1.
Longhorn crazy ant
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The longhorn crazy ant is a species of small dark-coloured insect in the family Formicidae. These ants are commonly called crazy ants because instead of following straight lines and this species, as well as all others in the ant subfamily Formicinae, cannot sting. The worker longhorn crazy ant is about 2.3 to 3 mm long with a head, thorax, petiole and gaster. The body has a few short bristles and the antennae. It is easy to distinguish this ant from other members of its genus, Paratrechina, because its antennae, the first segment of each antenna is more than twice as long as the length between its base and the back edge of the head. The eyes are elliptical and set far back on the head, there is no sting, but the ant can bite and then curve its abdomen forwards and secrete formic acid onto the wound. A characteristic of this ant is the way that the move around jerkily in apparently random directions. The Paratrechina probably originated in the tropics of Africa and it has spread to temperate regions around the world and is now present in North and South America, Africa, Europe, Asia and Australasia. In the United States, it is present outdoors in much of the south east of the country and also indoors in buildings and warehouses in California, Arizona and the eastern seaboard. It is considered a pest, both agricultural and domestic, in most parts of the tropics and subtropics, and an indoor pest in temperate areas. It is said to be the most widespread species of ant in the world, colonies of longhorn crazy ants make their nests in a wide range of either dry or damp sites. These include inside hollow trees, under bark, in rotten wood, under logs or stones, among rubbish. They thrive in convenience stores, gas stations, apartment blocks, schools, the workers emerge to forage and the location of the nest can be identified by watching ants carrying food back to the colony. The ants are omnivorous and feed on seeds, dead invertebrates, honeydew, plant secretions, fruit, large food items may be moved by several ants working together. They consume honeydew predominantly in spring and autumn and may tend aphids, mealybugs, during the summer they preferentially seek a high protein diet. In buildings, they collect crumbs and the corpses found under lights. The longhorn crazy ant is able to invade new habitats and out-compete other species of ant, in 1991, in the large closed dome of the research station Biosphere 2 in the Arizona Desert, no particular ant species was dominant. By 1996, the longhorn crazy ant had virtually replaced all the other ant species and it fed almost exclusively on the honeydew secreted by the large numbers of scale insects and mealybugs present, and other invertebrates were greatly diminished
2.
Yellow crazy ant
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There is also a different genus of ant called crazy ants, Paratrechina. It is colloquially called crazy because of its erratic movements when disturbed and its long legs and antennae make it one of the largest invasive ant species in the world. Also known as the ant or Maldive ant, it is on a list of One Hundred of the Worlds Worst Invasive Species formulated by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. It has invaded ecosystems from Hawaii to Seychelles, and formed supercolonies on Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean, Anoplolepis gracilipes is a relatively large, yellow to orange ant with long legs, large eyes and extremely long antennal scapes. Although A. gracilipes is the invasive species in the genus Anoplolepis. Both Leptomyrmex and Oecophylla can be confused with Anoplolepis because of their similar sizes, Anoplolepis can be distinguished from Leptomyrmex by the presence of an acidopore. Anoplolepis can be distinguished from Oecophylla by the more compact petiole, although both of these genera occur in the Pacific, neither contain any invasive species. Several species of ants belonging to the genera Camponotus and Paratrechina can appear similar to A. gracilipes. Although several invasive species of Pheidole can also be slender-bodied with long legs and long antennal scapes, a. gracilipes is widespread across the tropics, and populations are especially dense in the Pacific region. The species is most infamous for causing the ecological meltdown of Christmas Island, the yellow crazy ant’s natural habitat is not known, but it has been speculated that the species originated in West Africa. It has been introduced into a range of tropical and subtropical environments including Caribbean islands, some Indian Ocean islands. The species has been known to occupy agricultural systems such as cinnamon, citrus, coffee, because the ant has generalized nesting habits, they are able to disperse via trucks, boats and other forms of human transport. Crazy ant colonies naturally disperse through “budding”, i. e. when mated queens and workers leave the nest to establish a new one, generally, colonies that disperse through “budding” have a lower rate of dispersal and need human intervention to reach distant areas. It has been recorded that A. gracilipes moves as much as 400 m a year in Seychelles, a survey on Christmas Island, however, yielded an average spreading speed of three meters a day, the equivalent of one kilometre a year. A. gracilipes has been described as a “scavenging predator” and has a broad diet and it consumes a wide variety of foods, including grains, seeds, arthropods, and decaying matter, including vertebrate corpses. They have been reported to attack and dismember invertebrates such as isopods, myriapods, molluscs, arachnids, land crabs, earthworms. Like all ants, A. gracilipes requires a food source for the queen to lay eggs. They get their carbohydrates from plant nectar and honeydew producing insects, especially insects, aphids
3.
Taxonomy (biology)
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Taxonomy is the science of defining groups of biological organisms on the basis of shared characteristics and giving names to those groups. The exact definition of taxonomy varies from source to source, but the core of the remains, the conception, naming. There is some disagreement as to whether biological nomenclature is considered a part of taxonomy, the broadest meaning of taxonomy is used here. The word taxonomy was introduced in 1813 by Candolle, in his Théorie élémentaire de la botanique, the term alpha taxonomy is primarily used today to refer to the discipline of finding, describing, and naming taxa, particularly species. In earlier literature, the term had a different meaning, referring to morphological taxonomy, ideals can, it may be said, never be completely realized. They have, however, a value of acting as permanent stimulants. Some of us please ourselves by thinking we are now groping in a beta taxonomy, turrill thus explicitly excludes from alpha taxonomy various areas of study that he includes within taxonomy as a whole, such as ecology, physiology, genetics, and cytology. He further excludes phylogenetic reconstruction from alpha taxonomy, thus, Ernst Mayr in 1968 defined beta taxonomy as the classification of ranks higher than species. This activity is what the term denotes, it is also referred to as beta taxonomy. How species should be defined in a group of organisms gives rise to practical and theoretical problems that are referred to as the species problem. The scientific work of deciding how to define species has been called microtaxonomy, by extension, macrotaxonomy is the study of groups at higher taxonomic ranks, from subgenus and above only, than species. While some descriptions of taxonomic history attempt to date taxonomy to ancient civilizations, earlier works were primarily descriptive, and focused on plants that were useful in agriculture or medicine. There are a number of stages in scientific thinking. Early taxonomy was based on criteria, the so-called artificial systems. Later came systems based on a complete consideration of the characteristics of taxa, referred to as natural systems, such as those of de Jussieu, de Candolle and Bentham. The publication of Charles Darwins Origin of Species led to new ways of thinking about classification based on evolutionary relationships and this was the concept of phyletic systems, from 1883 onwards. This approach was typified by those of Eichler and Engler, the advent of molecular genetics and statistical methodology allowed the creation of the modern era of phylogenetic systems based on cladistics, rather than morphology alone. Taxonomy has been called the worlds oldest profession, and naming and classifying our surroundings has likely been taking place as long as mankind has been able to communicate
4.
Animal
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Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the kingdom Animalia. The animal kingdom emerged as a clade within Apoikozoa as the group to the choanoflagellates. Animals are motile, meaning they can move spontaneously and independently at some point in their lives and their body plan eventually becomes fixed as they develop, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later in their lives. All animals are heterotrophs, they must ingest other organisms or their products for sustenance, most known animal phyla appeared in the fossil record as marine species during the Cambrian explosion, about 542 million years ago. Animals can be divided broadly into vertebrates and invertebrates, vertebrates have a backbone or spine, and amount to less than five percent of all described animal species. They include fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals, the remaining animals are the invertebrates, which lack a backbone. These include molluscs, arthropods, annelids, nematodes, flatworms, cnidarians, ctenophores, the study of animals is called zoology. The word animal comes from the Latin animalis, meaning having breath, the biological definition of the word refers to all members of the kingdom Animalia, encompassing creatures as diverse as sponges, jellyfish, insects, and humans. Aristotle divided the world between animals and plants, and this was followed by Carl Linnaeus, in the first hierarchical classification. In Linnaeuss original scheme, the animals were one of three kingdoms, divided into the classes of Vermes, Insecta, Pisces, Amphibia, Aves, and Mammalia. Since then the last four have all been subsumed into a single phylum, in 1874, Ernst Haeckel divided the animal kingdom into two subkingdoms, Metazoa and Protozoa. The protozoa were later moved to the kingdom Protista, leaving only the metazoa, thus Metazoa is now considered a synonym of Animalia. Animals have several characteristics that set apart from other living things. Animals are eukaryotic and multicellular, which separates them from bacteria and they are heterotrophic, generally digesting food in an internal chamber, which separates them from plants and algae. They are also distinguished from plants, algae, and fungi by lacking cell walls. All animals are motile, if only at life stages. In most animals, embryos pass through a stage, which is a characteristic exclusive to animals. With a few exceptions, most notably the sponges and Placozoa and these include muscles, which are able to contract and control locomotion, and nerve tissues, which send and process signals
5.
Arthropod
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An arthropod is an invertebrate animal having an exoskeleton, a segmented body, and jointed appendages. Arthropods form the phylum Arthropoda, which includes the insects, arachnids, myriapods, arthropods are characterized by their jointed limbs and cuticle made of chitin, often mineralised with calcium carbonate. The arthropod body plan consists of segments, each with a pair of appendages, the rigid cuticle inhibits growth, so arthropods replace it periodically by moulting. Their versatility has enabled them to become the most species-rich members of all guilds in most environments. They have over a million described species, making up more than 80% of all described living species, some of which. Arthropods range in size from the microscopic crustacean Stygotantulus up to the Japanese spider crab, arthropods primary internal cavity is a hemocoel, which accommodates their internal organs, and through which their haemolymph – analogue of blood – circulates, they have open circulatory systems. Like their exteriors, the organs of arthropods are generally built of repeated segments. Their nervous system is ladder-like, with paired ventral nerve cords running through all segments and their heads are formed by fusion of varying numbers of segments, and their brains are formed by fusion of the ganglia of these segments and encircle the esophagus. The respiratory and excretory systems of arthropods vary, depending as much on their environment as on the subphylum to which they belong, arthropods also have a wide range of chemical and mechanical sensors, mostly based on modifications of the many setae that project through their cuticles. Aquatic species use internal or external fertilization. Almost all arthropods lay eggs, but scorpions give birth to live young after the eggs have hatched inside the mother, arthropod hatchlings vary from miniature adults to grubs and caterpillars that lack jointed limbs and eventually undergo a total metamorphosis to produce the adult form. The level of care for hatchlings varies from nonexistent to the prolonged care provided by scorpions. The evolutionary ancestry of arthropods dates back to the Cambrian period, the group is generally regarded as monophyletic, and many analyses support the placement of arthropods with cycloneuralians in a superphylum Ecdysozoa. Overall however, the relationships of Metazoa are not yet well resolved. Likewise, the relationships between various groups are still actively debated. Arthropods contribute to the food supply both directly as food, and more importantly indirectly as pollinators of crops. Some species are known to spread disease to humans, livestock. The word arthropod comes from the Greek ἄρθρον árthron, joint, and πούς pous, i. e. foot or leg, arthropods are invertebrates with segmented bodies and jointed limbs
6.
