The Pyraloidea are a moth superfamily containing about 16,000 described species worldwide, and probably at least as many more remain to be described. They are generally fairly small moths, and as such, they have been traditionally associated with the paraphyletic Microlepidoptera.
Herbivores are dependent on plants for food, and have coevolved mechanisms to obtain this food despite the evolution of a diverse arsenal of plant defenses against herbivory. Herbivore adaptations to plant defense have been likened to "offensive traits" and consist of those traits that allow for increased feeding and use of a host. Plants, on the other hand, protect their resources for use in growth and reproduction, by limiting the ability of herbivores to eat them. Relationships between herbivores and their host plants often results in reciprocal evolutionary change. When a herbivore eats a plant it selects for plants that can mount a defensive response, whether the response is incorporated biochemically or physically, or induced as a counterattack. In cases where this relationship demonstrates "specificity", and "reciprocity", the species are thought to have coevolved. The escape and radiation mechanisms for coevolution, presents the idea that adaptations in herbivores and their host plants, has been the driving force behind speciation. The coevolution that occurs between plants and herbivores that ultimately results in the speciation of both can be further explained by the Red Queen hypothesis. This hypothesis states that competitive success and failure evolve back and forth through organizational learning. The act of an organism facing competition with another organism ultimately leads to an increase in the organism's performance due to selection. This increase in competitive success then forces the competing organism to increase its performance through selection as well, thus creating an "arms race" between the two species. Herbivores evolve due to plant defenses because plants must increase their competitive performance first due to herbivore competitive success.
The wompoo fruit dove, also known as wompoo pigeon, is one of the larger fruit doves native to New Guinea and eastern Australia.
Dendrocnide is a genus of approximately 40 species of plants in the nettle family Urticaceae. They have a wide distribution across North East India, Southeast Asia, Australia and the Pacific Islands. In Australia they are commonly known as stinging trees.
Choreutidae, or metalmark moths, are a family of insects in the lepidopteran order whose relationships have been long disputed. It was placed previously in the superfamily Yponomeutoidea in family Glyphipterigidae and in superfamily Sesioidea. It is now considered to represent its own superfamily. The relationship of the family to the other lineages in the group "Apoditrysia" need a new assessment, especially with new molecular data.
The white-striped dorcopsis or greater forest wallaby is a species of marsupial in the family Macropodidae. It is found in the northern part of West Papua, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. It is a common species in suitable tropical forest habitat and the IUCN lists its conservation status as being of "Least concern".
The arcuate horseshoe bat is a species of bat in the family Rhinolophidae. It is found in Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, and the Philippines.
Coprosma rhamnoides is an endemic shrub in New Zealand. It forms a small shrub up to 2 m tall. The leaves are very small, simple and variable in shape. The inconspicuous flowers are unisexual and believed to be wind pollinated. It is widespread in occurrence and can be the dominant small leaved divaricating shrub in some locations
Asota caricae, the tropical tiger moth, is a species of noctuoid moth in the family Erebidae. It is found from the Indo-Australian tropics of India and Sri Lanka to Queensland and Vanuatu.
Quercus pyrenaica, commonly known as Pyrenean oak, is a tree native to southwestern Europe and northwestern North Africa. Despite its common name, it is rarely found in the Pyrenees Mountains and is more abundant in northern Portugal and north and northwestern Spain.
Ficus auriculata, the Roxburgh fig, is a type of fig tree, native to Asia, noted for its big and round leaves.
Niveas kone is a moth of the family Choreutidae. It is found in Papua New Guinea and on the Solomon Islands.
Homona trachyptera is a species of moth of the family Tortricidae. It is found in New Guinea, as well as Australia, where it has been recorded from Queensland.
Coelomera ruficornis is a species of beetle in the family Chrysomelidae. It is found in tropical South America where it feeds on Cecropia pachystachya trees.
Spathiostemon javensis is a plant that can grow as a shrub or a tree in the tribe Acalypheae of the family Euphorbiaceae. It is native to the region from the Bismarck Archipelago to New Guinea, Wallacea and into Southeast Asia. It is often common in the understorey of forests. The wood is used in constructions.
Pimelodendron amboinicum is a tree species in the Euphorbiaceae family. It is found from the Solomon Islands in the southwest Pacific, west to Sulawesi in Indonesia. The timber is used locally, though larger-scale illegal logging is apparent.
Macaranga novoguineensis is a species of tree in the Euphorbiaceae family. It is native to New Britain and New Guinea. It is a late succession plant, and supports a variety of insect herbivores, including caterpillars from the moth Homona mermerodes.
A tree in the Moraceae family, Ficus bernaysii is found from New Guinea to the Solomon Islands, growing in lowland rainforest. It is dioecious, and grows cauliflorous fruit. It is fed on by a wide range of animals.
A tree in the Anacardiaceae family, Buchanania macrocarpa is native to an area in the southwest Pacific from the Solomon Islands to the northern Maluku Islands.
Dendrocnide corallodesme, the mango-leafed stinger, is a species of flowering plant in the nettle family Urticaceae, native to New Guinea and Queensland. It is a rainforest tree reaching 6 m (20 ft), with irritating hairs on its flowers and abaxial leaf midribs.
