It is similar in form to Senecio serra, both being four feet tall, have narrow and serrated leaves, and are topped with many small, yellow sunflowers. but S. triangularis is more common than S. serra. S. triangularis has single erect stems, reaching up to 10–120 cm (4–47 in) tall. The stems have evenly distributed leaves. The leaves are triangular, with tapered ends, hence the name.
As some plants are diploid, meaning having two sets of chromosomes, this can be used to identify hybrids and classification of groupings. It has been counted as 2n = 40, 80.
It is native to temperate regions of America and is reportedly poisonous to animals.


Alpinia purpurata, red ginger, also called ostrich plume and pink cone ginger, are native Malaysian plants with showy flowers on long brightly colored red bracts. They look like the bloom, but the true flower is the small white flower on top.
It has cultivars called Jungle King and Jungle Queen. Red Ginger grows in Hawaii, Trinidad, Grenada, St. Lucia, Panama, Dominica, St. Vincent, Martinique, Jamaica, Guadeloupe, Puerto Rico, Suriname (where its Dutch name is 'bokkepoot', billy-goat's foot), and many Central American nations, including Belize. It is also found in Samoa, where it is the national flower, and is locally called "teuila."
Red ginger can also be grown in South Florida since, in general, the region does not fall below freezing temperatures. It prefers partial shade and moist humid conditions, although it can tolerate full sun in some climates. It tends to like to be well watered and not left to dry out.
Red ginger can also be grown as a houseplant and its cut flowers can be used in arrangements.
Red ginger tends to spread.


Standardized allergen extract, white birch, sold under the brand name Itulatek, is indicated for the treatment of allergy to tree pollen from birch, alder and/or hazel and have allergic rhinitis (with or without conjunctivitis).
The combination of Betula pendula/Betula pubescens is used to treat epidermolysis bullosa.


Betula pendula, commonly known as silver birch, warty birch, European white birch, or East Asian white birch, is a species of tree in the family Betulaceae, native to Europe and parts of Asia, though in southern Europe, it is only found at higher altitudes. Its range extends into Siberia, China, and southwest Asia in the mountains of northern Turkey, the Caucasus, and northern Iran. It has been introduced into North America, where it is known as the European white birch or weeping birch and is considered invasive in some states in the United States and parts of Canada. The tree can also be found in more temperate regions of Australia.
The silver birch is a medium-sized deciduous tree that owes its common name to the white peeling bark on the trunk. The twigs are slender and often pendulous and the leaves are roughly triangular with doubly serrate margins and turn yellow and brown in autumn before they fall. The flowers are catkins and the light, winged seeds get widely scattered by the wind. The silver birch is a hardy tree, a pioneer species, and one of the first trees to appear on bare or fire-swept land. Many species of birds and animals are found in birch woodland, the tree supports a wide range of insects and the light shade it casts allows shrubby and other plants to grow beneath its canopy. It is planted decoratively in parks and gardens and is used for forest products such as joinery timber, firewood, tanning, racecourse jumps, and brooms. Various parts of the tree are used in traditional medicine and the bark contains triterpenes, which have been shown to have medicinal properties.


The silver birch typically reaches 15 to 25 m (49 to 82 ft) tall (exceptionally up to 31 m (102 ft)), with a slender trunk usually under 40 cm (16 in) diameter. The bark on the trunk and branches is golden-brown at first, but later this turns to white as a result of papery tissue developing on the surface and peeling off in flakes, in a similar manner to the closely related paper birch (B. papyrifera). The bark remains smooth until the tree gets quite large, but in older trees, the bark thickens, becoming irregular, dark, and rugged. Young branches have whitish resin warts and the twigs are slender, hairless, and often pendulous. The buds are small and sticky, and development is sympodial - the terminal bud dies away and growth continues from a lateral bud. The species is monoecious with male and female catkins found on the same tree. Some shoots are long and bear the male catkins at the tip, while others are short and bear female catkins. The immature male catkins are present during the winter, but the female catkins develop in the spring, soon after the leaves unfurl.
The leaves have short, slender stalks and are 3 to 7 cm (1.2 to 2.8 in) long, triangular with broad, untoothed, wedge-shaped bases, slender pointed tips, and coarsely double-toothed, serrated margins. They are sticky with resin at first, but this dries as they age, leaving small, white scales. The foliage is a pale to medium green and turns yellow early in the autumn before the leaves fall. In midsummer, the female catkins mature and the male catkins expand and release pollen, and wind pollination takes place. A catkin of Silver birch could produce an average of 1.66 million pollen grains. The small, 1- to 2-mm winged seeds ripen in late summer on pendulous, cylindrical catkins 2 to 4 cm (0.8 to 1.6 in) long and 7 mm (0.3 in) broad. The seeds are very numerous and are separated by scales, and when ripe, the whole catkin disintegrates and the seeds are spread widely by the wind.
Silver birch can easily be confused with the similar downy birch (Betula pubescens). Yet, downy birches are characterised by hairy leaves and young shoots, whereas the same parts on silver birch are hairless. The leaf base of silver birch is usually a right angle to the stalk, while for downy birches, it is rounded. In terms of genetic structure, the trees are quite different, but do, however, occasionally hybridize.


Pogonomyrmex californicus, or California harvester ant, is a species of ant in the subfamily Myrmicinae. It is native to North America, where it occurs in the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. It is best known as the ant that is sent out for Uncle Milton's Ant Farm.


Pogonomyrmex californicus can be found in open, warm, and sandy areas. Typically, it forages during the day as individuals or in a group, forming columns as they work. It preys on arthropods, such as the larvae of the raisin moth (Cadra figulilella), and collects seeds. It can form colonies of hundreds of individuals. The nest entrances are often irregular and are surrounded by loose sand arranged in a circular or semi-circular pattern. Reproduction occurs around July, when reproducing individuals are present.


Symphyotrichum lanceolatum (formerly Aster lanceolatus and Aster simplex) is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae native to North America. Common names include panicled aster, lance-leaved aster, and white panicled aster. It is a perennial, herbaceous plant that may reach 1.5 meters (5 feet) tall or more, sometimes approaching 2 meters (6+1⁄2 feet). The lance-shaped leaves are generally hairless but may feel slightly rough to the touch on the top because of tiny bristles. The flowers grow in clusters and branch in panicles. They have 16–50 white ray florets that are up to 14 millimeters (1⁄2 inch) long and sometimes tinged pink or purple. The flower centers consist of disk florets that begin as yellow and become purple as they mature.
The species occurs in a wide variety of mostly moist and open habitats, including riparian areas (areas between land and a river or stream), meadows, and ditches. Panicled aster has a stout rhizome and can spread to form a clonal colony as well as reproduce by wind-blown seed. Because of its rhizomatic spreading and its production of chemicals that can be detrimental to other plants around it, the species can do damage to ecosystems outside of its native range, as it has in Europe where it has been introduced.
Symphyotrichum lanceolatum is currently divided into subspecies and varieties which have minor differences in appearance and vary in chromosome counts as well as distribution, with some overlap. It is a conservationally secure species whose late-summer and fall appearing flowers play an important role for late-season pollinators and nectar-seeking insects such as bumblebees, wasps, and hoverflies. In addition to being used by indigenous peoples of the Americas for medicinal purposes, it has been cultivated as an ornamental garden plant and used in the cut flower industry.


