolved by providing individual animals with a reproductive advantage. For example, individuals with slightly better camouflage than others of the species would, on average. Henry Walter Batess 1863 book The Naturalist on the River Amazons describes his extensive studies of the insects in the Amazon basin, the book introduced the concept of frequency-dependent selection, as when edible mimics are less frequent than the distasteful models whose colours and patterns they copy. In the book, Poulton also coined the term aposematism for warning coloration, which he identified in widely differing animal groups including mammals, bees and wasps, beetles, and butterflies. Frank Evers Beddards 1892 book, Animal Coloration, acknowledged that natural selection existed but examined its application to camouflage, mimicry, the book was in turn roundly criticised by Poulton. Hugh Bamford Cotts 500-page book Adaptive Coloration in Animals, published in wartime 1940, systematically described the principles of camouflage, the book contains hundreds of examples, over a hundred photographs and Cotts own accurate and artistic drawings, and 27 pages of references
5.
Spider
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Spiders are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs and chelicerae with fangs that inject venom. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species diversity among all other orders of organisms, Spiders are found worldwide on every continent except for Antarctica, and have become established in nearly every habitat with the exceptions of air and sea colonization. As of November 2015, at least 45,700 spider species, anatomically, spiders differ from other arthropods in that the usual body segments are fused into two tagmata, the cephalothorax and abdomen, and joined by a small, cylindrical pedicel. Unlike insects, spiders do not have antennae, in all except the most primitive group, the Mesothelae, spiders have the most centralized nervous systems of all arthropods, as all their ganglia are fused into one mass in the cephalothorax. Unlike most arthropods, spiders have no extensor muscles in their limbs and their abdomens bear appendages that have been modified into spinnerets that extrude silk from up to six types of glands. Spider webs vary widely in size, shape and the amount of thread used. It now appears that the orb web may be one of the earliest forms. Spider-like arachnids with silk-producing spigots appeared in the Devonian period about 386 million years ago, true spiders have been found in Carboniferous rocks from 318 to 299 million years ago, and are very similar to the most primitive surviving suborder, the Mesothelae. The main groups of spiders, Mygalomorphae and Araneomorphae, first appeared in the Triassic period. It is estimated that 25 million tons of spiders kill 400–800 million tons of prey per year. Spiders use a range of strategies to capture prey, trapping it in sticky webs, lassoing it with sticky bolas, mimicking the prey to avoid detection. Spiders guts are too narrow to take solids, and they liquefy their food by flooding it with digestive enzymes and they also grind food with the bases of their pedipalps, as arachnids do not have the mandibles that crustaceans and insects have. Male spiders identify themselves by a variety of courtship rituals to avoid being eaten by the females. Males of most species survive a few matings, limited mainly by their life spans. Females weave silk egg-cases, each of which may contain hundreds of eggs, females of many species care for their young, for example by carrying them around or by sharing food with them. A minority of species are social, building communal webs that may house anywhere from a few to 50,000 individuals, social behavior ranges from precarious toleration, as in the widow spiders, to co-operative hunting and food-sharing. Although most spiders live for at most two years, tarantulas and other spiders can live up to 25 years in captivity. While the venom of a few species is dangerous to humans, scientists are now researching the use of venom in medicine
6.
Southern hawker
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The southern hawker or blue hawker is a 70 millimetres long species of hawker dragonfly. The species is one of the most common and most widespread dragonflies in Europe. The total range is West Palearctic and covers a part of Europe, the Eastern boundary is formed by the Ural. It is also found in Northwest Africa, in Central Europe the species is very common It is large, with a long body. It has green markings on the bodies, and the male also has blue spots on the abdomen. The southern hawker breeds in still or slow-flowing water, but will wander widely and this is an inquisitive species and will approach people. The adult eats insects, caught on the wing. The nymphs feed on insects, tadpoles and small fish ambushed in the pond they frequent until they emerge as adults in July. This is a large, brightly coloured dragonfly, the males are often seen patrolling by a ponds edge or river, where they fight away intruders, crashing into rival males and spiralling through the air. The females are quite inconspicuous when they lay their eggs, the eggs are laid by jabbing the abdomen into rotting vegetation or wood. The eggs hatch in the spring, after being laid in the summer or autumn. The larvae live on small tadpoles and invertebrates, list of British dragonflies Aeshna cyanea. Data related to Aeshna cyanea at Wikispecies Media related to Aeshna cyanea at Wikimedia Commons
7.
