Odonata
Odonata is an order of carnivorous insects, encompassing the dragonflies and the damselflies. The Odonata form a clade. Dragonflies are larger, perch with their wings held out to the sides. Fabricius coined the term Odonata from the Ancient Greek ὀδών odṓn'tooth' because they have teeth on their mandibles though most insects have toothed mandibles; the word dragonfly is sometimes used to refer to all Odonata, but odonate is a more correct English name for the group as a whole. Odonata enthusiasts avoid ambiguity by using the term true dragonfly, or Anisopteran, when referring to just the Anisoptera; the term Warriorfly has been proposed. Some 5,900 species have been described in this order; this order has traditionally been grouped together with the mayflies and several extinct orders in a group called the "Paleoptera", but this grouping might be paraphyletic. What they do share with mayflies is the nature of how the wings are articulated and held in rest. In some treatments, the Odonata are understood in an expanded sense synonymous with the superorder Odonatoptera but not including the prehistoric Protodonata.
In this approach, instead of Odonatoptera, the term Odonatoidea is used. The systematics of the "Palaeoptera" are by no means resolved; the Anisoptera was long treated as a suborder, with a third suborder, the "Anisozygoptera". However, the combined suborder Epiprocta was proposed when it was found that the "Anisozygoptera" was paraphyletic, composed of extinct offshoots of dragonfly evolution; the four living species placed in that group are in the infraorder Epiophlebioptera, whereas the fossil taxa that were there are now dispersed about the Odonatoptera. World Odonata List considers Anisoptera as a suborder along with Zygoptera and Anisozygoptera as well-understood and preferred terms. Tarsophlebiidae is a prehistoric family of Odonatoptera that can be considered either a basal lineage of Odonata or their immediate sister taxon; the phylogenetic tree of the orders and suborders of odonates according to Bechly: The largest living odonate is the giant Central American helicopter damselfly Megaloprepus coerulatus with a wing span of 191 mm.
The heaviest living odonates are Tetracanthagyna plagiata with a wing span of 165 mm, Petalura ingentissima with a body length of 117 mm and wing span of 160 mm. The longest extant odonate is the Neotropical helicopter damselfly Mecistogaster linearis with a body length of 135 mm. Sometimes the giant Hawaiian darner Anax strenuus is claimed to be the largest living odonate with an alleged wing span of 190 mm, but this seems to be rather a myth as only 152 mm are scientifically documented. Odonata and their ancestors come from one of the oldest winged insect groups; the fossils of odonates and their cousins Paleozoic "giant dragonflies" like Meganeuropsis permiana from the Permian of North America with up to 71 cm wing span and 43 cm body length have been the largest insects of all times and belonged to the order Meganisoptera, the griffinflies, related to odonates but not part of the modern order Odonata in the restricted sense have one of the most complete records going back 319 million years ago.
The smallest living dragonfly is Nannophya pygmaea from east Asia, which a body length of 15 mm and a wing span of 20 mm, the smallest damselflies are species of the genus Agriocnemis with a wing span of only 17–18 mm. These insects characteristically have large rounded heads covered by well-developed, compound eyes, legs that facilitate catching prey in flight, two pairs of long, transparent wings that move independently, elongated abdomens, they have short antennae. The mouthparts include simple chewing mandibles in the adult. Flight in the Odonata is direct, with flight muscles attaching directly to the wings; this allows active control of the amplitude, angle of attack and twist of each of the four wings independently. In most families there is a structure on the leading edge near the tip of the wing called the pterostigma; this is a thickened, hemolymph–filled and colorful area bounded by veins. The functions of the pterostigma are not known, but it most has an aerodynamic effect and may have a visual function.