In its native range, Symphyotrichum lanceolatum may be a minor weed in agricultural fields. In addition to dispersal by wind-blown seed, it spreads extensively by rhizomes to create large clonal colonies. Although these clones do not dominate habitats in North America, growing in association with grasses, goldenrods, and other asters, in Europe it is an invasive species that excludes native plants in riparian habitats. This invasiveness has been linked to allelopathic compounds in S. lanceolatum tissue and their effect on native European plants. Viable seed production in Europe seems to be limited, and the species largely spreads there via rhizomes.
The species is visited by a wide variety of late-season pollinating and nectar-seeking insects, including bees, hoverflies, flies, moths, and wasps. Cross-fertilization is usually required to produce viable seed, and as such, large clones may have low seed production.


In 1731, the English naturalist Mark Catesby described and illustrated the passenger pigeon and the mourning dove on successive pages of his The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands. For the passenger pigeon he used the common name "Pigeon of passage" and the scientific Latin Palumbus migratorius; for the mourning dove he used "Turtle of Carolina" and Turtur carolinensis. In 1743 the naturalist George Edwards included the mourning dove with the English name "long-tail'd dove" and the Latin name Columba macroura in his A Natural History of Uncommon Birds. Edwards's pictures of the male and female doves were drawn from live birds that had been shipped to England from the West Indies. When in 1758 the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus updated his Systema Naturae for the tenth edition, he conflated the two species. He used the Latin name Columba macroura introduced by Edwards as the binomial name but included a description mainly based on Catesby. He cited Edwards's description of the mourning dove and Catesby's description of the passenger pigeon. Linnaeus updated his Systema Naturae again in 1766 for the twelfth edition. He dropped Columba macroura and instead coined Columba migratoria for the passenger pigeon, Columba cariolensis for the mourning dove and Columba marginata for Edwards's mourning dove.
To resolve the confusion over the binomial names of the two species, Francis Hemming proposed in 1952 that the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) secure the specific name macroura for the mourning dove and migratorius for the passenger pigeon, since this was the intended use by the authors on whose work Linnaeus had based his description. This was accepted by the ICZN, which used its plenary powers to designate the species for the respective names in 1955.
The mourning dove is now placed in the genus Zenaida, introduced in 1838 by the French naturalist Charles Lucien Bonaparte, commemorating his wife Zénaïde. The specific epithet is from the Ancient Greek makros meaning "long" and -ouros meaning "-tailed".
The mourning dove is closely related to the eared dove (Zenaida auriculata) and the Socorro dove (Zenaida graysoni). Some authorities consider them a superspecies, and the three birds are sometimes classified in the separate genus Zenaidura, but the current classification has them as separate species in the genus Zenaida. In addition, the Socorro dove has at times been considered conspecific with the mourning dove, though several differences in behavior, call, and appearance justify separation as two different species. While the three species do form a subgroup of Zenaida, using a separate genus would interfere with the monophyly of Zenaida by making it paraphyletic.
There are five subspecies:
Zenaida macroura marginella (Woodhouse, 1852) – west Canada and west USA to south central Mexico
Zenaida macroura carolinensis (Linnaeus, 1766) – east Canada and east USA, Bermuda, Bahama Islands
Zenaida macroura macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) – (nominate subspecies) Cuba, Hispaniola (Dominican Republic and Haiti), Puerto Rico, Jamaica
Zenaida macroura clarionensis (Townsend, CH, 1890) – Clarion Island (off west Mexico)
Zenaida macroura turturilla (Wetmore, 1956) – Costa Rica, west Panama
The ranges of most of the subspecies overlap a little, with three in the United States or Canada. The West Indian subspecies is found throughout the Greater Antilles. It has recently invaded the Florida Keys. The eastern subspecies is found mainly in eastern North America, as well as Bermuda and the Bahamas. The western subspecies are found in western North America, including parts of Mexico. The Panamanian subspecies is in Central America. The Clarion Island subspecies is found only on Clarion Island, off Mexico's Pacific coast.
The mourning dove is sometimes called the "American mourning dove" to distinguish it from the distantly related mourning collared dove (Streptopelia decipiens) of Africa. It was also formerly known as the "Carolina turtledove" and the "Carolina pigeon". The "mourning" part of its common name comes from its doleful call.
The mourning dove was thought to be the passenger pigeon's closest living relative on morphological grounds until genetic analysis showed Patagioenas pigeons are more closely related. The mourning dove was even suggested to belong to the same genus, Ectopistes, and was listed by some authors as E. carolinensis. The passenger pigeon (Ectopistes migratorius) was hunted to extinction in the early 1900s.


The mourning dove has a large range of nearly 11,000,000 km² (4,200,000 sq mi). The species is resident throughout the Greater Antilles, most of Mexico, the Continental United States, southern Canada, and the Atlantic archipelago of Bermuda. Much of the Canadian prairie sees these birds in summer only, and southern Central America sees them in winter only.  The species is a vagrant in northern Canada, Alaska, and South America. It has been spotted as an accidental at least seven times in the Western Palearctic with records from the British Isles (5), the Azores (1) and Iceland (1). In 1963, the mourning dove was introduced to Hawaii, and in 1998 there was still a small population in North Kona. The mourning dove also appeared on Socorro Island, off the western coast of Mexico, in 1988, sixteen years after the Socorro dove was extirpated from that island.
The mourning dove occupies a wide variety of open and semi-open habitats, such as urban areas, farms, prairie, grassland, and lightly wooded areas. It avoids swamps and thick forest.


