The peppered moth is a temperate species of night-flying moth. It is mostly found in the northern hemisphere in places like Asia, Europe and North America. Peppered moth evolution is an example of population genetics and natural selection.
In evolutionary biology, mimicry is an evolved resemblance between an organism and another object, often an organism of another species. Mimicry may evolve between different species, or between individuals of the same species. Often, mimicry functions to protect a species from predators, making it an anti-predator adaptation. Mimicry evolves if a receiver perceives the similarity between a mimic and a model and as a result changes its behaviour in a way that provides a selective advantage to the mimic. The resemblances that evolve in mimicry can be visual, acoustic, chemical, tactile, or electric, or combinations of these sensory modalities. Mimicry may be to the advantage of both organisms that share a resemblance, in which case it is a form of mutualism; or mimicry can be to the detriment of one, making it parasitic or competitive. The evolutionary convergence between groups is driven by the selective action of a signal-receiver or dupe. Birds, for example, use sight to identify palatable insects and butterflies, whilst avoiding the noxious ones. Over time, palatable insects may evolve to resemble noxious ones, making them mimics and the noxious ones models. In the case of mutualism, sometimes both groups are referred to as "co-mimics". It is often thought that models must be more abundant than mimics, but this is not so. Mimicry may involve numerous species; many harmless species such as hoverflies are Batesian mimics of strongly defended species such as wasps, while many such well-defended species form Müllerian mimicry rings, all resembling each other. Mimicry between prey species and their predators often involves three or more species.
Attacus atlas, the Atlas moth, is a large saturniid moth endemic to the forests of Asia. The species was described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae.
The geometer moths are moths belonging to the family Geometridae of the insect order Lepidoptera, the moths and butterflies. Their scientific name derives from the Ancient Greek geo γεω, and metron μέτρον "measure" in reference to the way their larvae, or inchworms, appear to measure the earth as they move along in a looping fashion. Geometridae is a very large family, containing around 23,000 described species; over 1400 species from six subfamilies are indigenous to North America alone. A well-known member is the peppered moth, Biston betularia, which has been the subject of numerous studies in population genetics. Several other geometer moths are notorious pests.
Eric Carle was an American author, designer and illustrator of children's books. His picture book The Very Hungry Caterpillar, first published in 1969, has been translated into more than 66 languages and sold more than 50 million copies. Carle's career as an illustrator and children's book author accelerated after he collaborated on Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?. Carle illustrated more than 70 books, most of which he also wrote, and more than 145 million copies of his books have been sold around the world.
Riodinidae is the family of metalmark butterflies. The common name "metalmarks" refers to the small, metallic-looking spots commonly found on their wings. The 1,532 species are placed in 146 genera. Although mostly Neotropical in distribution, the family is also represented both in the Nearctic, Palearctic, Australasian (Dicallaneura), Afrotropic, and Indomalayan realms.
Notodontidae is a family of moths with approximately 3,800 known species. The family was described by James Francis Stephens in 1829. Moths of this family are found in all parts of the world, but they are most concentrated in tropical areas, especially in the New World.
Aposematism is the advertising by an animal, whether terrestrial or marine, to potential predators that it is not worth attacking or eating. This unprofitability may consist of any defenses which make the prey difficult to kill and eat, such as toxicity, venom, foul taste or smell, sharp spines, or aggressive nature. These advertising signals may take the form of conspicuous coloration, sounds, odours, or other perceivable characteristics. Aposematic signals are beneficial for both predator and prey, since both avoid potential harm.
Phobetron pithecium, the hag moth, is a moth of the family Limacodidae. Its larva is known as the monkey slug.
A bolas spider is a member of the orb-weaver spider that, instead of spinning a typical orb web, hunts by using one or more sticky "capture blobs" on the end of a silk line, known as a "bolas". By swinging the bolas at flying male moths or moth flies nearby, the spider may snag its prey rather like a fisherman snagging a fish on a hook. Because of this, they are also called angling or fishing spiders. The prey is lured to the spider by the production of up to three sex pheromone-analogues.
Araneus is a genus of common orb-weaving spiders. It includes about 650 species, among which are the European garden spider and the barn spider. The genus was erected by Carl Alexander Clerck in 1757.
The queen butterfly is a North and South American butterfly in the family Nymphalidae with a wingspan of 80–85 mm. It is orange or brown with black wing borders and small white forewing spots on its dorsal wing surface, and reddish ventral wing surface fairly similar to the dorsal surface. The ventral hindwings have black veins and small white spots in a black border. The male has a black androconial scent patch on its dorsal hindwings. It can be found in meadows, fields, marshes, deserts, and at the edges of forests.
Ant mimicry or myrmecomorphy is mimicry of ants by other organisms; it has evolved over 70 times. Ants are abundant all over the world, and potential predators that rely on vision to identify their prey, such as birds and wasps, normally avoid them, because they are either unpalatable or aggressive. Some arthropods mimic ants to escape predation, while some predators of ants, especially spiders, mimic them anatomically and behaviourally in aggressive mimicry. Ant mimicry has existed almost as long as ants themselves; the earliest ant mimics in the fossil record appear in the mid-Cretaceous alongside the earliest ants.
Uroballus is a spider genus of the jumping spider family, Salticidae. It includes seven accepted species.
Phidippus johnsoni, the red-backed jumping spider or Johnson jumping spider, is one of the largest and most commonly encountered jumping spiders of western North America. It is not to be confused with the unrelated and highly venomous redback spider.
Shek O Country Park is a rural marine park located on Shek O, Southern District, Hong Kong and facing the South China Sea. The 701-hectare park opened on 21 September 1979.
Callosamia promethea, commonly known as the promethea silkmoth, is a member of the family Saturniidae, which contains approximately 1,300 species. It is also known as the spicebush silkmoth, which refers to is one of the promethea silkmoth's common host plants, spicebush. C. promethea is classified as a silk moth, which stems from its ability to produce silk, which it does in the formation of its cocoon. C. promethea lives in forests in the eastern U.S. and does not damage the trees on which it lives. The species was first described by Dru Drury in 1773.
The Phycitinae are a subfamily of snout moths. Even though the Pyralidae subfamilies are all quite diverse, Phycitinae stand out even by standards of their family: with over 600 genera considered valid and more than 4000 species placed here at present, they unite up more than three-quarters of living snout moth diversity. Together with the closely related Epipaschiinae, they are apparently the most advanced lineage of snout moths.
Structures built by non-human animals, often called animal architecture, are common in many species. Examples of animal structures include termite mounds, ant hills, wasp and beehives, burrow complexes, beaver dams, elaborate nests of birds, and webs of spiders.
Uroballus koponeni is a species of spider of the genus Uroballus. It is endemic to the Malaysian part of Borneo.