More mass at the end of the wing may reduce the energy needed to move the wings up and down. The right combination of wing stiffness and wing mass could reduce the energy consumption of flying. A pterostigma is found among other insects, such as bees; the nymphs have stockier, bodies than the adults. In addition to lacking wings, their eyes are smaller, their antennae longer, their heads are less mobile than in the adult, their mouthparts are modified, with the labium being adapted into a unique prehensile organ for grasping prey. Damselfly nymphs breathe through external gills on the abdomen, while dragonfly nymphs respire through an organ in their rectum. Although generally
Paraneoptera
Paraneoptera is a monophyletic superorder of insects which includes four orders, the bark lice, true lice and hemipterans, the true bugs. The mouthparts of the Paraneoptera reflect diverse feeding habits. Basal groups are microbial surface feeders, whereas more advanced groups feed on plant or animal fluids. Hemiptera is an order of insects most known as the true bugs, comprising around 50,000–80,000 species of cicadas, planthoppers, shield bugs, others, they range in size from 1 millimetre to around 15 centimetres, share a common arrangement of sucking mouthparts. Psocoptera, the bark lice, include 4,400 described species arranged in 3 suborders, Trogiomorpha and Psocomorpha. There are 50 families of bark lice with over 200 genera; this is the first insect order to show the beginnings of a transition to sucking mouthparts. It is sister group to the Phthiraptera. Bark lice are found under bark, or in leaf litter. Most species are microbial surface feeders, some species feed on dead insects and a few species, known as book lice, eat paper products.
Many species live gregariously. Mating behavior can be elaborate. Phthiraptera, the lice, includes; the Amblycera is parasitize birds and mammals. The Ischnocera is the largest suborder and parasitize birds and some groups of mammals; the Rhynchophthirina, the elephant lice, consists of only 3 species that parasitize elephants and wild pigs in Africa. The Anoplura parasitize only mammals; the body of a louse is dorsoventrally flattened and the eyes are absent or nearly so. The legs are strong for holding onto fur or feathers of the host. Amblycera have chewing mouthparts, Anoplura have true sucking mouthparts with stylets. Chewing lice feed on feathers and skin surface detritus, whereas sucking lice feed on blood. Most species of lice are host specific, with the sucking lice being more host specific than chewing lice. There is strong evidence for host-parasite coevolution in some groups; because lice are wingless, transfer between hosts involves direct contact during mating and nursing of young, sharing of communal nest sites or during predator-prey interactions.
Lice have the fewest life stages of any insect. Order Thysanoptera includes 5,500 species classified into two suborders distinguished by the ovipositor. Terebrantia have a well-developed conical ovipositor. Instead the abdomen is drawn out in the shape of a tube; these insects are called thrips. The mouth is in the form of an asymmetrical mouth cone, consisting of piercing stylets. Thrips have unique eversible bladders on their tarsi. Thrips are found on and in flowers. Most species are phytophagous; some species feed on fungi and a few species are predaceous. Development in thrips is unique. In the Terebrantia the egg stage is followed by 2 larval instars, 1 “prepupal” instar, a “pupal” instar and the adult stage; the prepupal and pupal stages have rudimentary wings. In the Tubulifera there are one "pupal" instar. Wing rudiments are not present in the first “prepupal” stage. Social behavior ranges from solitary to eusocial with reproductive division of labor
Lepidoptera
Lepidoptera is an order of insects that includes butterflies and moths. About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera are described, in 126 families and 46 superfamilies, 10 per cent of the total described species of living organisms, it is one of the most widespread and recognizable insect orders in the world. The Lepidoptera show many variations of the basic body structure that have evolved to gain advantages in lifestyle and distribution. Recent estimates suggest the order may have more species than earlier thought, is among the four most speciose orders, along with the Hymenoptera and Coleoptera. Lepidopteran species are characterized by more than three derived features; the most apparent is the presence of scales that cover the bodies, a proboscis. The scales are modified, flattened "hairs", give butterflies and moths their wide variety of colors and patterns. All species have some form of membranous wings, except for a few that have reduced wings or are wingless. Mating and the laying of eggs are carried out by adults near or on host plants for the larvae.
Like most other insects and moths are holometabolous, meaning they undergo complete metamorphosis. The larvae are called caterpillars, are different from their adult moth or butterfly forms, having a cylindrical body with a well-developed head, mandible mouth parts, three pairs of thoracic legs and from none up to five pairs of prolegs; as they grow, these larvae change in appearance, going through a series of stages called instars. Once matured, the larva develops into a pupa. A few butterflies and many moth species spin a silk case or cocoon prior to pupating, while others do not, instead going underground. A butterfly pupa, called a chrysalis, has a hard skin with no cocoon. Once the pupa has completed its metamorphosis, a sexually mature adult emerges; the Lepidoptera have, over millions of years, evolved a wide range of wing patterns and coloration ranging from drab moths akin to the related order Trichoptera, to the brightly colored and complex-patterned butterflies. Accordingly, this is the most recognized and popular of insect orders with many people involved in the observation, collection, rearing of, commerce in these insects.