Insect
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Insects are a class of hexapod invertebrates within the arthropod phylum that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body, three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes and one pair of antennae. They are the most diverse group of animals on the planet, including more than a million described species, the number of extant species is estimated at between six and ten million, and potentially represent over 90% of the differing animal life forms on Earth. Insects may be found in all environments, although only a small number of species reside in the oceans. The life cycles of insects vary but most hatch from eggs, insect growth is constrained by the inelastic exoskeleton and development involves a series of molts. The immature stages can differ from the adults in structure, habit and habitat, Insects that undergo 3-stage metamorphosis lack a pupal stage and adults develop through a series of nymphal stages. The higher level relationship of the Hexapoda is unclear, fossilized insects of enormous size have been found from the Paleozoic Era, including giant dragonflies with wingspans of 55 to 70 cm. The most diverse insect groups appear to have coevolved with flowering plants, adult insects typically move about by walking, flying or sometimes swimming. As it allows for rapid yet stable movement, many insects adopt a tripedal gait in which they walk with their legs touching the ground in alternating triangles, Insects are the only invertebrates to have evolved flight. Many insects spend at least part of their lives under water, with adaptations that include gills. Some species, such as water striders, are capable of walking on the surface of water, Insects are mostly solitary, but some, such as certain bees, ants and termites, are social and live in large, well-organized colonies. Some insects, such as earwigs, show maternal care, guarding their eggs, Insects can communicate with each other in a variety of ways. Male moths can sense the pheromones of female moths over great distances, other species communicate with sounds, crickets stridulate, or rub their wings together, to attract a mate and repel other males. Lampyridae in the beetle order communicate with light, humans regard certain insects as pests, and attempt to control them using insecticides and a host of other techniques. Some insects damage crops by feeding on sap, leaves or fruits, a few parasitic species are pathogenic. Some insects perform complex ecological roles, blow-flies, for example, help consume carrion, Many other insects are considered ecologically beneficial as predators and a few provide direct economic benefit. Silkworms and bees have been used extensively by humans for the production of silk and honey, in some cultures, people eat the larvae or adults of certain insects. Insect first appears documented in English in 1601 in Hollands translation of Pliny, translations of Aristotles term also form the usual word for insect in Welsh, Serbo-Croatian, Russian, etc. The evolutionary relationship of insects to other animal groups remains unclear, in the Pancrustacea theory, insects, together with Entognatha, Remipedia, and Cephalocarida, make up a natural clade labeled Miracrustacea
7.
Hymenoptera
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Hymenoptera is the third-largest order of insects, comprising the sawflies, wasps, bees, and ants. Over 150,000 species are recognized, with many more remaining to be described, females typically have a special ovipositor for inserting eggs into hosts or otherwise inaccessible places. The ovipositor is modified into a stinger. The young develop through holometabolism —that is, they have a larval stage. The name Hymenoptera refers to the wings of the insects, all references agree that the derivation involves the Ancient Greek πτερόν for wing. The Ancient Greek ὑμήν for membrane provides an etymology for the term because this order like several others has membranous wings. However, a key characteristic of this order is that the wings are connected to the fore wings by a series of hooks. Thus, another plausible etymology involves Hymen, the Ancient Greek god of marriage, Hymenoptera originated in the Triassic, with the oldest fossils belonging to the family Xyelidae. Social hymenopterans appeared during the Cretaceous, the evolution of this group has been intensively studied by Alex Rasnitsyn, Michael S. Engel, G. Dlussky, and others. This clade has been studied by examining the mitochondrial DNA, although this study was unable to resolve all the ambiguities in this clade, some relationships could be established. The Aculeata, Ichneumonomorpha, and Proctotrupomorpha were monophyletic, the Megalyroidea and Trigonalyoidea are sister clades as are the Chalcidoidea+Diaprioidea. The Cynipoidea was generally recovered as the group to Chalcidoidea and Diaprioidea which are each others closest relations. The cladogram is based on Schulmeister 2003, hymenopterans range in size from very small to large insects, and usually have two pairs of wings. Their mouthparts are adapted for chewing, with well-developed mandibles, many species have further developed the mouthparts into a lengthy proboscis, with which they can drink liquids, such as nectar. They have large eyes, and typically three simple eyes. The forward margin of the hind wing bears a number of hooked bristles, or hamuli, the smaller species may have only two or three hamuli on each side, but the largest wasps may have a considerable number, keeping the wings gripped together especially tightly. Hymenopteran wings have relatively few veins compared with other insects. In the more ancestral hymenopterans, the ovipositor is blade-like, and has evolved for slicing plant tissues, in the majority, however, it is modified for piercing, and, in some cases, is several times the length of the body
8.
Ant
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Ants are eusocial insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from ancestors in the Cretaceous period, about 99 million years ago. More than 12,500 of an total of 22,000 species have been classified. They are easily identified by their antennae and the distinctive node-like structure that forms their slender waists. Larger colonies consist mostly of sterile, wingless females forming castes of workers, soldiers, nearly all ant colonies also have some fertile males called drones and one or more fertile females called queens. The colonies are described as superorganisms because the ants appear to operate as a unified entity, Ants have colonised almost every landmass on Earth. The only places lacking indigenous ants are Antarctica and a few remote or inhospitable islands, Ants thrive in most ecosystems and may form 15–25% of the terrestrial animal biomass. Their success in so many environments has been attributed to their organisation and their ability to modify habitats, tap resources. Their long co-evolution with other species has led to mimetic, commensal, parasitic, Ant societies have division of labour, communication between individuals, and an ability to solve complex problems. These parallels with human societies have long been an inspiration and subject of study, many human cultures make use of ants in cuisine, medication, and rituals. Some species are valued in their role as biological pest control agents and their ability to exploit resources may bring ants into conflict with humans, however, as they can damage crops and invade buildings. Some species, such as the red imported fire ant, are regarded as invasive species, all of these words come from West Germanic *ēmaitijǭ, and the original meaning of the word was the biter. The family Formicidae belongs to the order Hymenoptera, which also includes sawflies, bees, Ants evolved from a lineage within the aculeate wasps, and a 2013 study suggests that they are a sister group of the Apoidea. In 1966, E. O. Wilson and his colleagues identified the remains of an ant that lived in the Cretaceous period. The specimen, trapped in amber dating back to around 92 million years ago, has found in some wasps. Sphecomyrma possibly was a ground forager, while Haidomyrmex and Haidomyrmodes, older ants in the genus Sphecomyrmodes have been found in 99 million year-old amber from Myanmar. After the rise of flowering plants about 100 million years ago they diversified and assumed ecological dominance around 60 million years ago. Some groups, such as the Leptanillinae and Martialinae, are suggested to have diversified from early primitive ants that were likely to have been predators underneath the surface of the soil, during the Cretaceous period, a few species of primitive ants ranged widely on the Laurasian supercontinent
9.
Formicinae
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The Formicinae are a subfamily within the Formicidae containing ants of moderate evolutionary development. Extreme modification of mandibles is rare, except in the genera Myrmoteras, however, some members show considerable evolutionary advancement in behaviors such as slave-making and symbiosis with root-feeding hemipterans. Finally, all formicines have very reduced stings and enlarged venom reservoirs, with the venom gland, all members of the Formicinae have a one-segmented petiole in the form of a vertical scale. Formicine ants have a single node-like or scale-like petiole and the apex of the abdomen has a circular or U-shaped opening, a functional sting is absent, and defense is provided by the ejection of formic acid through the acidopore. If the acidopore is concealed by the pygidium and difficult to discern, in most formicines, the eyes are well developed, the antennal insertions are not concealed by the frontal carinae, and the promesonotal suture is present and flexible. The tribal structure of Formicinae is not completely understood and this list follows the scheme at AntCat, but other schemes and names are used. Media related to Formicinae at Wikimedia Commons Data related to Formicinae at Wikispecies
10.
Nylanderia
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Nylanderia is a large genus of ants in the subfamily Formicinae. The genus has a cosmopolitan distribution with species inhabiting a wide array of habitats in almost all geographic regions. Nylanderia, currently containing over 110 species, is an important genus. The ants are small to medium in size and range in color from yellow to black. The genus was first described as a subgenus of Prenolepis by Emery, wheeler raised Nylanderia to genus, where it remained until Brown provisionally placed it as a junior synonym of Paratrechina, a status which was later confirmed by Trager. Nylanderia was finally revived from synonymy and restored at the rank of genus by LaPolla, the genus currently comprises over 108 extant species and two fossil species, N. pygmaea from Eocene age Baltic amber and N. vetula from Miocene age Dominican amber. They found that Paratrechina was polyphyletic and segregated into three distinct, robust clades, Paratrechina, Paraparatrechina, and Nylanderia, the sister taxon to Nylanderia was found to be a clade containing three genera. The ants are found in all regions, but is notably absent from Europe. Species inhabit a wide array of habitats from deserts to rainforests, although they reach their highest species diversity in forested, Nylanderia species are among the most abundant ant species in many places where they occur. For example, Ward found that Nylanderia was the fifth-most frequently encountered ant genus in leaf-litter samples from around the world, several Nylanderia species have been reported as being tramps. For example, N. bourbonica and N. vaga are commonly encountered in the tropics and subtropics and have spread across large areas, infestations can involve smaller areas, although population sizes can be very large, as with N. pubens in the Caribbean. A Nylanderia species has invaded Texas and several states in Southeastern United States in a sudden. Several other species in the genus have also reported as introduced outside their native range, including N. clandestina, N. flavipes, N. fulva, N. guatemalensis. They are efficient and rapid foragers and often find resources first to which they can recruit rapidly, most are conspicuous, epigaeic generalist species that form large, polydomous nests. Frequent nest movements are known for species, especially those that nest in leaf litter. For example, N. bourbonica can nest opportunistically in temporary sites that are habitable for only a few days or weeks, the small colonies of N. faisonensis also inhabit ephemeral locations in the leaf litter or soil of hardwood forests. At least three currently undescribed workerless social parasites are known from the eastern United States, however, little is known about the reproductive biology of many Nylanderia species, especially those inhabiting the tropics. Cases of polygyny have been noted among Nylanderia species, but how widespread this condition is within the genus remains unclear, at least one species, N. flavipes, is somewhat unusual among ants in having populations that are both monogynous and polydomous
11.
Binomial nomenclature
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Such a name is called a binomial name, a binomen, binominal name or a scientific name, more informally it is also called a Latin name. The first part of the name identifies the genus to which the species belongs, for example, humans belong to the genus Homo and within this genus to the species Homo sapiens. The formal introduction of system of naming species is credited to Carl Linnaeus. But Gaspard Bauhin, in as early as 1623, had introduced in his book Pinax theatri botanici many names of genera that were adopted by Linnaeus. Although the general principles underlying binomial nomenclature are common to these two codes, there are differences, both in the terminology they use and in their precise rules. Similarly, both parts are italicized when a binomial name occurs in normal text, thus the binomial name of the annual phlox is now written as Phlox drummondii. In scientific works, the authority for a name is usually given, at least when it is first mentioned. In zoology Patella vulgata Linnaeus,1758, the original name given by Linnaeus was Fringilla domestica, the parentheses indicate that the species is now considered to belong in a different genus. The ICZN does not require that the name of the person who changed the genus be given, nor the date on which the change was made, in botany Amaranthus retroflexus L. – L. is the standard abbreviation used in botany for Linnaeus. – Linnaeus first named this bluebell species Scilla italica, Rothmaler transferred it to the genus Hyacinthoides, the ICN does not require that the dates of either publication be specified. Prior to the adoption of the binomial system of naming species. Together they formed a system of polynomial nomenclature and these names had two separate functions. First, to designate or label the species, and second, to be a diagnosis or description, such polynomial names may sometimes look like binomials, but are significantly different. For example, Gerards herbal describes various kinds of spiderwort, The first is called Phalangium ramosum, Branched Spiderwort, is aptly termed Phalangium Ephemerum Virginianum, Soon-Fading Spiderwort of Virginia. The Latin phrases are short descriptions, rather than identifying labels, the Bauhins, in particular Caspar Bauhin, took some important steps towards the binomial system, by pruning the Latin descriptions, in many cases to two words. The adoption by biologists of a system of binomial nomenclature is due to Swedish botanist and physician Carl von Linné. It was in his 1753 Species Plantarum that he first began using a one-word trivial name together with a generic name in a system of binomial nomenclature. This trivial name is what is now known as an epithet or specific name
12.
