Starlings are small to medium-sized passerine birds in the family Sturnidae. The Sturnidae are named for the genus Sturnus, which in turn comes from the Latin word for starling, sturnus. Many Asian species, particularly the larger ones, are called mynas, and many African species are known as glossy starlings because of their iridescent plumage. Starlings are native to Europe, Asia, and Africa, as well as northern Australia and the islands of the tropical Pacific. Several European and Asian species have been introduced to these areas, as well as North America, Hawaii, and New Zealand, where they generally compete for habitats with native birds and are considered to be invasive species. The starling species familiar to most people in Europe and North America is the common starling, and throughout much of Asia and the Pacific, the common myna is indeed common.
Balanus is a genus of barnacles in the family Balanidae of the subphylum Crustacea.
The grasshopper subfamily Acridinae, sometimes called silent slant-faced grasshoppers, belong of the large family Acrididae in the Orthoptera: Caelifera.
The Streblidae are a family of flies in the superfamily Hippoboscoidea, and together with their relatives the Nycteribiidae, are known as bat flies. They are winged or wingless ectoparasites of bats, and often have long legs. They appear to be host-specific, with different species of bat flies occurring only on particular species of bat hosts, sometimes with multiple species of flies sharing a host bat.
Inoceramus is an extinct genus of fossil marine pteriomorphian bivalves that superficially resembled the related winged pearly oysters of the extant genus Pteria. They lived from the Early Jurassic to latest Cretaceous.
Platypezidae is a family of true flies of the superfamily Platypezoidea. The more than 250 species are found worldwide primarily in woodland habitats. A common name is flat-footed flies, but this is also used for the closely related Opetiidae which were included in the Platypezidae in former times.
Melolonthinae is a subfamily of the scarab beetles. It is a very diverse group; distributed over most of the world, it contains over 11,000 species in over 750 genera. Some authors include the scarab subfamilies Euchirinae and Pachypodinae as tribes in the Melolonthinae.
Albulidae is a family of fish, commonly known as the bonefishes, that are popular as game fish in Florida, select locations in the South Pacific and the Bahamas and elsewhere. The family is small, with 11 species in 3 genera. Presently, the bonefishes are in their own order: Albuliformes. The families Halosauridae and Notacanthidae were previously classified in this order, but are now, according to FishBase, given their own order Notacanthiformes. The largest bonefish caught in the Western Hemisphere is a 16-pound, 3 ounce example caught off Islamorada, Florida, on March 19, 2007.
Ringiculidae are a family of minute deep water sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks or micromollusks in the informal group Lower Heterobranchia.
Didymictis is an extinct genus of placental mammals from extinct subfamily Didymictinae within extinct family Viverravidae, that lived in North America and Europe from the late Paleocene to middle Eocene.
Auricularia is a genus of fungi in the family Auriculariaceae. Basidiocarps are typically gelatinous and ear-shaped, with a slightly downy to conspicuously hirsute upper surface and an under surface that is smooth, wrinkled or veined. All species grow on wood. Several Auricularia species are edible and commercially cultivated on a large scale in China and East Asia.
Ostenia is a genus of flies in the family Dolichopodidae. It contains only one species, Ostenia robusta, which is endemic to New Zealand. The species was first described by Frederick Hutton in 1901, and the genus was named after Carl Robert Osten-Sacken.
Pyrgomorphidae is a family of grasshoppers in the order Orthoptera; it is the only family in the superfamily Pyrgomorphoidea, with a pan-tropical distribution. Their name is probably derived from pyrgos meaning "tower": a reference to the form (morph) of the head in the type genus Pyrgomorpha and other genera.
Cornelis Eliza Bertus Bremekamp was a Dutch botanist.
Costelytra giveni, commonly known as New Zealand grass grub, is a scarab beetle that is endemic to New Zealand and is a prevalent pasture pest.
Faxonius is a genus of freshwater crayfish in the family Cambaridae. There are more than 90 described species in Faxonius. It includes the rusty crayfish, an invasive species in North America, and three species, F. virilis, F. immunis, and F. limosus, that are invasive to Europe.
Costelytra zealandica is a species of scarab beetle found in forested areas of greater Wellington. It was originally described in 1846 by the British entomologist Adam White as Rhisotrogus zealandicus from a specimen obtained during the Ross expedition. The species is known to feed on roots of plants and trees, so is considered a pest for many farm pastures.
Parasemionotiformes is an extinct order of neopterygian ray-finned fish that existed globally during the Triassic period. It comprises the families Parasemionotidae and Promecosominidae. Many of the included genera are monotypic and most species lived during the Early Triassic epoch.
Didymictinae is an extinct subfamily of mammals from extinct family Viverravidae, that lived from the early Palaeocene to the middle Eocene in North America and Europe.