Courtship begins with a noisy flight by the male, followed by a graceful, circular glide with outstretched wings and head down. After landing, the male will approach the female with a puffed-out breast, bobbing head, and loud calls. Mated pairs will often preen each other's feathers.
The male then leads the female to potential nest sites, and the female will choose one. The female dove builds the nest. The male will fly about, gather material, and bring it to her. The male will stand on the female's back and give the material to the female, who then builds it into the nest. The nest is constructed of twigs, conifer needles, or grass blades, and is of flimsy construction. Mourning doves will sometimes requisition the unused nests of other mourning doves, other birds, or arboreal mammals such as squirrels.
Most nests are in trees, both deciduous and coniferous. Sometimes, they can be found in shrubs, vines, or on artificial constructs like buildings, or hanging flower pots. When there is no suitable elevated object, mourning doves will nest on the ground.
The clutch size is almost always two eggs. Occasionally, however, a female will lay her eggs in the nest of another pair, leading to three or four eggs in the nest. The eggs are white, 6.6 ml (0.23 imp fl oz; 0.22 US fl oz), 2.57–2.96 cm (1.01–1.17 in) long, 2.06–2.30 cm (0.81–0.91 in) wide, 6–7 g (0.21–0.25 oz) at laying (5–6% of female body mass). Both sexes incubate, the male from morning to afternoon, and the female the rest of the day and at night. Mourning doves are devoted parents; nests are very rarely left unattended by the adults.
Incubation takes two weeks. The hatched young, called squabs, are strongly altricial, being helpless at hatching and covered with down. Both parents feed the squabs pigeon's milk (dove's milk) for the first 3–4 days of life. Thereafter, the crop milk is gradually augmented by seeds. Fledging takes place in about 11–15 days, before the squabs are fully grown but after they are capable of digesting adult food. They stay nearby to be fed by their father for up to two weeks after fledging.
Mourning doves are prolific breeders. In warmer areas, these birds may raise to six broods in a season. This fast breeding is essential because mortality is high. Each year, mortality can reach 58% a year for adults and 69% for the young.
The mourning dove is generally monogamous and forms strong pair bonds.


The mourning dove is a medium-sized, slender dove approximately 31 cm (12 in) in length. Mourning doves weigh 112–170 g (4.0–6.0 oz), usually closer to 128 g (4.5 oz). The mourning dove has a wingspan of 37–45 cm. The elliptical wings are broad, and the head is rounded. Its tail is long and tapered ("macroura" comes from the Greek words for "large" and "tail"). Mourning doves have perching feet, with three toes forward and one reversed. The legs are short and reddish colored. The beak is short and dark, usually a brown-black hue.
The plumage is generally light gray-brown and lighter and pinkish below. The wings have black spotting, and the outer tail feathers are white, contrasting with the black inners. Below the eye is a distinctive crescent-shaped area of dark feathers. The eyes are dark, with light skin surrounding them. The adult male has bright purple-pink patches on the neck sides, with light pink coloring reaching the breast. The crown of the adult male is a distinctly bluish-grey color. Females are similar in appearance, but with more brown coloring overall and a little smaller than the male. The iridescent feather patches on the neck above the shoulders are nearly absent but can be quite vivid on males. Juvenile birds have a scaly appearance and are generally darker.
Feather colors are generally believed to be relatively static, changing only by small amounts over periods of months. However, a 2011 study argued that since feathers have neither nerves or blood vessels, color changes must be caused by external stimuli. Researchers analyzed how feathers of iridescent mourning doves responded to stimulus changes of adding and evaporating water. As a result, it was discovered that iridescent feather color changed hue, became more chromatic, and increased overall reflectance by almost 50%. Transmission electron microscopy and thin-film models revealed that color is produced by thin-film interference from a single layer of keratin around the edge of feather barbules, under which lies a layer of air and melanosomes. Once the environmental conditions were changed, the most striking morphological difference was a twisting of colored barbules that exposed more of their surface area for reflection, which explains the observed increase in brightness. Overall, the researchers suggest that some plumage colors may be more changeable than previously thought possible.
All five subspecies of the mourning dove look similar and are not easily distinguishable. The nominate subspecies possesses shorter wings and are darker and more buff-colored than the "average" mourning dove. Z. m. carolinensis has longer wings and toes, a shorter beak, and is darker in color. The western subspecies has longer wings, a longer beak, shorter toes, and is more muted and lighter in color. The Panama mourning dove has shorter wings and legs, a longer beak, and is grayer in color. The Clarion Island subspecies possesses larger feet, a larger beak, and is darker brown in color.


Trifolium subterraneum, the subterranean clover (often shortened to sub clover), subterranean trefoil, is a species of clover native to Europe, Southwest Asia, Northwest Africa and Macaronesia. The plant's name comes from its underground seed development (geocarpy), a characteristic not possessed by other clovers.
It can thrive in poor-quality soil where other clovers cannot survive, and is grown commercially for animal fodder. There are three distinct subspecies used in agriculture, each with its own ideal climate and soil type, allowing for wide distribution of the plant over varied environments.
T. subterraneum subsp. subterraneum is the generalist subspecies, and it can be grown in the widest range of environments.
T. subterraneum subsp. yanninicum is grown in moist areas that are prone to flooding.
T. subterraneum subsp. brachycalycinum is a more sensitive plant, requiring dry, cracked soil for its germination.
Some systematists consider the three plants to be separate species. There are many strains and varieties of these subspecies, but few are in wide use. The technique of mixing the subspecies in one field is popular as a method of ensuring a dense crop. Also, subterranean clover is sometimes mixed with alfalfa for a longer-lasting grazing pasture.
This species is self-fertilizing, unlike most legume forage crops such as alfalfa and other clovers, which are pollinated by insects, especially honeybees. The flowers of subclover are often located beneath its leaves and are low in nectar, making access both difficult and unappealing for bees. These characteristics also make the plant less attractive to certain types of pest insects.
Subterranean clover is one of the most commonly grown forage crops in Australia. It provides high quality forage to livestock. It is also grown in places such as California and Texas, where the extreme ranges of soil type and quality, rainfall, and temperature make the variable tolerances of sub clover especially useful.


Iva frutescens is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common names Jesuit's bark, bigleaf marsh-elder, and high-tide bush. It grows in coastal eastern North America from Nova Scotia down the eastern coast and along the Gulf Coast to Texas.
Iva frutescens is a subshrub or shrub with erect stems up to 3.5 meters (almost 12 feet) tall. The leaves are lance-shaped or somewhat oval and have toothed edges. They are variable in size, measuring from 3 to 12 centimeters (1.2-8.0 inches) or more in length. The inflorescence is an elongated array of many small flower heads with whitish florets.
Iva frutescens is very common in salt marsh habitat throughout its native range. While it is tolerant of salinity, it is not very tolerant of flooding, so it tends to grow in a narrow band along the upper margins of marshes. The band may be just a few meters wide, and individuals nearest the water may be stunted. The largest individuals have their roots in water less than 7% of the time, and the longer the roots are submerged, the smaller the plants are. However, this slight tolerance of flooding allows the plant to compete with other species on the marsh margins. This competition on one side and flooding on the other keeps the plant restricted to a narrow band.
This species' position is in the malophe front line of waterway erosion. It sometimes grows on substrate that has been dredged and laid out along the edges of waterways.
This species provides habitat for salt marsh animals such as the marsh wren.