A person who collects or studies this order is referred to as a lepidopterist. Butterflies and moths play an important role in the natural ecosystem as pollinators and as food in the food chain. In many species, the female may produce from 200 to 600 eggs, while in others, the number may approach 30,000 eggs in one day; the caterpillars hatching from these eggs can cause damage to large quantities of crops. Many moth and butterfly species are of economic interest by virtue of their role as pollinators, the silk they produce, or as pest species; the term was coined by Linnaeus in 1735 and is derived from Greek λεπίς, gen. λεπίδος and πτερόν. Sometimes, the term Rhopalocera is used for the clade of all butterfly species, derived from the Ancient Greek ῥόπαλον and κέρας meaning "club" and "horn" coming from the shape of the antennae of butterflies; the origins of the common names "butterfly" and "moth" are varied and obscure. The English word butterfly is with many variations in spelling. Other than that, the origin is unknown, although it could be derived from the pale yellow color of many species' wings suggesting the color of butter.
The species of Heterocera are called moths. The origins of the English word moth are more clear, deriving from the Old English moððe" from Common Germanic, its origins are related to Old English maða meaning "maggot" or from the root of "midge", which until the 16th century was used to indicate the larva in reference to devouring clothes. The etymological origins of the word "caterpillar", the larval form of butterflies and moths, are from the early 16th century, from Middle English catirpel, catirpeller an alteration of Old North French catepelose: cate, cat + pelose, hairy; the Lepidoptera are among the most successful groups of insects. They are found on all continents, except Antarctica, inhabit all terrestrial habitats ranging from desert to rainforest, from lowland grasslands to mountain plateaus, but always associated with higher plants angiosperms. Among the most northern dwelling species of butterflies and moths is the Arctic Apollo, found in the Arctic Circle in northeastern Yakutia, at an altitude of 1500 m above sea level.
In the Himalayas, various Apollo species such as Parnassius epaphus have been recorded to occur up to an altitude of 6,000 m above sea level. Some lepidopteran species exhibit symbiotic, phoretic, or parasitic lifestyles, inhabiting the bodies of organisms rather than the environment. Coprophagous pyralid moth species, called sloth moths, such as Bradipodicola hahneli and Cryptoses choloepi, are unusual in that they are found inhabiting the fur of sloths, mammals found in Central and South America. Two species of Tinea moths have been recorded as feeding on horny tissue and have been bred from the horns of cattle; the larva of Zenodochium coccivorella is an internal parasite of the coccid Kermes species. Many species have been recorded as breeding in natural materials or refuse such as owl pellets, bat caves, honeycombs or diseased fruit; as of 2007, there was 174,250 lepi
Deer
Deer are the hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk, the fallow deer, the chital. Female reindeer, male deer of all species except the Chinese water deer and shed new antlers each year. In this they differ from permanently horned antelope, which are part of a different family within the same order of even-toed ungulates; the musk deer of Asia and chevrotains of tropical African and Asian forests are separate families within the ruminant clade. They are no more related to deer than are other even-toed ungulates. Deer appear in art from Paleolithic cave paintings onwards, they have played a role in mythology and literature throughout history, as well as in heraldry, their economic importance includes the use of their meat as venison, their skins as soft, strong buckskin, their antlers as handles for knives. Deer hunting has been a popular activity since at least the Middle Ages and remains a resource for many families today.
Deer live in a variety of biomes. While associated with forests, many deer are ecotone species that live in transitional areas between forests and thickets and prairie and savanna; the majority of large deer species inhabit temperate mixed deciduous forest, mountain mixed coniferous forest, tropical seasonal/dry forest, savanna habitats around the world. Clearing open areas within forests to some extent may benefit deer populations by exposing the understory and allowing the types of grasses and herbs to grow that deer like to eat. Additionally, access to adjacent croplands may benefit deer. However, adequate forest or brush cover must still be provided for populations to thrive. Deer are distributed, with indigenous representatives in all continents except Antarctica and Australia, though Africa has only one native deer, the Barbary stag, a subspecies of red deer, confined to the Atlas Mountains in the northwest of the continent. However, fallow deer have been introduced to South Africa. Small species of brocket deer and pudús of Central and South America, muntjacs of Asia occupy dense forests and are less seen in open spaces, with the possible exception of the Indian muntjac.