Gustav Mayr
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Gustav L. Mayr was an Austrian entomologist and professor in Budapest and Vienna. He specialised in Hymenoptera, being known for his studies of Formicidae. In 1868, he was the first to describe the Argentine ant and he is credited with naming the harvesting ant species, Aphaenogaster treatae, for naturalist Mary Davis Treat in honor of her research on the species. Formiciden aus Ägypten und dem Sudan, works by or about Gustav Mayr at Internet Archive
13.
Synonym (taxonomy)
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For example, Linnaeus was the first to give a scientific name to the Norway spruce, which he called Pinus abies. This name is no longer in use, it is now a synonym of the current scientific name which is Picea abies, unlike synonyms in other contexts, in taxonomy a synonym is not interchangeable with the name of which it is a synonym. In taxonomy, synonyms are not equals, but have a different status, for any taxon with a particular circumscription, position, and rank, only one scientific name is considered to be the correct one at any given time. A synonym cannot exist in isolation, it is always an alternative to a different scientific name, given that the correct name of a taxon depends on the taxonomic viewpoint used a name that is one taxonomists synonym may be another taxonomists correct name. Synonyms may arise whenever the same taxon is described and named more than once, independently. They may also arise when existing taxa are changed, as when two taxa are joined to one, a species is moved to a different genus. To the general user of scientific names, in such as agriculture, horticulture, ecology, general science. A synonym is a name that was used as the correct scientific name but which has been displaced by another scientific name. Thus Oxford Dictionaries Online defines the term as a name which has the same application as another. In handbooks and general texts, it is useful to have mentioned as such after the current scientific name. Synonyms used in this way may not always meet the strict definitions of the synonym in the formal rules of nomenclature which govern scientific names. Changes of scientific name have two causes, they may be taxonomic or nomenclatural, a name change may be caused by changes in the circumscription, position or rank of a taxon, representing a change in taxonomic, scientific insight. A name change may be due to purely nomenclatural reasons, that is, based on the rules of nomenclature, the earliest such name is called the senior synonym, while the later name is the junior synonym. One basic principle of zoological nomenclature is that the earliest correctly published name, synonyms are important because if the earliest name cannot be used, then the next available junior synonym must be used for the taxon. Objective synonyms refer to taxa with the type and same rank. For example, John Edward Gray published the name Antilocapra anteflexa in 1855 for a species of pronghorn, however, it is now commonly accepted that his specimen was an unusual individual of the species Antilocapra americana published by George Ord in 1815. Ords name thus takes precedence, with Antilocapra anteflexa being a subjective synonym. Objective synonyms are common at the level of genera, because for various reasons two genera may contain the type species, these are objective synonyms
14.
Nylanderia pubens
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Nylanderia pubens is a species of ant of the genus Nylanderia, commonly called the Caribbean crazy ant. It was originally described as Paratrechina pubens from Saint Vincent, Lesser Antilles and this species was moved from Paratrechina to the genus Nylanderia in 2010. These ants are about one-eighth inch long and are covered with reddish-brown hairs, an infestation of this species, or a related species named Nylanderia fulva, is ongoing in and around Houston, Texas. Nyladeria pubens is referred to a group called crazy ants due to the quick an erratic movements they create and it is 2.6 to 3 mm, monomorphic, reddish brown ant. Its antennae have 12 segments, and has a lack of a club, the antennal scape is nearly twice as large as the head. Its bite is not known to sting
15.
Pest control
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Pest control refers to the regulation or management of a species defined as a pest, and can be perceived to be detrimental to a persons health, the ecology or the economy. A practitioner of pest control is called an exterminator, Pest control is at least as old as agriculture, as there has always been a need to keep crops free from pests. In order to maximize production, it is advantageous to protect crops from competing species of plants. Techniques such as rotation, companion planting, and the selective breeding of pest-resistant cultivars have a long history. In the UK, following concern about animal welfare, humane pest control, for instance, with the urban red fox which territorial behaviour is used against the animal, usually in conjunction with non-injurious chemical repellents. In rural areas of Britain, the use of firearms for pest control is quite common, chemical pesticides date back 4,500 years, when the Sumerians used sulfur compounds as insecticides. The Rig Veda, which is about 4,000 years old, in the 20th century, the discovery of several synthetic insecticides, such as DDT, and herbicides boosted this development. Many pests have only become a problem as a result of the actions by humans. Modifying these actions can often reduce the pest problem. In the United States, raccoons caused a nuisance by tearing open refuse sacks, many householders introduced bins with locking lids, which deterred the raccoons from visiting. House flies tend to accumulate wherever there is activity and live in close association with people all over the world especially where food or food waste is exposed. Similarly, seagulls have become pests at many seaside resorts, tourists would often feed the birds with scraps of fish and chips, and before long, the birds would rely on this food source and act aggressively towards humans. Living organisms evolve and increase their resistance to biological, chemical, physical or any form of control. Perhaps as far ago as 3000BC in Egypt, cats were being used to control pests of grain such as rodents. In 1939/40 a survey discovered that cats could keep a population of rats down to a low level. However, if the rats were cleared by trapping or poisoning, ferrets were domesticated at least by 500 AD in Europe, being used as mousers. Mongooses have been introduced into homes to control rodents and snakes, biological pest control is the control of one through the control and management of natural predators and parasites. For example, mosquitoes are often controlled by putting Bt Bacillus thuringiensis ssp. israelensis, the treatment has no known negative consequences on the remaining ecology and is safe for humans to drink
16.
Formic acid
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Formic acid, systemically named methanoic acid, is the simplest carboxylic acid. The chemical formula is HCOOH or HCO2H and it is an important intermediate in chemical synthesis and occurs naturally, most notably in some ants. Esters, salts, and the derived from formic acid are called formates. Formic acid is a colorless liquid having a pungent, penetrating odor at room temperature. It is miscible with water and most polar solvents, and is somewhat soluble in hydrocarbons. In hydrocarbons and in the phase, it consists of hydrogen-bonded dimers rather than individual molecules. Owing to its tendency to hydrogen-bond, gaseous formic acid does not obey the ideal gas law, solid formic acid consists of an effectively endless network of hydrogen-bonded formic acid molecules. This relatively complicated compound also forms an azeotrope with water. In nature, it is found in ants and in the trichomes of stinging nettle. Formic acid is a naturally occurring component of the atmosphere due primarily to forest emissions and it is commercially available in solutions of various concentrations between 85 and 99 w/w %. 2010 prices ranged from around €650/tonne in Western Europe to $1250/tonne in the United States, typical reaction conditions are 80 °C and 40 atm. The most widely used base is sodium methoxide, hydrolysis of the methyl formate produces formic acid, HCO2CH3 + H2O → HCO2H + CH3OH Efficient hydrolysis of methyl formate requires a large excess of water. This problem has led some manufacturers to develop energy-efficient methods of separating formic acid from the water used in direct hydrolysis. In one of these processes the formic acid is removed from the water by liquid-liquid extraction with an organic base, a significant amount of formic acid is produced as a byproduct in the manufacture of other chemicals. At one time, acetic acid was produced on a large scale by oxidation of alkanes and this oxidative route to acetic acid is declining in importance, so that the aforementioned dedicated routes to formic acid have become more important. The catalytic hydrogenation of CO2 to formic acid has long been studied and this reaction can be conducted homogeneously. Formic acid can also be obtained by aqueous catalytic partial oxidation of wet biomass, a Keggin-type polyoxometalate is used as the homogeneous catalyst to convert sugars, wood, waste paper or cyanobacteria to formic acid and CO2 as the sole byproduct. Yields of up to 53% formic acid can be achieved, in the laboratory, formic acid can be obtained by heating oxalic acid in glycerol and extraction by steam distillation
17.
Fire ant
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Fire ant is the common name for several species of ants in the genus Solenopsis. They are, however, only a minority in the genus, Solenopsis are stinging ants and most of their common names reflect this, for example, ginger ants and tropical fire ants. Many species also are called red ants because of their brown color. Examples include Myrmica rubra and Pogonomyrmex barbatus, also, Wasmannia auropunctata is commonly called the little fire ant. The bodies of fire ants, like the bodies of all typical mature insects, are divided into three sections, the head, the thorax, and the abdomen, with three pairs of legs and a pair of antennae. Fire ants of those species invasive in the United States can be distinguished from other ants locally present, by their copper brown head, the worker ants are blackish to reddish, and their size varies from 2 to 6 mm. In an established nest these different sizes of all are present at the same time. Solenopsis spp. ants can be identified by three body features—a pedicel with two nodes, an unarmed propodeum, and antennae with 10 segments plus a two-segmented club, a typical fire ant colony produces large mounds in open areas, and feeds mostly on young plants and seeds. Fire ants often attack small animals and can kill them, for humans, this is a painful sting, a sensation similar to what one feels when burned by fire and the after effects of the sting can be deadly to sensitive people. Fire ants are more aggressive than most native species and so have pushed many species away from their local habitat and these ants are renowned for their ability to survive extreme conditions. Fire ants nest in the soil, often near moist areas, such as banks, pond shores, watered lawns. Usually, the nest will not be visible, as it will be built under such as timber, logs, rocks. If there is no cover for nesting, dome-shaped mounds will be constructed and these mounds can reach heights of 40 cm, but can be even higher on heavier soils, standing at 1. 0m in height and 1. 5m in diameter. Colonies are founded by groups of queens or single queens. Even if only one survives, within a month or so. Fire ant queens, the females in their colony, also are generally the largest. Their primary function is reproduction, fire ant queens may live up to 7 years and can produce up to 1,600 eggs per day, the estimated potential life span is around 5.83 to 6.77 years. Young, virgin fire ant queens have wings, but they rip them off after mating, there are other types of roles in an ant colony like the workers and the soldier ants
18.