Ingesting A. conyzoides can cause liver lesions and tumors. There was a mass poisoning incident in Ethiopia as a result of contamination of grain with A. conyzoides. The plant contains the pyrrolizidine alkaloids lycopsamine and echinatine.


As a medicinal plant, Ageratum conyzoides is widely used by many traditional cultures, against dysentery and diarrhea.  It is also an insecticide and nematicide.


Ageratum conyzoides (billygoat-weed, chick weed, goatweed, whiteweed, mentrasto) is native to Tropical America, especially Brazil, and is an invasive weed in many other regions. It is an herb that is 0.5–1 m. high, with ovate leaves 2–6 cm long, and flowers are white to mauve.
In Vietnamese, the plant is called cứt lợn (meaning "pig feces") due to its growth in dirty areas.


Māori originally used the resinous heartwood of rimu (called māpara or kāpara) for wooden items such as heru (combs) and fernroot beaters. Historically, rimu and other native trees such as kauri, matai and totara were the main sources of wood for New Zealand, including furniture and house construction. However, many of New Zealand's original stands of rimu have been destroyed, and recent government policies forbid the felling of rimu in public forests, though allowing limited logging on private land. Pinus radiata has now replaced rimu in most industries, although rimu remains popular for the production of high quality wooden furniture. There is also limited recovery of stump and root wood, from trees felled many years before, for use in making bowls and other wood turned objects.
The inner bark can also be used to treat burns and cuts.


Rimu grows throughout New Zealand, in the North Island, South Island and Stewart Island/Rakiura. This species is common in lowland and montane forest. Although the largest concentration of trees is now found on the West Coast of the South Island, the biggest trees tend to be in mixed podocarp forest near Taupo (e.g., Pureora, Waihaha, and Whirinaki Forests). A typical North Island habitat is in the Hamilton Ecological District, where Fuscospora truncata and rimu form the overstory. Associate ferns on the forest floor are Blechnum discolor, Blechnum filiforme, Asplenium flaccidum and Hymenophyllum demissum. An 800-year-old rimu tree can be seen at the Otari-Wilton's Bush in Wellington.


It has finely-cut, fern-like radical leaves which form a basal rosette, and an erect stem 20–50 centimetres (8–20 in) tall bearing a loose terminal inflorescence of small creamy white flowers. The flowers appear in dense clusters from late spring to midsummer atop sparsely leafed stems about 30 cm tall.
This plant prefers full sun or partial shade. It is more tolerant of dry conditions than most other members of its genus. It is a perennial of chalk and limestone downs and on heaths on other basic rocks.


Filipendula vulgaris, commonly known as dropwort or fern-leaf dropwort, is a perennial herbaceous plant in the family Rosaceae, closely related to meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria). It is found in dry pastures across much of Europe and central and northern Asia, mostly on lime.
The crushed leaves and roots have a scent of the oil of wintergreen (methyl salicylate).


Newly emerged adults have delicately pale green wings marked with green and white fascia, two on the slightly crenulate forewing, one on the hindwing. As with most moths of this colour, the green colouration is fugitive fading over time and older specimens tend to be almost pure white. The wingspan is 42–54 mm, the female generally being considerably larger than the male. The egg is smooth, long oval, but laid with the micropyle at the top; light grey, dark-dotted, later pink with the dots deep red.The larva is grey, brown or brownish-green, commonly with whitish dots, the segment-incisions well marked.


One or two broods are produced each year and adults can be seen at any time between July and September . The larva feeds on a variety of deciduous trees, including apple, beech, birch, elm, hawthorn, hazel and oak as well as several species of Prunus. The species overwinters as a larva, feeding on the soft bark of its food plants during the winter.
This moth flies at night and is attracted to light.
The flight season refers to the British Isles. This may vary in other parts of the range.


Campaea margaritata, commonly known in the UK as the light emerald, is a moth of the family Geometridae. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1767 12th edition of Systema Naturae. It is widely distributed throughout Europe, the Near East and North Africa. The habitat is mixed forests including parks and large gardens.


Crocus vernus (spring crocus, giant crocus) is a species in Family Iridaceae, native to the Alps, the Pyrenees, and the Balkans. Its cultivars and those of Crocus flavus (Dutch crocus) are used as ornamental plants. The Dutch crocuses are larger than the other cultivated crocus species (e.g., Crocus chrysanthus).  Depending on the year, Crocus vernus starts flowering about the same time or up to 2 weeks after Crocus chrysanthus (snow crocus) starts flowering.  Height: 4–6" (10–15 cm).


The first larvae that hatch in each batch may start by eating the unhatched eggs. This may provide energy for the larvae before they find any aphids. Fourth-instar larvae may consume about fifty aphids per day and adults may eat about twenty. When aphids are scarce, the adults can eat honeydew, nectar and pollen or even petals and other soft parts of plants. However they must consume aphids in order to reproduce.
In the western United States, these beetles may spend up to nine months in diapause in large aggregations in mountain valleys, far from their aphid food sources. In spring, the adults spread out and search for suitable sites to lay their eggs where aphids are plentiful. This dispersal trait is especially marked in this species as compared to other lady beetles.


Hippodamia convergens, commonly known as the convergent lady beetle, is one of the most common lady beetles in North America and is found throughout the continent. Aphids form their main diet and they are used for the biological control of these pests.


Convergent lady beetles are native to North America, but have also been imported and established in South America by importing beetles from California.


The female lady beetle lays 200 to 300 eggs over several months during spring and early summer. The eggs are small and spindle-shaped and are laid near the prey in upright batches of fifteen to thirty eggs. The larvae are dark and somewhat alligator-shaped. Once the larvae begin feeding, they grow quickly and molt four times over a period of up to a month. The pupal stage lasts about a week and mating takes place soon after adult eclosion. If the food supply is abundant, the female may start laying within about a week of mating, but if it is scarce, she may wait for up to nine months.


The upper surface of the male's wings are white with a broad black apical patch, the hindwing has a black terminal border. On both wings the black area encloses white dots. The under surface of the hindwing is almost exclusively black except for white and yellow patches between the veins. The wingspan on the male is 5 cm whereas the female's wingspan is larger at 6 cm. The female can vary dramatically including a pale form which looks strikingly similar to the male. The upper surface of the wings is white and have a much broader black margin. The body of both is olive green to dark brown.