Epithelium
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Epithelial is one of the four basic types of animal tissue, along with connective tissue, muscle tissue and nervous tissue. Epithelial tissues line the cavities and surfaces of blood vessels and organs throughout the body, there are three principal shapes of epithelial cell, squamous, columnar, and cuboidal. All glands are made up of epithelial cells, functions of epithelial cells include secretion, selective absorption, protection, transcellular transport, and sensing. Epithelial layers contain no blood vessels, so they must receive nourishment via diffusion of substances from the connective tissue. Cell junctions are well-employed in epithelial tissues, in general, epithelial tissues are classified by the number of their layers and by the shape and function of the cells. The three principal shapes associated with epithelial cells are—squamous, cuboidal and columnar, squamous epithelium has cells that are wider than their height. Cuboidal epithelium has cells whose height and width are approximately the same, columnar epithelium has cells taller than they are wide. However, when taller simple columnar epithelial cells are viewed in cross section showing several nuclei appearing at different heights and this kind of epithelium is therefore described as pseudostratified columnar epithelium. Transitional epithelium has cells that can change from squamous to cuboidal, Simple epithelium is a single layer of cells with every cell in direct contact with the basement membrane that separates it from the underlying connective tissue. In general, it is found where absorption and filtration occur, the thinness of the epithelial barrier facilitates these processes. In general, simple epithelial tissues are classified by the shape of their cells, the four major classes of simple epithelium are, simple squamous, simple cuboidal, simple columnar, pseudostratified. Simple squamous, which is found lining areas where passive diffusion of gases occur, E. g. skin, walls of capillaries, linings of the pericardial, pleural, and peritoneal cavities, as well as the linings of the alveoli of the lungs. Simple cuboidal, these cells may have secretory, absorptive, or excretory functions, examples include small collecting ducts of kidney, pancreas and salivary gland. Simple columnar, cells can be secretory, absorptive, or excretory, Simple columnar epithelium can be ciliated or non-ciliated, ciliated columnar is found in the reproductive tract. Non-ciliated epithelium can also possess microvilli, pseudostratified columnar epithelium, can be ciliated or non-ciliated. The ciliated type is called respiratory epithelium as it is almost exclusively confined to the larger respiratory airways of the nasal cavity, trachea. Stratified epithelium differs from simple epithelium in that it is multilayered and it is therefore found where body linings have to withstand mechanical or chemical insult such that layers can be abraded and lost without exposing subepithelial layers. Cells flatten as the layers become more apical, though in their most basal layers the cells can be squamous, stratified epithelia can have the following specializations, The basic cell types are squamous, cuboidal, and columnar classed by their shape
8.