Venom
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Venom is a form of toxin secreted by an animal for the purpose of causing harm to another. The potency of different venoms varies, lethal venoms are often characterised by the lethal dose, expressed in terms of mass fraction. Utilization of venom across a number of species demonstrates an example of convergent evolution. It is difficult to exactly how this trait came to be so intensely widespread. The multigene families that encode the toxins of venomous animals are actively selected on, venoms adapt to their environment and victims and accordingly evolve to become maximally efficient on a predator’s particular prey. Consequently, venoms become specialized to a standard diet. Venomous animals resulted in 57,000 human deaths in 2013, in insects such as bees and wasps, the stinger is a modified egg-laying device — the ovipositor. In Polistes fuscatus, the female releases a venom that contains a sex pheromone that induces copulatory behavior in males. In Polistes exclamans, venom is used as a pheromone, coordinating a response with from the nest. In Dolichovespula arenaria, the spraying of venom out of their sting that has been seen from workers in large colonies. In other cases like Parischnogaster striatula, the venom is applied all over their body in order to make themselves immune to certain harmful diseases. Some cases like the venom from Agelaia pallipes have significant inhibitory effects on biological processes like chemotaxis and hemolysis which can lead to organ failure. This prevents the spread of disease throughout the colony, the use of venom is much more widespread than just these examples. Other insects, such as bugs and many ants, also produce venom. At least one ant species has shown to use venom topically for the sterilisation of pathogens. There are many other invertebrates, including jellyfish, cone snails. The box jellyfish is the most venomous jellyfish in the world, there are only a few known species of venomous amphibians, certain salamandrid salamanders can extrude sharp venom-tipped ribs. The reptiles most known to use venom are snakes, some species of which inject venom into their prey via fangs, snake venom is produced by glands below the eye and delivered to the victim through tubular or channeled fangs
19.
Gulf Coast of the United States
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The Gulf Coast of the United States is the coastline along which the Southern United States meets the Gulf of Mexico. The coastal states that have a shoreline on the Gulf of Mexico are Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida, the economy of the Gulf Coast area is dominated by industries related to energy, petrochemicals, fishing, aerospace, agriculture, and tourism. The Gulf Coast is made of many inlets, bays, the coast is also intersected by numerous rivers, the largest of which is the Mississippi River. Much of the land along the Gulf Coast is, or was and these landforms protect numerous bays and inlets providing as a barrier to oncoming waves. The central part of the Gulf Coast, from eastern Texas through Louisiana, the eastern part of the Gulf Coast, predominantly Florida, is dotted with many bays and inlets. The Gulf Coast climate is humid subtropical for the most part, although the tip of Florida. Much of the year is warm to hot along the Gulf Coast, while the 3 winters months bring periods of cool, the area is vulnerable to hurricanes as well as floods and severe thunderstorms. Tornadoes are infrequent at the coast but do occur, however the frequency at which they occur in inland portions of Gulf Coast states is much greater. Earthquakes are extremely rare to the area, but a surprising 6.0 earthquake in the Gulf of Mexico on September 10,2006, the Gulf Coast is a major center of economic activity. The marshlands along the Louisiana and Texas coasts provide breeding grounds, the Port of South Louisiana and the Port of Houston are two of the ten busiest ports in the world by cargo volume. As of 2004, seven of the top ten busiest ports in the U. S. are on the Gulf Coast. The discovery of oil and gas deposits along the coast and offshore, the coast contains nearly 4,000 oil platforms. S. Before Europeans arrived in the region, the region was home to several kingdoms that had extensive trade networks with empires such as the Aztecs. Shark and alligator teeth and shells from the Gulf have been found as far north as Ohio, the first Europeans to settle the Gulf Coast were primarily the French and the Spanish. The Louisiana Purchase and the Texas Revolution made the Gulf Coast a part of the United States during the first half of the 19th century. As the U. S. population continued to expand its frontiers westward, the development of sugar and cotton production allowed the South to prosper. Two major events were turning points in the history of the Gulf Coast region. The first was the American Civil War, which caused damage to some economic sectors in the South
20.
Texas
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Texas is the second largest state in the United States by both area and population. Other major cities include Austin, the second most populous state capital in the U. S. Texas is nicknamed the Lone Star State to signify its former status as an independent republic, and as a reminder of the states struggle for independence from Mexico. The Lone Star can be found on the Texan state flag, the origin of Texass name is from the word Tejas, which means friends in the Caddo language. Due to its size and geologic features such as the Balcones Fault, although Texas is popularly associated with the U. S. southwestern deserts, less than 10 percent of Texas land area is desert. Most of the centers are located in areas of former prairies, grasslands, forests. Traveling from east to west, one can observe terrain that ranges from coastal swamps and piney woods, to rolling plains and rugged hills, the term six flags over Texas refers to several nations that have ruled over the territory. Spain was the first European country to claim the area of Texas, Mexico controlled the territory until 1836 when Texas won its independence, becoming an independent Republic. In 1845, Texas joined the United States as the 28th state, the states annexation set off a chain of events that caused the Mexican–American War in 1846. A slave state before the American Civil War, Texas declared its secession from the U. S. in early 1861, after the Civil War and the restoration of its representation in the federal government, Texas entered a long period of economic stagnation. One Texan industry that thrived after the Civil War was cattle, due to its long history as a center of the industry, Texas is associated with the image of the cowboy. The states economic fortunes changed in the early 20th century, when oil discoveries initiated a boom in the state. With strong investments in universities, Texas developed a diversified economy, as of 2010 it shares the top of the list of the most Fortune 500 companies with California at 57. With a growing base of industry, the leads in many industries, including agriculture, petrochemicals, energy, computers and electronics, aerospace. Texas has led the nation in export revenue since 2002 and has the second-highest gross state product. The name Texas, based on the Caddo word tejas meaning friends or allies, was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves, during Spanish colonial rule, the area was officially known as the Nuevo Reino de Filipinas, La Provincia de Texas. Texas is the second largest U. S. state, behind Alaska, though 10 percent larger than France and almost twice as large as Germany or Japan, it ranks only 27th worldwide amongst country subdivisions by size. If it were an independent country, Texas would be the 40th largest behind Chile, Texas is in the south central part of the United States of America. Three of its borders are defined by rivers, the Rio Grande forms a natural border with the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas to the south
21.
Red imported fire ant
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The red imported fire ant, also known as the fire ant or RIFA, is a species of ant native to South America. A member of the genus Solenopsis in the subfamily Myrmicinae, it was described by Swiss entomologist Felix Santschi as a variant in 1916 and its current name invicta was given to the ant in 1972 as a separate species. However, the variant and species were the same ant, the red imported fire ant is native to South America but it has been accidentally introduced in Australia, New Zealand, several Asian and Caribbean countries and the United States. The red imported fire ant is polymorphic as workers appear in different shapes and sizes, the ants colours are red and somewhat yellowish with a brown or black gaster. Red imported fire ants are dominant in altered areas and live in a variety of habitats. They can be found in forests, in disturbed areas, deserts, grasslands, alongside roads and buildings. Colonies form large mounds constructed from dirt with no visible entrances because foraging tunnels are built and these ants exhibit a wide variety of behaviours, such as building rafts when they sense that water levels are rising. They also show necrophoric behaviour, where nestmates discard scraps or dead ants on refuse piles outside the nest, foraging takes place on warm or hot days, although they may remain outside at night. Workers communicate by a series of semiochemicals and pheromones which are used for recruitment, foraging and they are omnivores and eat dead mammals, arthropods, insects, seeds, and sweet substances such as honeydew from hemipteran insects with whom they have developed relationships. Predators include arachnids, birds and many insects including ants, dragonflies, earwigs. The ant is a host to parasites and to a number of pathogens, nematodes, nuptial flight occurs during the warm seasons, and the alates may mate for as long as 30 minutes. Colony founding can be done via a queen or a group of queens. Workers can live for months while queens can live for years. Two forms of society in the red imported fire ant exist, polygynous colonies, venom plays an important role in the ants life as it is used to capture prey or for defence. 95% of the components are water-insoluble piperidine alkaloids, and it is particularly potent on sensitive humans. More than 14 million people are stung by them in the United States annually, most victims experience intense burning and swelling, followed by the formation of sterile pustules which may remain for several days. However 0. 6% to 6% of people may suffer from anaphylaxis which can be if left untreated. Common symptoms include dizziness, chest pain, nausea, severe sweating, low pressure, loss of breath
22.
Aphid
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Aphids, also known as plant lice and in Britain and the Commonwealth as greenflies, blackflies, or whiteflies, are small sap-sucking insects and members of the superfamily Aphidoidea. Many species are green but other commonly occurring species may be white and wooly, brown, Aphids are among the most destructive insect pests on cultivated plants in temperate regions. They are capable of rapid increase in numbers by asexual reproduction. The damage they do to plants has made enemies of farmers and gardeners around the world. From a zoological standpoint they are a successful group of organisms. About 4,400 species are known, all included in the family Aphididae, around 250 species are serious pests for agriculture and forestry as well as an annoyance for gardeners. They vary in length from 1 to 10 millimetres, Aphids are distributed worldwide, but are most common in temperate zones. In contrast to many taxa, aphid species diversity is lower in the tropics than in the temperate zones. They can migrate great distances, mainly through passive dispersal by riding on winds, for example, the currant-lettuce aphid, Nasonovia ribisnigri, is believed to have spread from New Zealand to Tasmania in this way. Aphids have also spread by human transportation of infested plant materials. Aphids are in the superfamily Aphidoidea in the Sternorrhyncha division of the order Hemiptera, early 21st-century reclassifications substantially rearranged the families within Aphidoidea, some old families were reduced to subfamily rank, and many old subfamilies were elevated to family rank. The most recent authoritative classifications place all extant taxa into a large family Aphididae. Aphids, adelgids, and phylloxerids are very related, and are all within the suborder Sternorrhyncha. They are either placed in the insect superfamily Aphidoidea or into the superfamily Phylloxeroidea which contains the family Adelgidae, like aphids, phylloxera feed on the roots, leaves, and shoots of grape plants, but unlike aphids, do not produce honeydew or cornicle secretions. Phylloxera are insects which caused the great French wine blight that devastated European viticulture in the 19th century, similarly, adelgids also feed on plant phloem. Adelgids are sometimes described as aphids, but are properly classified as aphid-like insects. Most aphids have soft bodies, which may be green, black, brown, pink, Aphids have antennae with as many as six segments. They feed themselves through sucking mouthparts called stylets, enclosed in a called a rostrum
23.
Honeydew (secretion)
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Honeydew is a sugar-rich sticky liquid, secreted by aphids and some scale insects as they feed on plant sap. When their mouthpart penetrates the phloem, the sugary, high-pressure liquid is forced out of the terminal opening. 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. Honeydew can cause sooty mold — a bane of gardeners — on many ornamental plants, honeydew is also secreted by certain fungi, particularly ergot. Honeydew is collected by certain species of birds, wasps, stingless bees and honey bees and this is highly prized in parts of Europe and Asia for its reputed medicinal value. Parachartergus fraternus, a wasp species, collects honeydew to feed to their growing larvae. The plant-hopper then raises its abdomen and excretes a drop of honeydew almost right onto the snout of the gecko. In Norse mythology, dew falls from the ash tree Yggdrasil to the earth, and according to the Prose Edda book Gylfaginning, this is what people call honeydew and from it bees feed. In Greek mythology, méli, or honey, drips from the Manna–ash, with which the Meliae, or ash tree nymphs, nursed the infant god Zeus on the island of Crete. Honey-dew is referenced in the last lines of Samuel Coleridges poem Kubla Khan, perhaps because of its connotations, And all who heard should see them there, And all should cry. His flashing eyes, his floating hair, weave a circle round him thrice, And close your eyes with holy dread, For he on honey-dew hath fed, And drunk the milk of Paradise. In the Hebrew Bible, while the Israelites are wandering through the desert after the Exodus, they are provided with a substance, manna. Exodus 16,31 provides a description, it was like coriander seed, white, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey
24.