Eggs are laid in groups on the top of the host plant's leaves. The caterpillar feeds on currant bush (Apophyllum anomalum), scrub caper berry (Capparis arborea), dog caper (Capparis canescens), nipan (Capparis lasiantha), Australian native orange (Capparis mitchellii), wild orange (Capparis sepiaria), Australian native caper (Capparis spinosa) and bush orange (Capparis umbonata). Unlike other caterpillars of its size the B. java feeds on a fairly minimal amount of food, making it less of an agricultural pest than the others. The caterpillars feed for about three weeks until fully grown and pupate. They emerge around December in much of their range.


Belenois java, the caper white or common white, is a small butterfly of the family Pieridae found in Australia, Indonesia, and Melanesia. It is highly migratory and is often confused with the cabbage white (Pieris rapae).


Prunus fremontii is a deciduous shrub or small tree reaching up to 5 metres (16 feet) in height. The flowers are white or pink, blooming about the same time as the leaves unfurl in the spring. The fruits are yellow and egg-shaped.


Prunus fremontii is a North American species of plants in the rose family, known by the common name desert apricot. It takes its scientific name from John C. Frémont. It is found in northern and western Baja California especially, mostly Pacific and western, and the adjacent area of southern California. It also occurs in northern Baja California Sur.


Adult moths are on average 15–20 millimetres (19⁄32–25⁄32 in) long and have a total wingspan of 30–38 millimetres (1+3⁄16–1+1⁄2 in). The body is a gray-brown color. The forewings are patterned with dark gray, red, and brown colors. The hindwings are grayish-white with a gray outline. The mean female longevity is 8.3 days while for males it is 10.4 days.


S. litura is the most common in South Asia. However, its natural range extends from the Oriental and Australasian areas to parts of the Palearctic region as well. The countries with the most widespread population of S. litura include but are not limited to China, Indonesia, India, Japan, and Malaysia. The range of S. litura has also extended into non-indigenous regions through international trade. Moths in their egg, larvae, or pupae stages can be present in the soil, flower, or vegetation that are being transported across various regions. Pupae especially can be moved long distances, provided that they are not crushed, because of the relatively long pupation period.


Spodoptera litura, otherwise known as the tobacco cutworm or cotton leafworm, is a nocturnal moth in the family Noctuidae. S. litura is a serious polyphagous pest in Asia, Oceania, and the Indian subcontinent that was first described by Johan Christian Fabricius in 1775. Its common names reference two of the most frequent host plants of the moth. In total, 87 species of host plants that are infested by S. litura are of economic importance. The species parasitize the plants through the larvae vigorous eating patterns, oftentimes leaving the leaves completely destroyed. The moth's effects are quite disastrous, destroying economically important agricultural crops and decreasing yield in some plants completely. Their potential impact on the many different cultivated crops, and subsequently the local agricultural economy, has led to serious efforts to control the pests.
S. litura is often confused with its close relative, Spodoptera littoralis. These two species are hard to discriminate between because the larvae and adult forms are identical. Inspecting the genitalia is the most certain way to tell the two species apart.


The red-lored amazon or red-lored parrot (Amazona autumnalis) is a species of amazon parrot, native to tropical regions of the Americas, from eastern Mexico south to Ecuador where it occurs in humid evergreen to semi-deciduous forests up to 1,100 m altitude. It is absent from the Pacific side of Central America north of Costa Rica. Not originally known from El Salvador, a pair - perhaps escaped from captivity - nested successfully in 1995 and 1996 in the outskirts of San Salvador and the species might expand its range permanently into that country in the future. This species has also established feral populations in several California cities.


Their food includes fruits, nuts and seeds. Like all parrots, red-lored amazons need a varied diet consisting of high quality pellets, a quality seed mix, and daily servings of fresh, bird-safe fruits and vegetables.


The red-lored amazon nests in tree cavities. The eggs are white and there are usually three or four in a clutch. The female incubates the eggs for about 26 days and the chicks leave the nest about 60 days after hatching.


The red-lored amazon is 32–35 centimetres (13–14 in) in length, with a weight of 310–480 g. The plumage is primarily green, with a red forehead and, in some subspecies, yellow cheeks (sometimes with red spots).  The crown is blue.  Adult males and females do not differ in plumage.  Juveniles have less yellow on the cheeks, less red on the forehead, and dark irises.


Although not related to commercial pepper (Piper nigrum) the pink/red berries are sold as pink peppercorns and often blended with commercial pepper. The fruit and leaves are, however, potentially poisonous to poultry, pigs and possibly calves. Records also exist of young children who have experienced vomiting and diarrhea after eating the fruit. Presently Schinus molle lacks generally recognized as safe (GRAS) status with the United States Food and Drug Administration.
Extracts of S. molle have been used as a flavor in drinks and syrups.


Schinus molle (Peruvian pepper, also known as American pepper, Peruvian peppertree, escobilla, false pepper, rosé pepper, molle del Peru, pepper tree, peppercorn tree, California pepper tree, pirul (in Mexican  Spanish site), Peruvian mastic, Anacahuita o Aguaribay and Pepperina) is an evergreen tree that grows to 15 meters (50 feet). It is native to an area from the Peruvian Andes to southern Brazil. The bright pink fruits of Schinus molle are often sold as "pink peppercorns" although S. molle is unrelated to true pepper (Piper nigrum). The word molle in Schinus molle comes from mulli, the Quechua word for the tree. The tree is host to the pepper-tree moth, Bombycomorpha bifascia.


Schinus molle is a quick growing evergreen tree that grows up to 15 meters (50 feet) tall and wide. It is the largest of all Schinus species and potentially the longest lived. The upper branches of the tree tend to droop. The tree's pinnately compound leaves measure 8–25 cm long × 4–9 cm wide and are made up of 19-41 alternate leaflets. Male and female flowers occur on separate plants (dioecious). Flowers are small, white and borne profusely in panicles at the ends of the drooping branches. The fruit are 5–7 mm diameter round drupes with woody seeds that turn from green to red, pink or purplish, carried in dense clusters of hundreds of berries that can be present year round. The rough grayish bark is twisted and drips sap. The bark, leaves and berries are aromatic when crushed.