There are several species of deer that are specialized, live exclusively in mountains, swamps, "wet" savannas, or riparian corridors surrounded by deserts. Some deer have a circumpolar distribution in Eurasia. Examples include the caribou that live in Arctic tundra and taiga and moose that inhabit taiga and adjacent areas. Huemul deer of South America's Andes fill the ecological niches of the ibex and wild goat, with the fawns behaving more like goat kids; the highest concentration of large deer species in temperate North America lies in the Canadian Rocky Mountain and Columbia Mountain regions between Alberta and British Columbia where all five North American deer species can be found. This region has several clusters of national parks including Mount Revelstoke National Park, Glacier National Park, Yoho National Park, Kootenay National Park on the British Columbia side, Banff National Park, Jasper National Park, Glacier National Park on the Alberta and Montana sides. Mountain slope habitats vary from moist coniferous/mixed forested habitats to dry subalpine/pine forests with alpine meadows higher up.
The foothills and river valleys between the mountain ranges provide a mosaic of cropland and deciduous parklands. The rare woodland caribou have the most restricted range living at higher altitudes in the subalpine meadows and alpine tundra areas of some of the mountain ranges. Elk and mule deer both migrate between the alpine meadows and lower coniferous forests and tend to be most common in this region. Elk inhabit river valley bottomlands, which they share with White-tailed deer; the White-tailed deer have expanded their range within the foothills and river valley bottoms of the Canadian Rockies owing to conversion of land to cropland and the clearing of coniferous forests allowing more deciduous vegetation to grow up the mountain slopes. They live in the aspen parklands north of Calgary and Edmonton, where they share habitat with the moose; the adjacent Great Plains grassland habitats are left to herds of elk, American bison, pronghorn antelope. The Eurasian Continent boasts the most species of deer in the world, with most species being found in Asia.
Europe, in comparison, has lower diversity in animal species. However, many national parks and protected reserves in Europe do have populations of red deer, roe deer, fallow deer; these species have long been associated with the continent of Europe, but inhabit Asia Minor, the Caucasus Mountains, Northwestern Iran. "European" fallow deer lived over much of Europe during the Ice Ages, but afterwards became restricted to the Anatolian Peninsula, in present-day Turkey. Present-day fallow deer populations in Europe are a result of historic man-made introductions of this species, first to the Mediterranean regions of Europe eventually to the rest of Europe, they were park animals that escaped and reestablished themselves in the wild. Europe's deer species shared their deciduous forest habitat with other herbivores, such as the extinct tarpan, extinct aurochs (fo
Mosquito
Mosquitoes are a group of about 3500 species of small insects that are a type of fly. Within that order they constitute the family Culicidae; the word "mosquito" is Spanish for "little fly". Mosquitoes have a slender segmented body, a pair of wings, three pairs of long hair-like legs, feathery antennae, elongated mouthparts. Mosquitoes diverged from other insects about 226 million years ago. Fossils of primitive mosquitoes have been found; the life cycle consists of the egg, larva and adult. Eggs are laid on the water surface. Females of most species have tube-like mouthparts which can pierce the skin of the host in order to extract blood, which contains protein and iron needed to produce eggs. Thousands of mosquito species feed on the blood of various hosts — vertebrates, including mammals, reptiles and some fish; this loss of blood is of any importance to the host. The saliva of the mosquito transmitted to the host with the bite can cause a rash. In addition, many species of mosquitoes inject or ingest disease-causing organisms with the bite and are thus a vector for the transmission of diseases such as malaria, yellow fever, West Nile virus, dengue fever, Zika virus and other arboviruses.
Mosquitoes kill more people than any other animal: over 700,000 each year. The oldest known mosquito with an anatomy similar to modern species was found in 79-million-year-old Canadian amber from the Cretaceous. An older sister species with more primitive features was found in Burmese amber, 90 to 100 million years old. Two mosquito fossils have been found that show little morphological change in modern mosquitoes against their counterpart from 46 million years ago; these fossils are the oldest found to have blood preserved within their abdomens. Despite no fossils being found earlier than the Cretaceous, recent studies suggest that the earliest divergence of mosquitoes between the lineages leading to Anophelinae and Culicinae occurred 226 million years ago; the mosquito Anopheles gambiae is undergoing speciation into the M and S molecular forms. Some pesticides that work on the M form no longer work on the S form. Over 3,500 species of the Culicidae have been described, they are divided into two subfamilies which in turn comprise some 43 genera.