Colombia
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Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a transcontinental country largely situated in the northwest of South America, with territories in Central America. Colombia shares a border to the northwest with Panama, to the east with Venezuela and Brazil and to the south with Ecuador and it shares its maritime limits with Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Jamaica, Haiti and the Dominican Republic. It is a unitary, constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments, the territory of what is now Colombia was originally inhabited by indigenous peoples including the Muisca, the Quimbaya and the Tairona. The Spanish arrived in 1499 and initiated a period of conquest and colonization ultimately creating the Viceroyalty of New Granada, independence from Spain was won in 1819, but by 1830 the Gran Colombia Federation was dissolved. What is now Colombia and Panama emerged as the Republic of New Granada, the new nation experimented with federalism as the Granadine Confederation, and then the United States of Colombia, before the Republic of Colombia was finally declared in 1886. Since the 1960s the country has suffered from an asymmetric low-intensity armed conflict, Colombia is one of the most ethnically and linguistically diverse countries in the world, and thereby possesses a rich cultural heritage. Cultural diversity has also influenced by Colombias varied geography. The urban centres are located in the highlands of the Andes mountains. Colombian territory also encompasses Amazon rainforest, tropical grassland and both Caribbean and Pacific coastlines, ecologically, it is one of the worlds 17 megadiverse countries, and the most densely biodiverse of these per square kilometer. Colombia is a power and a regional actor with the fourth-largest economy in Latin America, is part of the CIVETS group of six leading emerging markets and is an accessing member to the OECD. Colombia has an economy with macroeconomic stability and favorable growth prospects in the long run. The name Colombia is derived from the last name of Christopher Columbus and it was conceived by the Venezuelan revolutionary Francisco de Miranda as a reference to all the New World, but especially to those portions under Spanish and Portuguese rule. The name was adopted by the Republic of Colombia of 1819. When Venezuela, Ecuador and Cundinamarca came to exist as independent states, New Granada officially changed its name in 1858 to the Granadine Confederation. In 1863 the name was changed, this time to United States of Colombia. To refer to country, the Colombian government uses the terms Colombia. Owing to its location, the present territory of Colombia was a corridor of early human migration from Mesoamerica, the oldest archaeological finds are from the Pubenza and El Totumo sites in the Magdalena Valley 100 km southwest of Bogotá. These sites date from the Paleoindian period, at Puerto Hormiga and other sites, traces from the Archaic Period have been found
25.
Hemiptera
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The Hemiptera /hɛˈmɪptərə/ or true bugs are an order of insects comprising some 50,000 to 80,000 species of groups such as the cicadas, aphids, planthoppers, leafhoppers, and shield bugs. They range in size from 1 mm to around 15 cm, the name true bugs is sometimes limited to the suborder Heteroptera. Many insects commonly known as bugs belong to other orders, for example, most hemipterans feed on plants, using their sucking and piercing mouthparts to extract plant sap. Some are parasitic while others are predators that feed on insects or small invertebrates. They live in a variety of habitats, generally terrestrial. Hemipterans are hemimetabolous, with nymphs that somewhat resemble adults. Many aphids are capable of parthenogenesis, producing young from unfertilised eggs, humans have interacted with the Hemiptera for millennia. Some species are important agricultural pests, damaging crops by the action of sucking sap. Other species have used for biological control of insect pests. Hemipterans have been cultivated for the extraction of dyestuffs cochineal and for shellac, the bed bug is a persistent parasite of humans. Cicadas have been used as food, and have appeared in literature from the Iliad in Ancient Greece. Hemiptera is the largest order of insects containing over 75,000 named species, orders with more species all have a pupal stage. The majority of species are terrestrial, including a number of important agricultural pests and these include the water boatmen, pond skaters, and giant water bugs. The fossil record of hemipterans goes back to the Carboniferous, the oldest fossils are of the Archescytinidae from the Lower Permian and are thought to be basal to the Auchenorrhyncha. Fulguromorpha and Cicadomorpha appear in the Upper Permian, as do Sternorrhyncha of the Psylloidea and Aleurodoidea, aphids and Coccoids appear in the Triassic. The Coleorrhyncha extend back to the Lower Jurassic, the Heteroptera first appeared in the Triassic. The order is now divided into four or more suborders, after the Homoptera were established as paraphyletic, the cladogram is based on one analysis of the phylogeny of the Paraneoptera by Hu Li and colleagues in 2015, using mitochondrial genome sequences and homogeneous models. It places the Sternorrhyncha as sister clade to the Thysanoptera and the lice, however, when heterogeneous models were used, Hemiptera was found to be monophyletic
26.
Competition (biology)
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Competition is an interaction between organisms or species in which both the organisms or species are harmed. Limited supply of at least one used by both can be a factor. Competition both within and between species is an important topic in ecology, especially community ecology, competition is one of many interacting biotic and abiotic factors that affect community structure. Competition among members of the species is known as intraspecific competition. Competition is not always straightforward, and can occur in both a direct and indirect fashion, according to the competitive exclusion principle, species less suited to compete for resources should either adapt or die out, although competitive exclusion is rarely found in natural ecosystems. Competition occurs by various mechanisms, which can generally be divided into direct and indirect and these apply equally to intraspecific and interspecific competition. Biologists typically recognize two types of competition, interference and exploitative competition, during interference competition, organisms interact directly by fighting for scarce resources. For example, large aphids defend feeding sites on cottonwood leaves by ejecting smaller aphids from better sites, in contrast, during exploitative competition, organisms interact indirectly by consuming scarce resources. For example, plants consume nitrogen by absorbing it into their roots, plants that produce many roots typically reduce soil nitrogen to very low levels, eventually killing neighboring plants. Exploitation competition occurs indirectly through a limiting resource which acts as an intermediate. For example, use of resources depletes the amount available to others, apparent competition occurs indirectly between two species which are both preyed upon by the same predator. For example, species A and species B are both prey of predator C, competition vary from complete symmetric to perfectly size symmetric to absolutely size-asymmetric. Competition can occur between individuals of the species, called intraspecific competition, or between different species, called interspecific competition. Studies show that intraspecific competition can regulate population dynamics and this occurs because individuals become crowded as a population grows. Since individuals within a population require the resources, crowding causes resources to become more limited. Some individuals eventually do not acquire enough resources and die or do not reproduce and this reduces population size and slows population growth. Species also interact with other species that require the same resources, consequently, interspecific competition can alter the sizes of many species populations at the same time. Experiments demonstrate that when species compete for a resource, one species eventually drives the populations of other species extinct
27.
Ionic liquid
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An ionic liquid is a salt in the liquid state. In some contexts, the term has been restricted to salts whose melting point is some arbitrary temperature. While ordinary liquids such as water and gasoline are predominantly made of electrically neutral molecules, ionic liquids are largely made of ions and these substances are variously called liquid electrolytes, ionic melts, ionic fluids, fused salts, liquid salts, or ionic glasses. They are known as solvents of the future as well as designer solvents, Ionic liquids are described as having many potential applications. They are powerful solvents and electrically conducting fluids, salts that are liquid at near-ambient temperature are important for electric battery applications, and have been considered as sealants due to their very low vapor pressure. Any salt that melts without decomposing or vaporizing usually yields an ionic liquid, sodium chloride, for example, melts at 801 °C into a liquid that consists largely of sodium cations and chloride anions. Conversely, when a liquid is cooled, it often forms an ionic solid—which may be either crystalline or glassy. The ionic bond is stronger than the Van der Waals forces between the molecules of ordinary liquids. For that reason, common salts tend to melt at higher temperatures than other solid molecules, some salts are liquid at or below room temperature. Certain mixtures of nitrate salts can have melting points below 100 °C, the term ionic liquid in the general sense was used as early as 1943. When Tawny crazy ants combat Fire ants, the latter spray them with a toxic, lipophilic, the Tawny crazy ant then exudes its own venom, formic acid, and self-grooms with it, an action which de-toxifies the Fire ant venom. The mixed venoms chemically react with one another to form an ionic liquid, the discovery date of the first ionic liquid is disputed, along with the identity of its discoverer. Ethanolammonium nitrate was reported in 1888 by S. Gabriel and J. Weiner, one of the earliest truly room temperature ionic liquids was ethylammonium nitrate NH+ 3·NO−3, reported in 1914 by Paul Walden. Two major drawbacks for some applications were moisture sensitivity and acidity/basicity, in 1992, Wilkes and Zawarotko obtained ionic liquids with neutral weakly coordinating anions such as hexafluorophosphate and tetrafluoroborate, allowing a much wider range of applications. Although many classical ILs are hexafluorophosphate and tetrafluoroborate salts, bistriflimide − are also popular, Ionic liquids are often moderate to poor conductors of electricity, non-ionizing, highly viscous and frequently exhibit low vapor pressure. Their other properties are diverse, many have low combustibility, are stable, with wide liquid regions. Many classes of reactions, such as Diels-Alder reactions and Friedel-Crafts reactions. ILs can serve as solvents for biocatalysis, the miscibility of ionic liquids with water or organic solvents varies with side chain lengths on the cation and with choice of anion
28.
Alkaloid
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Alkaloids are a group of naturally occurring chemical compounds that mostly contain basic nitrogen atoms. This group also includes some related compounds with neutral and even weakly acidic properties, some synthetic compounds of similar structure are also termed alkaloids. In addition to carbon, hydrogen and nitrogen, alkaloids may also contain oxygen, sulfur and, more rarely, other such as chlorine, bromine. Alkaloids are produced by a variety of organisms including bacteria, fungi, plants. They can be purified from crude extracts of these organisms by acid-base extraction, many have found use in traditional or modern medicine, or as starting points for drug discovery. Other alkaloids possess psychotropic and stimulant activities, and have used in entheogenic rituals or as recreational drugs. Although alkaloids act on a diversity of systems in humans and other animals. The boundary between alkaloids and other nitrogen-containing natural compounds is not clear-cut, Compounds like amino acid peptides, proteins, nucleotides, nucleic acid, amines, and antibiotics are usually not called alkaloids. Natural compounds containing nitrogen in the position are usually classified as amines rather than as alkaloids. Some authors, however, consider alkaloids a special case of amines, the name alkaloids was introduced in 1819 by the German chemist Carl Friedrich Wilhelm Meißner, and is derived from late Latin root Latin, alkali and the suffix Greek, -οειδής – like. However, the term came into use only after the publication of a review article by Oscar Jacobsen in the chemical dictionary of Albert Ladenburg in the 1880s. There is no method of naming alkaloids. Many individual names are formed by adding the suffix ine to the species or genus name, for example, atropine is isolated from the plant Atropa belladonna, strychnine is obtained from the seed of Strychnine tree. If several alkaloids are extracted from one plant then their names often contain suffixes idine, anine, aline, inine etc. There are also at least 86 alkaloids whose names contain the root vin because they are extracted from plants such as Vinca rosea. Alkaloid-containing plants have been used by humans since ancient times for therapeutic, for example, medicinal plants have been known in the Mesopotamia at least around 2000 BC. The Odyssey of Homer referred to a given to Helen by the Egyptian queen. It is believed that the gift was an opium-containing drug, a Chinese book on houseplants written in 1st–3rd centuries BC mentioned a medical use of Ephedra and opium poppies
29.