Myrica cerifera is a small tree or large shrub, reaching up to 14m tall. It is adaptable to many habitats, growing naturally in wetlands, near rivers and streams, sand dunes, fields, hillsides, pine barrens, and in both coniferous and mixed-broadleaf forests. M. cerifera can weather coastal storms, long droughts, and tropical high temperatures.
In nature, it ranges from Central America, northward into the southeastern and south-central United States. Wax Myrtle can be successfully cultivated as far north as the New York City area and southern Ohio Valley. It also grows in Bermuda and the Caribbean. In terms of succession, M. cerifera is often one of the first plants to colonize an area.
M. cerifera is an evergreen. The glandular leaves are long, have a leathery texture and serrated edges, and contain aromatic compounds. The plant is dioecious, with male and female flowers borne in catkins on separate plants.  Male flowers have three or four stamens, and are surrounded by short bracts. The female flowers develop into fruit, which are globular and surrounded by a natural wax-like coating. The species flowers from late winter to spring, and bear fruit in late summer or fall. No endosperm is present on the seeds. M. cerifera can also reproduce clonally through runners.
This species occurs in two forms, but there is no clear dividing line between them, many intermediate forms occurring. Specimens in drier and sandier areas are shrub-like, have rhizomes and smaller leaves. Those growing in damper situations with richer soil are more tree-like with bigger leaves.
The fruit is a source of food for many bird species, including the northern bobwhite quail and the wild turkey. In winter, the seeds are important foods for the Carolina wren and species of tree sparrow. To a point, M. cerifera will also provide habitat for the northern bobwhite quail. Birds' digestive systems remove the wax from the fruit, a prerequisite for germination.
This plant's roots possess root nodules, which harbor a symbiotic species of actinomycotal bacteria, which fixes nitrogen at a faster rate than do the legumes.
The above-ground growth of M. cerifera is often killed by wildfires unless the fire is very small or transient. In the latter situation, only the most recent primary growth may be incinerated. Because the leaves, stem, and branches contain flammable aromatic compounds, a specimen of M. cerifera is in fact a fire hazard. In contrast to the flammability of its top growth, M. cerifera's root system is fire-resistant. By 1991, no known fire had killed this plant's roots. However, this plant will not survive repeated destruction of its top growth indefinitely. Three consecutive years of burning may kill all plants affected.
After less damaging fires, new shoots will regrow from below ground. This regrowth is most rapid in the first season after a fire.


The baya weaver (Ploceus philippinus) is a weaverbird found across the Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia. Flocks of these birds are found in grasslands, cultivated areas, scrub and secondary growth and they are best known for their hanging retort shaped nests woven from leaves. These nest colonies are usually found on thorny trees or palm fronds and the nests are often built near water or hanging over water where predators cannot reach easily. They are widespread and common within their range but are prone to local, seasonal movements mainly in response to rain and food availability.
Among the population variations, five subspecies are recognized. The nominate race philippinus is found through much of mainland India while burmanicus is found eastwards into Southeast Asia. The population in southwest India is darker above and referred to as subspecies travancoreensis.


Baya weavers are social and gregarious birds. They forage in flocks for seeds, both on the plants and on the ground. Flocks fly in close formations, often performing complicated manoeuvres. They are known to glean paddy and other grain in harvested fields, and occasionally damage ripening crops and are therefore sometimes considered as pests. They roost in reed-beds bordering waterbodies. They depend on wild grasses such as Guinea grass (Panicum maximum) as well as crops like rice for both their food (feeding on seedlings in the germination stage as well as on early stages of grain) and nesting material. They also feed on insects (including butterflies), sometimes taking small frogs, geckos and molluscs, especially to feed their young. Their seasonal movements are governed by food availability. Their calls are a continuous chit-chit-... sometimes ending in a wheezy cheee-eee-ee that is produced by males in a chorus. A lower intensity call is produced in the non-breeding season.
They are occasionally known to descend to the ground and indulge in dust bathing.
In captivity, individuals are known to form stable peck orders.


The breeding season of the baya weavers is during the monsoons. The breeding condition is initiated by environmental characters such as day length and comes to an end late in summer.  This post-reproductive "photorefractoriness", in which photoperiodic  birds cease to respond reproductively to the stimulation of long days, can end spontaneously without having been exposed to short days for four to six months unlike temperate birds. They nest in colonies typically of up to 20–30, close to the source of food, nesting material and water. Baya weavers are best known for the elaborately woven nests constructed by the males. These pendulous nests are retort-shaped, with a central nesting chamber and a long vertical tube that leads to a side entrance to the chamber. The nests are woven with long strips of paddy leaves, rough grasses and long strips torn from palm fronds. Each strip can be between 20 and 60 cm (7.9 and 23.6 in) in length. A male bird is known to make up to 500 trips to complete a nest. The birds use their strong beaks to strip and collect the strands, and to weave and knot them while building their nests. The nests are often built hanging over water from palm trees and often suspended from thorny Acacias and in some cases from telephone wires. Although the birds prefer thorny trees, they sometimes use avenue trees in urban areas. Nests are often located on the eastern side of the tree, where they are believed to provide shelter from the Southwest Monsoon; however, late breeders are more likely to build their nests in other orientations relative to the trunk of the nest tree. Abandoned nests are sometimes used by mice (Mus booduga) and other birds such as munias.
Nests are built mainly in colonies but isolated nests are not unknown. Nests are often built from thorny Acacia or palm trees ( mainly Phoenix sylvestris) and hang over open water. Young males may build experimental nests among reeds. In Burma, birds often build nests under the eaves of buildings, but this habit is uncommon in India. The males take about 18 days to construct the complete nest with the intermediate "helmet stage" taking about eight days. The nests are partially built before the males begin to display to passing females by flapping their wings and calling while hanging from their nests. The females inspect the nest and signal their acceptance of a male. Once a male and a female are paired, the male goes on to complete the nest by adding the entrance tunnel. Males are almost solely in charge of nest building, though their female partners may join in giving the finishing touches, particularly on the interiors. Females may modify the interiors or add blobs of mud. A study has found that nest location is more important than nest structure for the female when it selects the nest and mate. Females prefer nests high in trees, those over dry land, and those on thin branches.
Both males and females are polygamous. Males build many partial nests and begin courting females. The male finishes the nest only after finding a mate. The female lays about two to four white eggs and incubates them for about 14 to 17 days. Males may sometimes assist in feeding the chicks. The chicks leave the nest after about 17 days. After mating with a female the male typically court other females at other partially constructed nests. Intraspecific brood parasitism is known, that is, females may lay their eggs in the nests of others. Young birds leave the nest in a juvenal plumage which is replaced in their first moult after about four to six months. The young disperse to new locations not far from their nest and young have been located up to two kilometres away from their origin. Females are capable of breeding after a year while males take half a year longer. Prior to breeding they go through a prenuptial moult. Adults also go through a second moult after breeding and thus there are two moults each year. Histochemical studies have shown increased lipid metabolism in the crown region of male Baya during the breeding season. Lipids are known to be involved in the transport of the yellow carotenoid pigments that form the crown and are subsequently metabolized.
The nest, being suspended from thorny trees and overhanging water, is protected from many predators, but nest predation by crows is not unusual. Brood may also be destroyed by lizards such as Calotes versicolor or rodents such as Vandeleuria oleracea which may take over the nest. Nests may sometimes be taken over and used for nesting by munias and Indian silverbills (Euodice malabarica).