These figures are subject to continual change, as more species are discovered, as DNA studies compel rearrangement of the taxonomy of the family. The two main subfamilies are the Anophelinae and Culicinae, with their genera as shown in the subsection below; the distinction is of great practical importance because the two subfamilies tend to differ in their significance as vectors of different classes of diseases. Speaking, arboviral diseases such as yellow fever and dengue fever tend to be transmitted by Culicine species, not in the genus Culex; some transmit various species of avian malaria, but it is not clear that they transmit any form of human malaria. Some species do however transmit various forms of filariasis, much as many Simuliidae do. Mosquitoes are members of a family of nematocerid flies: the Culicidae. Superficially, mosquitoes resemble. Anophelinae Culicinae Over 3,500 species of mosquitoes have thus far been described in the scientific literature. Like all flies, mosquitoes go through four stages in their lifecycles: egg, larva and adult or imago.
The first three stages—egg and pupa—are aquatic. These stages last 5 to 14 days, depending on the species and the ambient temperature, but there are important exceptions. Mosquitoes living in regions where some seasons are freezing or waterless spend part of the year in diapause. For instance, Wyeomyia larvae get frozen into solid lumps of ice during winter and only complete their development in spring; the eggs of some species of Aedes remain unharmed in diapause if they dry out, hatch when they are covered by water. Eggs hatch to become larvae; the adult mosquito emerges from the mature pupa. Bloodsucking mosquitoes, depending on species and weather conditions, have potential adult lifespans ranging from as short as a week to as long as several months; some species can overwinter as adults in diapause. In most species, adult females lay their eggs in stagnant water: some lay near the water's edge while others attach their eggs to aquatic plants; each species selects the situation of the water into which it lays its eggs and does so according to its own ecological adaptations.
Some are generalists and are not fussy. Some breed in some in temporary puddles; some breed in some in salt-marshes. Among those that breed in salt water, some are at home in fresh and salt water up to about one-third the concentration of seawater, whereas others must acclimatize themselves to the salinity; such differences are important because certain ecological pre
Micropterigidae
Micropterigoidea is the superfamily of "mandibulate archaic moths", all placed in the single family Micropterigidae, containing about 20 living genera. They are considered the most primitive extant lineage of Lepidoptera. Micropterix Hübner, 1825 Epimartyria Walsingham, 1898 Issikiomartyria Hashimoto, 2006 Kurokopteryx Hashimoto, 2006 Micropardalis Meyrick, 1912 Neomicropteryx Issiki, 1931 Palaeomicra Meyrick, 1888 Palaeomicroides Issiki, 1931 Paramartyria Issiki, 1931 Vietomartyria Mey, 1997 Sabatinca Walker, 1863 Agrionympha Meyrick, 1921 Hypomartyria Kristensen & Nielsen 1982 Squamicornia Kristensen & Nielsen, 1982 Austromartyria Gibbs, 2010 Tasmantrix Gibbs, 2010 Zealandopterix Gibbs, 2010 Aureopterix Gibbs, 2010 Nannopterix Gibbs, 2010 †Auliepterix Kozlov, 1989 †Palaeolepidopterix Kozlov, 1989 †Palaeosabatinca Kozlov, 1989 †Parasabatinca Whalley, 1978 †Baltimartyria Skalski, 1995 †Moleropterix Engel & Kinzelbach, 2008 Kristensen, N. P. and E. S. Nielsen. 1979. A new subfamily of micropterigid moths from South America.
A contribution to the morphology and phylogeny of the Micropterigidae, with a generic catalogue of the family. Steenstrupia 5:69-147. Kristensen, N. P.. The non-Glossatan Moths. Ch. 4, pp. 41–49 in Kristensen, N. P.. Lepidoptera and Butterflies. Volume 1: Evolution and Biogeography. Handbuch der Zoologie. Eine Naturgeschichte der Stämme des Tierreiches / Handbook of Zoology. A Natural History of the phyla of the Animal Kingdom. Band / Volume IV Arthropoda: Insecta Teilband / Part 35: 491 pp. Walter de Gruyter, New York. O'Toole, Christopher. 2002. Firefly Encyclopedia of Insects and Spiders. ISBN 1-55297-612-2. Tree of Life Microleps U. S. A. Nearctic Watson, L. and Dallwitz, M. J. 2003 onwards. British insects: the families of Lepidoptera. Version: 29 December 2011 Detailed description and figures including wing venation