Pupa
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A pupa is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation. The pupal stage is only in holometabolous insects, those that undergo a complete metamorphosis, going through four life stages, embryo, larva, pupa. The pupae of different groups of insects have different names such as chrysalis for the pupae of butterflies, pupae may further be enclosed in other structures such as cocoons, nests or shells. In the life of an insect the pupal stage follows the larval stage and it is during the time of pupation that the adult structures of the insect are formed while the larval structures are broken down. The adult structures, imaginal discs, then grow to become the adult structures, pupae are inactive, and usually sessile. However, the pupae may be exarate or obtect and they have a hard protective coating and often use camouflage to evade potential predators. Pupation may last weeks, months or even years, for example, it is two weeks in monarch butterflies. The pupa may enter dormancy or diapause until the season for the adult insect. In temperate climates pupae usually stay dormant during winter, while in the tropics pupae usually do so during the dry season, anise swallowtails sometimes emerge after years as a chrysalis. Insects emerge from pupae by splitting the pupal case, and the process of pupation is controlled by the insects hormones. Most butterflies emerge in the morning, in mosquitoes the emergence is in the evening or night. In fleas the process is triggered by vibrations that indicate the presence of a suitable host. Prior to emergence, the adult inside the exoskeleton is termed pharate. Once the pharate adult has eclosed from the pupa, the empty pupal exoskeleton is called an exuvia, in most hymenopterans the exuvia is so thin, pupae are usually immobile and are largely defenseless. To overcome this, a feature is concealed placement. There are some species of Lycaenid butterflies who are protected in their pupal stage by ants, another means of defense by pupae of other species is the capability of making sounds or vibrations to scare potential predators. A few species use chemical defenses including toxic secretions, the pupae of social hymenopterans are protected by adult members of the hive. Examples are pupae of the orders Neuroptera, Mecoptera, Trichoptera, adecticous pupa - pupae without articulated mandibles
9.
Arthropod cuticle
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The cuticle forms the major part of the integument of the Arthropoda. It includes most of the material of the exoskeleton of the insects, Crustacea, Arachnida, in arthropods, the integument, the external skin, or shell, is the product of a single layer of ectodermal epithelium. That layer is attached to the external or distal surface of the deepest layer and that non-cellular membrane is called the basement membrane. The layer of epithelium on the basement membrane produces the cuticle, to achieve such rigidity the outer chitin layer of the cuticle is impregnated, thickened, and reinforced with harder, more brittle materials such as sclerotinised proteins or calcite. This main chitinous layer of the cuticle is called the procuticle, the procuticle in most land Arthropoda, particularly insects, is covered externally with a thin, waxy, water-resistant outer layer containing no chitin. That outer layer is the epicuticle, and it is thinner than the procuticle. The chitinous procuticle consists of two layers, the outer exocuticle and the inner endocuticle. Biomineralization with calcite is particularly common in Crustacea, whereas sclerotization particularly occurs in insects, the exocuticle is greatly reduced in many soft-bodied insects, especially in the larval stages such as caterpillars and the larvae of parasitoidal Hymenoptera. Hardened plates in the exoskeleton are called sclerites, sclerites may be simple protective armour, but also may form mechanical components of the exoskeleton, such as in the legs, joints, fins or wings. In the typical body segment of an insect or many other Arthropoda, the dorsal region is the tergum, if the tergum bears any sclerites, those are called tergites. The ventral region is called the sternum, which commonly bears sternites, the two lateral regions are called the pleura and any sclerites they bear are called pleurites. Chemically, chitin is a polymer of a N-acetylglucosamine, which is a derivative of glucose. The polymer bonds between the units are β links, the same as in cellulose. In its unmodified form, chitin is translucent, pliable, resilient, in arthropods and other organisms however, it generally is a component of a complex matrix of materials. It practically always is associated with molecules that often are in a more or less sclerotised state, stiffened or hardened by cross-linking. In some organisms the mineral content may exceed 95%, the process of formation of such mineral-rich matrices is called biomineralization. In both those examples there is heavy modification by sclerotisation, as mentioned, the integument, and in particular the cuticle, is the product of the single layer of columnar or cuboidal epithelial cells attached to the basement membrane. Therefore, the animal periodically sheds the external part of the cuticle in a process called moulting or ecdysis, as the time for moulting approaches, as much as possible of the exocuticle material is internally digested by enzymatic action and reabsorbed through the epithelial layer
10.