Rubus caesius is similar to and often confused with forms of Rubus fruticosus. It is a small shrub growing up to 2 m (6 ft 7 in) tall with biennial stems which die after fruiting in their second year. It sends out long runners which root at the tip to form new plants. The stems are bluish-grey and sometimes prickly. The alternate leaves are hairy above and below. They are stalked and the leaf blades are palmate in shape, either consisting of three oval leaflets with serrated margins and acute points or just being three-lobed. The inflorescence is a loose cluster of several white flowers about 2.5 cm (1 in) in diameter. The calyx has five sepals and the corolla is composed of five spreading petals with finely toothed margins. There is a boss of stamens in the centre and there are several pistils. The fruit is an aggregate of several black, fleshy drupes with a bluish waxy bloom. The dewberry flowers from June to September.


Rubus caesius is a Eurasian species of dewberry, known as the European dewberry. Like other dewberries, it is a species of flowering plant in the rose family, related to the blackberry. It is widely distributed across much of Europe and Asia from Ireland and Portugal as far east as Xinjiang Province in western China.  It has also become sparingly naturalized in scattered locations in Argentina, Canada, and the United States.


The 1/8" greenish flowers occur in clusters in the leaf axils, have 5 sepals, and 5 shorter petals. It blooms in May and June. The fruit is a juicy drupe which may be green, red, or black. It is just under a centimeter long and contains two seeds that resemble coffee beans.


Ingestion of ripe Frangula californica berries causes nausea and vomiting, although there are claims that the berries and seeds are safe and edible. The seeds inside the berries have been used to make coffee substitute.
Although the plant itself looks much like a coffee plant, its berries, which are succulent, do not.
Native Americans of the west coast of North America had several uses for the plant as food, and used parts of it as a traditional medicinal plant. Several tribes of the indigenous peoples of California ate the fruit fresh or dried.
The Ohlone people used the leaves to treat poison oak dermatitis. The Kumeyaay people had similar uses for its bark. The Kawaiisu used the fruit to treat wounds such as burns. The bark was widely used as a laxative by the indigenous peoples.
Names for the plant in the Konkow language of the Concow tribe include pä and pö.


It is native to California, the Southwestern United States, and Baja California state in Mexico. It is an introduced species in Hawaii.
The plant occurs in oak woodland and chaparral habitats, numerous others in its range. Individual plants can live an estimated 100 to 200 years.


This plant is cultivated as an ornamental plant by plant nurseries, for planting in native plant, water conserving, and wildlife gardens; in large pots and containers; and in natural landscaping and habitat restoration projects.
It is also used for erosion control, and is usually deer resistant. As a pollinator plant it is of special value to native butterflies and bees.


Frangula californica is a shrub 3–12 feet (0.91–3.66 m) tall. It is variable in form across subspecies. In favorable conditions the plant can develop into a small tree over 12 feet (3.7 m) tall. More commonly it is a shrub between 3–6 feet (0.91–1.83 m) tall.
The branches may have a reddish tinge and the new twigs are often red in color. The alternately arranged evergreen leaves are dark green above and paler on the undersides. The leaves have thin blades in moist habitat, and smaller, thicker blades in dry areas.


The flowers are creamy white, 9 mm diameter; the calyx is urn-shaped, five-toothed, persistent; the corolla is five-lobed, with rounded lobes, imbricate in bud; the five stamens alternate with the corolla lobes, the filaments slender, the anthers pale yellow, oblong, two-celled, the cells opening longitudinally; the ovary is inferior, one-celled, with a thick, pale green style and a flat stigma and a single ovule. The flowers are borne in flat-topped cymes 10 cm in diameter in mid to late spring. The fruit is a drupe 1 cm long, dark blue-black with glaucous bloom, hangs until winter, becomes edible after being frosted, then eaten by birds; the stone is flat and even, broadly oval. Wherever it lives, black haw prefers sunny woodland with well-drained soil and adequate water.


For centuries, black haw has been used for medical purposes, mainly for gynecological conditions. The bark is the part of the plant used in treatments.
The active components include scopoletin, aesculetin, salicin, 1-methyl-2,3 dibutyl hemimellitate, and viburnin. Tannin is another chemical component of black haw.
Native Americans used a decoction of black haw to treat gynecological conditions, including menstrual cramps, aiding recovery after childbirth, and in treating the effects of menopause. As a folk remedy, black haw has been used to treat menstrual pain, and morning sickness. Due to its antispasmodic properties, the plant may also be of use in treating cramps of the digestive tract or the bile ducts.
Black haw's primary use was to prevent miscarriages. American slaveholders also used the plant to prevent abortions. Slaves were a valuable asset, and their owner also owned their offspring, so ensuring that female slaves gave birth was of paramount importance. In defiance, some slave women would attempt to use cotton seeds to cause a miscarriage. The slaveowners would therefore force pregnant slaves to drink an infusion of black haw to prevent that.
The primary use of black haw today is to prevent menstrual cramps. The salicin in black haw may also be of use in pain relief.


Viburnum  prunifolium (known as blackhaw or black haw, blackhaw viburnum, sweet haw, and stag bush) is a species of Viburnum native to eastern North America, from Connecticut west to eastern Kansas, and south to Alabama and Texas.


It is a deciduous shrub or small tree growing to 2–9 metres (7–30 ft) tall with a short crooked trunk and stout spreading branches; in the northern parts of its range, it is a shrub, becoming a small tree in the southern parts of its range. The bark is reddish-brown, very rough on old stems. The branchlets are red at first, then green, finally dark brown tinged with red. The winter buds are coated with rusty tomentum. The flower buds ovate, 1 cm long, much larger than the axillary buds. The leaves are simple, up to 9 cm long and 6 cm broad, oval, ovate or orbicular, wedge-shaped or rounded at base, serrate, acute, with serrated edges with a grooved and slightly winged red petiole 1.5 cm long; they turn red in fall. The leaves are superficially similar to some species of Prunus (thus "prunifolium"); they come out of the bud involute, shining, green, tinged with red, sometimes smooth, or clothed with rusty tomentum; when full grown dark green and smooth above, pale, smooth or tomentose beneath.