Solenopsin
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Solenopsin is an alkaloid which inhibits angiogenesis via the phosphoinositol-3 kinase signaling pathway, in addition to contributing to the toxic effect of fire ant venom. Solenopsin has also shown to have cytotoxic, hemolytic, necrotic, insecticidal, antibacterial, antifungal. Originally synthesized in 1998, several groups have designed novel and creative methods of synthesizing enantiopure solenopsin, the total synthesis of solenopsin has been described by several methods. The method proposed by Bowen et al, phenol is then displaced by t-butoxide, and the pyridine is then methylated at the 6 position. The pyridine ring is reduced to a 1,2,3. Boc is finally removed to yield -Solenopsin A as trans-2-methyl-6-n-undecylpiperidine, the hydrochloride salt is then formed with addition of HCl and concentration of the solution yields pure Solenopsin A HCl as a white solid. A number of analogs have been synthesized using modifications of this procedure, further studies have shown that solenopsin inhibits the survival protein Akt in an ATP-competitive manner, without affecting upstream activators PI3-K dependent protein kinase 1 or PI3-K itself. While the direct target of solenopsin has not yet been identified. In addition to these effects, solenopsin potently inhibits the neuronal nitric oxide synthase in a manner that appears to be non-competitive with L-arginine. The nNOS inhibition by solenopsin compares favorably with the potency of widely used nNOS inhibitors. Pyrrole, pyrrolidine pyridine, piperidine, azepine and tropane alkaloids
30.
Heterocyclic compound
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A heterocyclic compound or ring structure is a cyclic compound that has atoms of at least two different elements as members of its ring. Heterocyclic chemistry is the branch of chemistry dealing with the synthesis, properties. Examples of heterocyclic compounds include all of the acids, the majority of drugs, most biomass. Although heterocyclic compounds may be inorganic, most contain at least one carbon, while atoms that are neither carbon nor hydrogen are normally referred to in organic chemistry as heteroatoms, this is usually in comparison to the all-carbon backbone. But this does not prevent a compound such as borazine from being labelled heterocyclic, IUPAC recommends the Hantzsch-Widman nomenclature for naming heterocyclic compounds. Heterocyclic compounds can be classified based on their electronic structure. The saturated heterocycles behave like the acyclic derivatives, thus, piperidine and tetrahydrofuran are conventional amines and ethers, with modified steric profiles. Therefore, the study of heterocyclic chemistry focuses especially on unsaturated derivatives, included are pyridine, thiophene, pyrrole, and furan. Another large class of heterocycles are fused to rings, which for pyridine, thiophene, pyrrole, and furan are quinoline, benzothiophene, indole. Fusion of two benzene rings gives rise to a large family of compounds, respectively the acridine, dibenzothiophene, carbazole. The unsaturated rings can be classified according to the participation of the heteroatom in the pi system, heterocycles with three atoms in the ring are more reactive because of ring strain. Those containing one heteroatom are, in general, stable and those with two heteroatoms are more likely to occur as reactive intermediates. Five-membered rings with one heteroatom, The 5-membered ring compounds containing two heteroatoms, at least one of which is nitrogen, are called the azoles. Thiazoles and isothiazoles contain a sulfur and an atom in the ring. A large group of 5-membered ring compounds with three heteroatoms also exists, one example is dithiazoles that contain two sulfur and a nitrogen atom. Five-member ring compounds with four heteroatoms, With 5-heteroatoms, the compound may be considered rather than heterocyclic. With 7-membered rings, the heteroatom must be able to provide an empty pi orbital for normal aromatic stabilization to be available, otherwise, for example, with the benzo-fused unsaturated nitrogen heterocycles, pyrrole provides indole or isoindole depending on the orientation. The pyridine analog is quinoline or isoquinoline, for azepine, benzazepine is the preferred name
31.
Denaturation (biochemistry)
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If proteins in a living cell are denatured, this results in disruption of cell activity and possibly cell death. Protein denaturation is also a consequence of cell death, denatured proteins can exhibit a wide range of characteristics, from conformational change and loss of solubility to aggregation due to the exposure of hydrophobic groups. Protein folding is key to whether a protein or a membrane protein can do its job correctly. It must be folded into the shape to function. This is one reason why tight homeostasis is physiologically necessary in life forms. This concept is unrelated to denatured alcohol, which is alcohol that has mixed with additives to make it unsuitable for human consumption. When food is cooked, some of its proteins become denatured and this is why boiled eggs become hard and cooked meat becomes firm. A classic example of denaturing in proteins comes from egg whites, fresh from the eggs, egg whites are transparent and liquid. Cooking the thermally unstable whites turns them opaque, forming a solid mass. The same transformation can be effected with a denaturing chemical, pouring egg whites into a beaker of acetone will also turn egg whites translucent and solid. The skin that forms on curdled milk is another example of denatured protein. The cold appetizer known as ceviche is prepared by cooking raw fish and shellfish in an acidic citrus marinade. Denatured proteins can exhibit a range of characteristics, from loss of solubility to protein aggregation. The newly created protein strand then undergoes posttranslational modification, in which additional atoms or molecules are added, for copper, zinc. The final shape of a protein determines how it interacts with its environment, when a protein is denatured, secondary and tertiary structures are altered but the peptide bonds of the primary structure between the amino acids are left intact. Since all structural levels of the protein determine its function, the protein can no longer perform its function once it has been denatured and this is in contrast to intrinsically unstructured proteins, which are unfolded in their native state, but still functionally active. In quaternary structure denaturation, protein sub-units are dissociated and/or the spatial arrangement of protein subunits is disrupted, in secondary structure denaturation, proteins lose all regular repeating patterns such as alpha-helices and beta-pleated sheets, and adopt a random coil configuration. Primary structure, such as the sequence of amino acids held together by covalent peptide bonds, is not disrupted by denaturation, most biological substrates lose their biological function when denatured
32.
Short circuit
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A short circuit is an electrical circuit that allows a current to travel along an unintended path with no or a very low electrical impedance. The electrical opposite of a circuit is an open circuit. It is common to misuse short circuit to describe any electrical malfunction, a short circuit is an abnormal connection between two nodes of an electric circuit intended to be at different voltages. This results in an electric current limited only by the Thévenin equivalent resistance of the rest of the network and potentially causes circuit damage, overheating. Although usually the result of a fault, there are cases where short circuits are caused intentionally, for example, in circuit analysis, a short circuit is a connection between two nodes that forces them to be at the same voltage. In an ideal circuit, this means there is no resistance. In real circuits, the result is a connection with almost no resistance, in such a case, the current is limited by the rest of the circuit. A common type of short circuit occurs when the positive and negative terminals of a battery are connected with a low-resistance conductor, with low resistance in the connection, a high current exists, causing the cell to deliver a large amount of energy in a short time. Overloaded wires can also overheat, sometimes causing damage to the wires insulation, in mains circuits, short circuits may occur between two phases, between a phase and neutral or between a phase and earth. Such short circuits are likely to result in a high current. However, it is possible for circuits to arise between neutral and earth conductors, and between two conductors of the same phase. Such short circuits can be dangerous, particularly as they may not immediately result in a current and are therefore less likely to be detected. Possible effects include unexpected energisation of a circuit presumed to be isolated, to help reduce the negative effects of short circuits, power distribution transformers are deliberately designed to have a certain amount of leakage reactance. The leakage reactance helps limit both the magnitude and rate of rise of the fault current, a short circuit may lead to formation of an electric arc. The arc, a channel of hot ionized plasma, is highly conductive, surface erosion is a typical sign of electric arc damage. Even short arcs can remove significant amount of materials from the electrodes, a short circuit fault current can, within milliseconds, be thousands of times larger than the normal operating current of the system. Damage from short circuits can be reduced or prevented by employing fuses, circuit breakers, or other overload protection, overload protection must be chosen according to the current rating of the circuit. Circuits for large home appliances require protective devices set or rated for higher currents than lighting circuits, wire gauges specified in building and electrical codes are chosen to ensure safe operation in conjunction with the overload protection
33.
Detritus
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In biology, detritus is dead particulate organic material. It typically includes the bodies or fragments of organisms as well as fecal material. Detritus is typically colonized by communities of microorganisms which act to decompose the material, in terrestrial ecosystems, it is encountered as leaf litter and other organic matter intermixed with soil, which is referred to as humus. Detritus of aquatic ecosystems is organic material suspended in water and piles up on seabed floors which is referred to as marine snow. Dead plants or animals, material derived from animal tissues gradually lose their form, decomposition, the process through which organic matter is decomposed, takes place in many stages. Materials like proteins, lipids and sugars with low weight are rapidly consumed and absorbed by micro-organisms and organisms that feed on dead matter. Other compounds, such as complex carbohydrates are broken down more slowly, the various micro-organisms involved in the decomposition break down the organic materials in order to gain the resources they require for their own survival and proliferation. Accordingly, at the time that the materials of plants and animals are being broken down. In ecosystems on land, detritus is deposited on the surface of the ground, in aquatic ecosystems, most detritus is suspended in water, and gradually settles. In particular, many different types of material are collected together by currents, much detritus is used as a source of nutrition for animals. In particular, many bottom feeding animals living in mud flats feed in this way, however, there are many micro-organisms which multiply in natural environments. A characteristic type of food chain called the cycle takes place involving detritus feeders, detritus. For example, mud flats are inhabited by many univalves which are detritus feeders, what is left behind by the detritivores is then further broken down and recycled by decomposers, such as bacteria and fungi. In ecosystems on land, far more material is broken down as dead material passing through the detritus chain than is broken down by being eaten by animals in a living state. In both land and aquatic ecosystems, the role played by detritus is too large to ignore, in contrast to land ecosystems, dead materials and excreta in aquatic ecosystems do not settle immediately, and the finer the particles involved are, the longer they tend to take. Detritus occurs in a variety of habitats including forest, chaparral. In forests the detritus is typically dominated by leaf, twig and this plant litter provides important cover for seedling protection as well as cover for a variety of arthropods, reptiles and amphibians. Some insect larvae feed on the detritus, there is an extremely large number of detritus feeders in water
34.
Pheromone
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A pheromone is a secreted or excreted chemical factor that triggers a social response in members of the same species. Pheromones are chemicals capable of acting outside the body of the individual to impact the behavior of the receiving individuals. There are alarm pheromones, food trail pheromones, sex pheromones, Pheromones are used from basic unicellular prokaryotes to complex multicellular eukaryotes. Their use among insects has been well documented. In addition, some vertebrates, plants and ciliates communicate by using pheromones, the portmanteau word pheromone was coined by Peter Karlson and Martin Lüscher in 1959, based on the Greek φερω pheroo and ὁρμων hormon. Pheromones are also classified as ecto-hormones. For this reason, bacteria are too small to use pheromones as sex attractants on an individual basis, however, they do use them to determine the local population density of similar organisms and control behaviors that take more time to execute. Aggregation pheromones function in mate selection, overcoming host resistance by mass attack, a group of individuals at one location is referred to as an aggregation, whether consisting of one sex or both sexes. Most sex pheromones are produced by the females, only a percentage of sex attractants are produced by males. Aggregation pheromones have been found in members of the Coleoptera, Diptera, Hemiptera, Dictyoptera, aggregation pheromones are among the most ecologically selective pest suppression methods. They are nontoxic and effective at low concentrations. Some species release a volatile substance when attacked by a predator that can trigger flight or aggression in members of the same species, for example, Vespula squamosa use alarm pheromones to alert others to a threat. In Polistes exclamans, alarm pheromones are used as an alert to incoming predators. Pheromones also exist in plants, Certain plants emit alarm pheromones when grazed upon and these tannins make the plants less appetizing for the herbivore. Epideictic pheromones are different from territory pheromones, when it comes to insects, releaser pheromones are pheromones that cause an alteration in the behavior of the recipient. For example, some organisms use powerful attractant molecules to attract mates from a distance of two miles or more, in general, this type of pheromone elicits a rapid response, but is quickly degraded. In contrast, a primer pheromone has an onset and a longer duration. For example, rabbit release mammary pheromones that trigger immediate nursing behavior by their babies, signal pheromones cause short-term changes, such as the neurotransmitter release that activates a response
35.