Thomisidae
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The Thomisidae are a family of spiders, including about 175 genera and over 2,100 species. The common name crab spider is often applied to species in this family, among the Thomisidae, crab spider refers most often to the familiar species of flower crab spiders, though not all members of the family are limited to ambush hunting in flowers. Rationalisation for the crab spider is generally subjective and anecdotal. It is commonly said to refer to a resemblance to crabs. Some spiders so called have bodies that are flattened and angular, at all events, the Thomisidae are the family most generally referred to as crab spiders. However, some members of the Sparassidae are called giant crab spiders, the Selenopidae are called crab spiders. Some unrelated orb-weaver spider species such as Gasteracantha cancriformis also are called crab spiders. Such names are of biological significance, and the following emphasis is on the Thomisidae. Thomisidae do not build webs to trap prey, though all of them produce silk for drop lines and sundry reproductive purposes, some are wandering hunters, some species sit on or beside flowers or fruit, where they grab visiting insects. Individuals of some species, such as Misumena vatia, are able to color over a period of some days. Some species frequent promising positions among leaves or bark, where they await prey, and some of them sit in the open, where they are startlingly good mimics of bird droppings. However, these members of the family Thomisidae are not to be confused with the spiders that generally are called bird-dropping spiders, not all of which are close relatives of crab spiders. Other species of spiders with flattened bodies either hunt in the crevices of tree trunks or under loose bark, or shelter under such crevices by day. Members of the genus Xysticus hunt in the litter on the ground. In each case, crab spiders use their front legs to grab. The spider family Aphantochilidae was incorporated into the Thomisidae in the late 1980s, aphantochilus species mimic Cephalotes ants, on which they prey. The spiders of Thomisidae are not known to be harmful to humans, several different types of sexual dimorphism have been recorded in crab spiders. Some species exhibit color dimorphisms, however, the most apparent dimorphism is the difference in size between males and females, in some species, this is relatively small, females of Misumena vatia are roughly twice the size of their male counterparts
11.
Mygalomorphae
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The Mygalomorphae or mygalomorphs are an infraorder of spiders. The name is derived from the Greek mugalē, meaning shrew, an older name for the group is Orthognatha, derived from the orientation of the fangs which point straight down and do not cross each other. Like the primitive suborder of spiders Mesothelae, they have two pairs of lungs, and downward pointing chelicerae. Because of this, the two groups were believed to be closely related. Later it was realized that the ancestors of all spiders had these features. Like spiders in general, most species of Mygalomorphae have eight eyes, one pair of principal, but there are also species with six, four, two or no eyes. Their chelicerae and fangs are large and powerful, and have ample venom glands that lie entirely within their chelicerae and these weapons, combined with their size and strength, make Mygalomorph spiders powerful predators in the arthropod kingdom. Many of these spiders are well adapted to killing other large arthropods, and will sometimes kill small mammals, birds. Despite their fearsome appearance and reputation, most mygalomorph spiders are not harmful to humans, with the exception of the Australian funnel-web spiders, especially those of the genus Atrax. While the worlds biggest spiders are mygalomorphs—Theraphosa blondi has a length of 10 cm. Mygalomorphs are capable of spinning at least slightly adhesive silk, unlike Araneomorphae, which die after about a year, Mygalomorphae can live for up to 25 years, and some do not reach maturity until they are about six years old. Megarachne servinei was thought to be a giant mygalomorph from the Upper Carboniferous, thus, the oldest known mygalomorph is Rosamygale grauvogeli from the Triassic of north-east France. No mygalomorphs from the Jurassic have yet been found, only a few species occur in Europe. These are of the families Atypidae, Nemesiidae, Ctenizidae, Hexathelidae, Theraphosidae and Cyrtaucheniidae, however, it is suggested that the Mygalomorphae were distributed world-wide before the breakup of Pangaea. The spider infraorder Mygalomorphae, Cladistics and systematics, a Reanalysis of Mygalomorphae Spider Families. PDF Taxonomy, husbandry and captive breeding of Dipluridae Mygalomorphae or primitive spiders Suborder Mygalomorphae
Media related to Ecdysis at Wikimedia Commons