Starlings are small to medium-sized passerine birds in the family Sturnidae, common name of Sturnid. The Sturnidae are named for the genus Sturnus, which in turn comes from the Latin word for starling, sturnus. The family contains 128 species which are divided into 36 genera. 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.
Anguidae refers to a large and diverse family of lizards native to the Northern Hemisphere. Common characteristics of this group include a reduced supratemporal arch, striations on the medial faces of tooth crowns, osteoderms, and a lateral fold in the skin of most taxa. The group is divided into two living subfamilies, the legless Anguinae, which contains slow worms and glass lizards, among others, found across the Northern Hemisphere, and Gerrhonotinae, which contains the alligator lizards, native to North and Central America. The family Diploglossidae was also formerly included. The family contains about 87 species in 8 genera.
Passalidae is a family of beetles known variously as "bessbugs", "bess beetles", "betsy beetles" or "horned passalus beetles". Nearly all of the 500-odd species are tropical; species found in North America are notable for their size, ranging from 20 to 43 mm, for having a single "horn" on the head, and for a form of social behavior unusual among beetles.
Sparganium (bur-reed) is a genus of flowering plants, described as a genus by Linnaeus in 1753. It is widespread in wet areas in temperate regions of both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. The plants are perennial marsh plants that can grow to 3.5 m, with epicene flowers.
Phanogomphus hodgesi, the Hodges' clubtail, is a species of clubtail in the family of dragonflies known as Gomphidae. It is found in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, and Mississippi along the gulf coast of the United States.
Gomphus is a genus of clubtail dragonflies in the family Gomphidae.
Petrophila is a genus of moths of the family Crambidae. The genus was described by Lansdown Guilding in 1830.
Meleonoma is a genus of moths in the family Autostichidae.
Apotoforma is a genus of moths belonging to the subfamily Tortricinae of the family Tortricidae.
Stoeberhinus testaceus, the potato moth, is a gelechioid moth, supposedly the only species of its genus Stoeberhinus. However, the genus might also include some related moths presently placed in Autosticha. It belongs to the subfamily Autostichinae, which is either placed in the concealer moth family (Oecophoridae), or in an expanded Autostichidae.
Oecia is a monotypic moth genus first described by Lord Walsingham in 1897. It is in the family Autostichidae. Its only species, Oecia oecophila, described by Otto Staudinger in 1876, is widely distributed in the West Indies, Central America and South America, southern Europe, Japan, northern and southern Africa, Malaya, Java, Indonesia, Australia and Hawaii. It has been widely dispersed by commerce.
Oegoconia caradjai is a species of gelechioid moth. It is known from most of Europe, except Fennoscandia and the north-east. It is also found in New Zealand, as an established exotic.
Autosticha is a genus of gelechioid moths. It belongs to the subfamily Autostichinae, which is either placed in the concealer moth family (Oecophoridae), or in an expanded Autostichidae. It is the type genus of its subfamily. Originally, this genus was named Automola, but this name properly refers to a fly genus in family Richardiidae.
Bryotropha hodgesi is a moth of the family Gelechiidae. It is found along the western coast of the United States, north to the extreme southern part of Canada.
Argyrotaenia hodgesi is a species of moth of the family Tortricidae. It is found in the United States, where it has been recorded from Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, South Carolina and Texas.
Pselnophorus hodgesi is a moth of the family Pterophoridae. It is found in the United States, where it has been recorded from southern Arizona and southern Texas.
Gerdana is a genus of moths in the family Autostichidae. It contains only one species, Gerdana caritella, which is found in North America, where it has been recorded from southeastern Canada and the eastern United States.
Autosticha kyotensis, the Kyoto moth, is a moth in the family Autostichidae. It was described by Shōnen Matsumura in 1931. It is found in Japan on the island of Honshu. It is an introduced species in the United States, where it has been recorded from Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Tennessee and Texas.
Phanogomphus is a genus of clubtails in the family Gomphidae found in North America. There are about 17 described species in Phanogomphus.