Magnetic field
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A magnetic field is the magnetic effect of electric currents and magnetic materials. The magnetic field at any point is specified by both a direction and a magnitude, as such it is represented by a vector field. The term is used for two distinct but closely related fields denoted by the symbols B and H, where H is measured in units of amperes per meter in the SI, B is measured in teslas and newtons per meter per ampere in the SI. B is most commonly defined in terms of the Lorentz force it exerts on moving electric charges, Magnetic fields can be produced by moving electric charges and the intrinsic magnetic moments of elementary particles associated with a fundamental quantum property, their spin. In quantum physics, the field is quantized and electromagnetic interactions result from the exchange of photons. Magnetic fields are used throughout modern technology, particularly in electrical engineering. The Earth produces its own field, which is important in navigation. Rotating magnetic fields are used in electric motors and generators. Magnetic forces give information about the carriers in a material through the Hall effect. The interaction of magnetic fields in electric devices such as transformers is studied in the discipline of magnetic circuits, noting that the resulting field lines crossed at two points he named those points poles in analogy to Earths poles. He also clearly articulated the principle that magnets always have both a north and south pole, no matter how finely one slices them, almost three centuries later, William Gilbert of Colchester replicated Petrus Peregrinus work and was the first to state explicitly that Earth is a magnet. Published in 1600, Gilberts work, De Magnete, helped to establish magnetism as a science, in 1750, John Michell stated that magnetic poles attract and repel in accordance with an inverse square law. Charles-Augustin de Coulomb experimentally verified this in 1785 and stated explicitly that the north and south poles cannot be separated, building on this force between poles, Siméon Denis Poisson created the first successful model of the magnetic field, which he presented in 1824. In this model, a magnetic H-field is produced by magnetic poles, three discoveries challenged this foundation of magnetism, though. First, in 1819, Hans Christian Ørsted discovered that an electric current generates a magnetic field encircling it, then in 1820, André-Marie Ampère showed that parallel wires having currents in the same direction attract one another. Finally, Jean-Baptiste Biot and Félix Savart discovered the Biot–Savart law in 1820, extending these experiments, Ampère published his own successful model of magnetism in 1825. This has the benefit of explaining why magnetic charge can not be isolated. Also in this work, Ampère introduced the term electrodynamics to describe the relationship between electricity and magnetism, in 1831, Michael Faraday discovered electromagnetic induction when he found that a changing magnetic field generates an encircling electric field
36.
Texas A&M University
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Texas A&M University is a coeducational public research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It is a university and is a member of the Texas A&M University System. The systems endowment ranks in the top 10 in the nation, Texas A&Ms student body is the largest in Texas and one of the largest in the United States. In 2001, Texas A&M was inducted as a member of the prestigious Association of American Universities, the schools students, alumni–over 450,000 strong–and sports teams are known as Aggies. The Texas A&M Aggies athletes currently compete in 18 varsity sports as a member of the Southeastern Conference, originally, the college taught no classes in agriculture, instead concentrating on classical studies, languages, literature, and applied mathematics. After four years, students could attain degrees in agriculture, civil and mechanical engineering. Under the leadership of President James Earl Rudder in the 1960s, A&M desegregated, became coeducational, to reflect the institutions expanded roles and academic offerings, the Texas Legislature renamed the school to Texas A&M University in 1963. The letters A&M, originally short for Agricultural and Mechanical, are retained only as a link to the universitys past, the main campus is one of the largest in the United States, spanning 5,200 acres, and is home to the George Bush Presidential Library. About one-fifth of the student body lives on campus, Texas A&M has over 1,000 officially recognized student organizations. Many students also observe the traditions, which daily life, as well as special occasions. Working with agencies such as the Texas AgriLife Research and Texas AgriLife Extension Service, the university offers degrees in over 150 courses of study through ten colleges and houses 18 research institutes. As a Senior Military College, Texas A&M is one of six American public universities with a full-time, the U. S. Congress laid the groundwork for the establishment of Texas A&M in 1862 with the adoption of the Morrill Act. To promote the liberal and practical education of the classes in the several pursuits. In 1871, the Texas Legislature used these funds to establish the states first public institution of higher education, Brazos County donated 2,416 acres near Bryan, Texas, for the schools campus. Enrollment began on October 2,1876, six students enrolled on the first day, and classes officially began on October 4,1876, with six faculty members. During the first semester, enrollment increased to 48 students, admission was limited to white males, and all students were required to participate in the Corps of Cadets and receive military training. Although traditional Texas A&M University Corps of Cadets campusologies indicate 40 students began classes on October 4,1876, enrollment climbed to 258 students before declining to 108 students in 1883, the year the University of Texas opened in Austin, Texas. In the late 1880s, many Texas residents saw no need for two colleges in Texas and clamored for an end of Texas A. M. C
37.
New Orleans
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New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The population of the city was 343,829 as of the 2010 U. S. Census, the New Orleans metropolitan area had a population of 1,167,764 in 2010 and was the 46th largest in the United States. The New Orleans–Metairie–Bogalusa Combined Statistical Area, a trading area, had a 2010 population of 1,452,502. The city is named after the Duke of Orleans, who reigned as Regent for Louis XV from 1715 to 1723, as it was established by French colonists and it is well known for its distinct French and Spanish Creole architecture, as well as its cross-cultural and multilingual heritage. New Orleans is also famous for its cuisine, music, and its celebrations and festivals, most notably Mardi Gras. The city is referred to as the most unique in the United States. New Orleans is located in southeastern Louisiana, straddling the Mississippi River, the city and Orleans Parish are coterminous. The city and parish are bounded by the parishes of St. Tammany to the north, St. Bernard to the east, Plaquemines to the south, and Jefferson to the south and west. Lake Pontchartrain, part of which is included in the city limits, lies to the north, before Hurricane Katrina, Orleans Parish was the most populous parish in Louisiana. As of 2015, it ranks third in population, trailing neighboring Jefferson Parish, La Nouvelle-Orléans was founded May 7,1718, by the French Mississippi Company, under the direction of Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, on land inhabited by the Chitimacha. It was named for Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, who was Regent of the Kingdom of France at the time and his title came from the French city of Orléans. The French colony was ceded to the Spanish Empire in the Treaty of Paris, during the American Revolutionary War, New Orleans was an important port for smuggling aid to the rebels, transporting military equipment and supplies up the Mississippi River. Bernardo de Gálvez y Madrid, Count of Gálvez successfully launched a campaign against the British from the city in 1779. New Orleans remained under Spanish control until 1803, when it reverted briefly to French oversight, nearly all of the surviving 18th-century architecture of the Vieux Carré dates from the Spanish period, the most notable exception being the Old Ursuline Convent. Napoleon sold Louisiana to the United States in the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, thereafter, the city grew rapidly with influxes of Americans, French, Creoles, and Africans. Later immigrants were Irish, Germans, and Italians, Major commodity crops of sugar and cotton were cultivated with slave labor on large plantations outside the city. The Haitian Revolution ended in 1804 and established the republic in the Western Hemisphere. It had occurred several years in what was then the French colony of Saint-Domingue
38.
Port Allen, Louisiana
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Port Allen is a city in and the parish seat of West Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana, United States. Port Allen is located between Interstate 10 and US Highway 190 on the West bank of the Mississippi River, the population was 5,180 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Statistical Area, Port Allen is named for Governor Henry Watkins Allen. The City of Port Allen was incorporated in 1916 and operates under the Lawrason Act form of government, the Mayor is elected at large. The elected Mayor is the Citys chief executive officer and responsible for the activities and services of the City. The Mayors office includes the Chief Administrative Officer and the Chief Financial Officer, there are five City Council members with four members elected in districts and one member elected at large. The Council writes policies, adopts ordinances and resolutions, and appoints members to boards, Port Allen Festivals include the Lagniappe Dulcimer Fete Festival, Port Allen Bonfires on the Mississippi River, SugarFest, West Baton Rouge Parish Fair, and the Oldies but Goodies Fest. The West Baton Rouge Museum includes the museum, the c.1830 Aillet House, 1870s Reconstruction Era workers cabin, and a c. 1890s cabin decorated to look as it would have during the Civil Rights Era), 1880s Arbroth Plantation Store, the c.1938 Reed Farm and Ranch Shotgun House, and a reproduction early 20th century barn. The City of Port Allen Railroad Depot is a museum depicting the life of workers in the 1940s. It includes a ticket booth, clothing and memorabilia from that era, the 1950 caboose, which is also open for tours, is the only one in Louisiana that is almost totally restored to its original condition. The Mississippi Riverfront Development offers a view of the Mighty Mississippi. The area includes a pedestrian promenade with special architectural paving, viewing benches, on this site a ferry operated between Port Allen and Baton Rouge from 1820 to 1968. Scott’s Cemetery is the place of African Americans in West Baton Rouges history. It is located at the corner of Court and Commerce Streets near the Riverfront Development and it is one of the top ten ports in the country. It handles roughly 61 million short tons of cargo each year, has 3,000 feet of dock and 550,000 square feet of warehouse space and its facilities include grain elevator storage, molasses, sugar, oil and coffee terminals. The Port Allen Lock connects the Mississippi River to the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, the Lock, a free-floating structure is the largest of its kind, as it serves as a man-made break in the levee. The massive structure has 90-ton doors and 64 feet sides, the lock was constructed in 1961 by the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers to replace the historic Plaquemine Lock
39.
Brownsville, Texas
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Brownsville is the county seat of Cameron County, Texas. It is the sixteenth most populous city in the state of Texas, with a population at the 2010 census of 175,023 and an estimated population in 2014 of 183,046. It is located at the southernmost tip of Texas, on the bank of the Rio Grande, directly north and across the border from Matamoros, Tamaulipas. The 2014 U. S. Census Bureau estimate placed the Brownsville-Harlingen metropolitan area population at 420,392, in addition, the international Matamoros–Brownsville Metropolitan Area was estimated to have a population of 1,136,995. Brownsville has one of the highest poverty rates in the nation, the Brownsville urban area is one of the fastest growing in the United States. The citys population increased after it experienced a boom in the steel industry during the first decade of the 1900s. In recent times, the Port of Brownsville has become an economic hub for South Texas, where shipments arrive from other parts of the United States, from Mexico. In April 1846, construction of a fort on the Mexican border by was begun by American forces due to increased instability in the region on the eve of the Mexican–American War of 1846–1848. Before the completion of the construction, the Mexican Army began the Siege of Fort Texas, during the first active campaign in the Mexican–American War, the first battle of the war occurred on May 8, when General Zachary Taylor received word of the siege of the fort. Taylors forces rushed to help, but Mexican troops intercepted them, resulting in the Battle of Palo Alto, approximately 5 miles north of present-day Brownsville. The next morning the Mexican forces had retreated, and Taylors troops caught up with them, resulting in the Battle of Resaca de la Palma, which took place within the present city limits. When Taylor finally arrived at the besieged Fort Texas, it was found that two soldiers had died, one of them the commander, Major Jacob Brown. In his honor, General Taylor renamed the fort Fort Brown, an old cannon at the University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College marks the spot where Major Brown received his fatal wound. The city of Brownsville was originally established late in 1848 by Charles Stillman, the state originally incorporated the city on January 24,1850. This was repealed on April 1,1852, due to a dispute between Stillman and the former owners. The state reincorporated the city on February 7,1853, which remains in effect, the issue of ownership was not decided until 1879, when the U. S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of Stillman. On July 13,1859, the First Cortina War started, juan Nepomuceno Cortina became one of the most important historical figures of the area, and continued to exert a decisive influence in the local events until his arrest in 1875. The First Cortina War ended on December 27,1859, in May 1861, the brief Second Cortina War took place
40.
Invasive species
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One study pointed out widely divergent perceptions of the criteria for invasive species among researchers and concerns with the subjectivity of the term invasive. Such invasive species may be either plants or animals and may disrupt by dominating a region, wilderness areas, particular habitats and this includes non-native invasive plant species labeled as exotic pest plants and invasive exotics growing in native plant communities. It has been used in this sense by government organizations as well as groups such as the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The European Union defines Invasive Alien Species as those that are, firstly, outside their natural distribution area and it is also used by land managers, botanists, researchers, horticulturalists, conservationists, and the public for noxious weeds. The kudzu vine, Andean Pampas grass, and yellow starthistle are examples, an alternate usage broadens the term to include indigenous or native species along with non-native species, that have colonized natural areas. Deer are an example, considered to be overpopulating their native zones and adjacent suburban gardens, by some in the Northeastern, sometimes the term is used to describe a non-native or introduced species that has become widespread. However, not every introduced species has adverse effects on the environment, a nonadverse example is the common goldfish, which is found throughout the United States, but rarely achieves high densities. Scientists include species and ecosystem factors among the mechanisms that when combined, while all species compete to survive, invasive species appear to have specific traits or specific combinations of traits that allow them to outcompete native species. In some cases, the competition is about rates of growth, in other cases, species interact with each other more directly. Researchers disagree about the usefulness of traits as invasiveness markers, one study found that of a list of invasive and noninvasive species, 86% of the invasive species could be identified from the traits alone. Another study found invasive species tended to have only a subset of the presumed traits. Repeated patterns of movement, such as ships sailing to and from ports or cars driving up. An introduced species might become if it can outcompete native species for resources such as nutrients, light, physical space, water. If these species evolved under great competition or predation, then the new environment may host fewer able competitors, allowing the invader to proliferate quickly. Ecosystems in which are being used to their fullest capacity by native species can be modeled as zero-sum systems in which any gain for the invader is a loss for the native, however, such unilateral competitive superiority is not the rule. For example, barbed goatgrass was introduced to California on serpentine soils, which have low water-retention, low nutrient levels, a high magnesium/calcium ratio, and possible heavy metal toxicity. Plant populations on these soils tend to low density, but goatgrass can form dense stands on these soils. Some species, like Kalanchoe daigremontana, produce allelopathic compounds, that might have an effect on competing species
41.
United States Environmental Protection Agency
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The EPA was proposed by President Richard Nixon and began operation on December 2,1970, after Nixon signed an executive order. The order establishing the EPA was ratified by committee hearings in the House, the agency is led by its Administrator, who is appointed by the president and approved by Congress. The current administrator is Scott Pruitt, the EPA is not a Cabinet department, but the administrator is normally given cabinet rank. The EPA has its headquarters in Washington, D. C. regional offices for each of the ten regions. The agency conducts environmental assessment, research, and education and it has the responsibility of maintaining and enforcing national standards under a variety of environmental laws, in consultation with state, tribal, and local governments. It delegates some permitting, monitoring, and enforcement responsibility to U. S. states, EPA enforcement powers include fines, sanctions, and other measures. The agency also works with industries and all levels of government in a variety of voluntary pollution prevention programs. In 2016, the agency had 15,376 full-time employees, more than half of EPAs employees are engineers, scientists, and environmental protection specialists, other employees include legal, public affairs, financial, and information technologists. Beginning in the late 1950s and through the 1960s, Congress reacted to increasing concern about the impact that human activity could have on the environment. Senator James E. Murray introduced a bill, the Resources and Conservation Act of 1959, the 1962 publication of Silent Spring by Rachel Carson alerted the public about the detrimental effects on the environment of the indiscriminate use of pesticides. In the years following, similar bills were introduced and hearings were held to discuss the state of the environment, in the colloquium, some members of Congress expressed a continuing concern over federal agency actions affecting the environment. The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 was modeled on RCA, President Nixon signed NEPA into law on January 1,1970. The law created the Council on Environmental Quality in the Executive Office of the President, NEPA required that a detailed statement of environmental impacts be prepared for all major federal actions significantly affecting the environment. The detailed statement would ultimately be referred to as an impact statement. On July 9,1970, Nixon proposed a reorganization that consolidated many environmental responsibilities of the federal government under one agency. After conducting hearings during that summer, the House and Senate approved the proposal, the agency’s first administrator, William Ruckelshaus, took the oath of office on December 4,1970. In May 2013, Congress renamed the EPA headquarters as the William Jefferson Clinton Federal Building, the EPA is led by an Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. As of 2017 Scott Pruitt is the 14th administrator, each EPA regional office is responsible within its states for implementing the Agencys programs, except those programs that have been specifically delegated to states
42.
Fipronil
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Fipronil is a broad-use insecticide that belongs to the phenylpyrazole chemical family. This causes hyperexcitation of contaminated insects nerves and muscles, specificity of fipronil on insects may come from a better efficacy on GABA receptor, but also because GluCl channels do not exist in mammals. When used on dogs and cats, it kills virtually all fleas in 24–48 hours, when used as bait, it allows the poisoned insect time to return to the colony or harborage. In cockroaches, the feces and carcass can contain sufficient residual pesticide to kill others in the nesting site. In ants, the sharing of the bait among colony members assists in the spreading of the poison throughout the colony, with the cascading effect, the projected kill rate is about 95% in three days for ants and cockroaches. Fipronil serves as a good bait toxin not only because of its slow action, toxic baiting with fipronil has also been shown to be extremely effective in locally eliminating German wasps. All colonies within foraging range are completely eliminated within one week, wildlife impacts include, Fipronil is highly toxic to fish and aquatic invertebrates. Its tendency to bind to sediments and its low water solubility may reduce the hazard to aquatic wildlife. Fipronil is toxic to bees and should not be applied to vegetation when bees are foraging, the chronic studies show no effects at the highest levels tested in mallards =1000 ppm) or quail. The metabolite MB46136 is more toxic than the parent to avian species tested, Fipronil is very highly toxic to bluegill sunfish and highly toxic to rainbow trout on an acute basis. The results of a fish early lifestage toxicity study in rainbow trout show that fipronil affects larval growth with a NOEC of 0.0066 ppm, the metabolite MB46136 is more toxic than the parent to freshwater fish. Based on an acute daphnia study using fipronil and three supplemental studies using its metabolites, fipronil is characterized as highly toxic to aquatic invertebrates, an invertebrate lifecycle daphnia study showed that fipronil affects length in daphnids at concentrations greater than 9.8 ppb. A lifecycle study in mysids shows fipronil affects reproduction, survival, acute studies of estuarine animals using oysters, mysids, and sheepshead minnows show that fipronil is highly acutely toxic to oysters and sheepshead minnows, and very highly toxic to mysids. Metabolites MB46136 and MB45950 are more toxic than the parent to freshwater invertebrates, Fipronil acts by binding to allosteric sites of GABAA receptors and GluCl receptors as an antagonist. This prevents the opening of ion channels normally encouraged by GABA. This results in an overabundance of neurons reaching action potential and likewise CNS toxicity via overstimulation, Fipronil was discovered and developed by Rhône-Poulenc between 1985 and 1987, and placed on the market in 1993 under the US Patent No. Between 1987 and 1996, fipronil was evaluated on more than 250 insect pests on 60 crops worldwide, since 2003, BASF holds the patent rights for producing and selling fipronil-based products in many countries. In 1999,400,000 hectares were treated with Regent and it became the leading imported product in the area of rice insecticides, the second-biggest crop protection market after cotton in China
43.
PubMed Identifier
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PubMed is a free search engine accessing primarily the MEDLINE database of references and abstracts on life sciences and biomedical topics. The United States National Library of Medicine at the National Institutes of Health maintains the database as part of the Entrez system of information retrieval, from 1971 to 1997, MEDLINE online access to the MEDLARS Online computerized database primarily had been through institutional facilities, such as university libraries. PubMed, first released in January 1996, ushered in the era of private, free, home-, the PubMed system was offered free to the public in June 1997, when MEDLINE searches via the Web were demonstrated, in a ceremony, by Vice President Al Gore. Information about the journals indexed in MEDLINE, and available through PubMed, is found in the NLM Catalog. As of 5 January 2017, PubMed has more than 26.8 million records going back to 1966, selectively to the year 1865, and very selectively to 1809, about 500,000 new records are added each year. As of the date,13.1 million of PubMeds records are listed with their abstracts. In 2016, NLM changed the system so that publishers will be able to directly correct typos. Simple searches on PubMed can be carried out by entering key aspects of a subject into PubMeds search window, when a journal article is indexed, numerous article parameters are extracted and stored as structured information. Such parameters are, Article Type, Secondary identifiers, Language, publication type parameter enables many special features. As these clinical girish can generate small sets of robust studies with considerable precision, since July 2005, the MEDLINE article indexing process extracts important identifiers from the article abstract and puts those in a field called Secondary Identifier. The secondary identifier field is to store numbers to various databases of molecular sequence data, gene expression or chemical compounds. For clinical trials, PubMed extracts trial IDs for the two largest trial registries, ClinicalTrials. gov and the International Standard Randomized Controlled Trial Number Register, a reference which is judged particularly relevant can be marked and related articles can be identified. If relevant, several studies can be selected and related articles to all of them can be generated using the Find related data option, the related articles are then listed in order of relatedness. To create these lists of related articles, PubMed compares words from the title and abstract of each citation, as well as the MeSH headings assigned, using a powerful word-weighted algorithm. The related articles function has been judged to be so precise that some researchers suggest it can be used instead of a full search, a strong feature of PubMed is its ability to automatically link to MeSH terms and subheadings. Examples would be, bad breath links to halitosis, heart attack to myocardial infarction, where appropriate, these MeSH terms are automatically expanded, that is, include more specific terms. Terms like nursing are automatically linked to Nursing or Nursing and this important feature makes PubMed searches automatically more sensitive and avoids false-negative hits by compensating for the diversity of medical terminology. The My NCBI area can be accessed from any computer with web-access, an earlier version of My NCBI was called PubMed Cubby
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. PMID 23056657.