Bagrada hilaris is a species of shield bug known by the common names bagrada bug and painted bug. It could be mistaken for or erroneously referred to as harlequin bug. It is native to southeastern Africa. It is known elsewhere as an introduced species, including California and Arizona, where it was first reported in 2008. It is a major pest insect of Brassica oleracea crops (including cabbage, kale, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, and broccoli), and related crucifers such as turnips, rape, and mustard. The adult and nymph of the species suck sap from the leaves of the plants, causing wilting, yellowing, and stunting of growth. Besides crucifers, the bugs are known on papaya, sorghum, maize, potato, cotton, caper, pearl millet, and some legumes. Large numbers of the bug congregate on the plants and cause extensive damage.
The adult bug is 5 to 7 millimeters in length, shield-shaped, and black with white and orange markings. The female, which is larger than the male, lays up to 100 oval or barrel-shaped eggs on leaves or in soil beneath plants. The eggs are white when freshly deposited and turn orange over time. Within 8 days the first-instar nymph emerges. It is bright orange-red and turns darker as it develops, becoming black by the last instar.
The bug made a sudden appearance in Los Angeles in June, 2008, its first sighting in the Western Hemisphere. It then moved into the cropland of the heavily agricultural Coachella and Imperial Valleys of California, doing damage to cole crops there, especially those grown organically. By September 2014 it had reached as far north as San Mateo, Santa Cruz, Merced and Inyo counties, and all California counties to the south except Tulare County. As of 2020, it was found as far north as Yolo County.
Past infestations have been reported in India. It was found for the first time in Chile in 2016, where it rapidly established and began generating economic loss as well as invading homes in several Chilean localities.
A 2019 study found the eggs of invasive B. hilaris in Mexico being parasitized by a new species of parasitoid wasp, Idris elba (named after the actor of the same name). I. elba has thus been identified as a potential control agent for B. hilaris, which may benefit the broccoli crops that B. hilaris infests.


These mining bees nest on the ground in hardened paths. Normally they dig vertical  tunnels in the ground, with a circular entrance surrounded by a cone of earth. In most cases a single female of Halictus scabiosae use a single nest, but sometimes they have a primitive social organization, with multiple females reproducing in a common nest. This primitive species can also be eusocial, with smaller females acting as workers. They are used to nest at a particular site in many colonies.
This species   may have several generations per year. Females usually can be found in April after hibernation, while males and new females appear in July. These bees feed on nectar and pollen of various flowers, especially on Asteraceae species.


This species is present in most of Europe and in North Africa.


Brachythemis contaminata, ditch jewel, is a species of dragonfly in the family Libellulidae. It is found in many Asian countries.


The wingspan is 25–30 mm. The length of the forewings is 16–19 mm. The colouration is highly variable. It ranges from yellow brown, light brown, red brown and grey brown to grey. The forewings have several, mostly parallel, undulate crosslines. There is a prominent broad dark brown band in the median field comprising two distinct shades, the middle being greyer, the edges more ferruginous. In addition, the females are usually brighter yellowish than the males, but both sexes vary in tint. There is also a small apical streak. The hindwings are pale with faint crosslines.
The caterpillar is yellowish grey to slate grey. The dorsal line is dark and interrupted, the side stripes are light and continuous. The reddish-brown-glossy pupa has a dotted surface. The cremaster is wide, with two long hook-shaped thorns and two fine lateral bristles rolled up at the top


The moth flies in one generation from June to August.
The larva feed on Centaurea scabiosa, Centaurea jacea, Knautia arvensis, Knautia dipsacifolia, Scabiosa columbaria, Cirsium arvense, Cirsium oleraceum, Origanum vulgare, Thymus pulegioides, Sanguisorba officinalis, Eupatorium cannabinum, Clinopodium vulgare, Solidago gigantea and Vicia cracca.


This species can be found throughout much of the Palearctic from Europe it extends across Central Asia to Siberia, the Russian Far East (Sakhalin), Amur, Altai Mountains, and Ussuri.
In Europe it extends from the Iberian Peninsula, in the north, to northern Fennoscandia in the south to the Italian Peninsula and the Balkan Peninsula.


Mimosa strigillosa, also known as sunshine mimosa and powderpuff, is a perennial ground cover in the family Fabaceae that is native to nearly all US states bordering the Gulf of Mexico and grows north into Georgia and Arkansas as well.  The name powderpuff refers to the small spherical flowers that rise above the plant's creeping vines. Like related species in the genus Mimosa, sunshine mimosa has sensitive leaves that can fold in a matter of seconds after being disturbed.
Because of sunshine mimosa's mat forming nature, drought tolerance, and because like many legumes it is capable of nitrogen fixation and thus doesn't need fertilizer it has become recommended as a replacement for turf grasses for the purposes of xeriscaping and lowering environmental impact. The plant is also recommended as a turfgrass replacement because of its ability to withstand some foot traffic and mowing, It is capable of spreading rapidly and as few as four or five pots may cover 300 square feet in a single growing season. Some may find it problematic that the plant is a host for the larva of little sulphur (Eurema lisa) butterflies. Because of sunshine mimosa's general usefulness as a landscaping plant it was named one of the 2008 plants of the year by the Florida Nursery, Growers & Landscape Association.


The male has a wingspan of about 60 mm (2.4 in) with brown and white forewings marked with red and orange fascia and a bold black and orange eyespot. The hindwings are orange with a similar eyespot. The female is larger with a wingspan of about 80 mm (3.1 in), but less brightly coloured than the male, being generally grey and white but has all wings marked with eyespots similar to the male.
The male flies rapidly during the day from mid-April to late June looking for the rather sluggish females, which usually only fly at night. The species inhabits a range of habitats but is most often associated with heathland and moorland.
The caterpillar is black and orange at first, later becoming green with black rings and yellow and red spots. The commonest food plant is heather but the species has also been recorded feeding on a huge range of other plants (see list below). The species overwinters as a pupa within a fibrous cocoon.


S. pavonia larvae have been recorded feeding on Alchemilla, Alnus, Arbutus, Betula, Calluna, Cornus,  Crataegus, Erica, Fagus, Filipendula, Fragaria, Fraxinus, Hippophae, Humulus, Juglans, Lythrum, Malus, Myrica gale, Pistacia, Populus, Potentilla, Prunus, Pyrus, Quercus, Rhamnus, Rosa, Rubus, Rumex, Salix, Sambucus, Schinus, Sorbus, Spiraea, Ulmus, Vaccinium.


Enallagma cyathigerum (common blue damselfly, common bluet, or northern bluet) is a species found mainly between latitudes 40°N and 72°N; It is widely distributed in the Palearctic, and the Nearctic species Enallagma annexum was at one time considered to be synonymous with it. The species can reach a length of 32 to 35 mm (1.3 to 1.4 in). It is common in many different countries including Russia, Sweden, Norway, Finland, the United States of America, and South Korea. Damselflies are an important link between the health of the aquatic ecosystem and its response to climate change.


The lifecycle of this species begins in freshwater, they spend most of their time as larvae. The larval stage depends on the temperature, light, and the resource level. Once the temperatures drop the larvae can go into a state called diapause instead of dying. The damselflies that endure diapause effect the body size for the next season. Since these damselflies are flexible, they have two different lifecycles depending on latitude univoltine or semivoltine. The more north these damselflies are found, the more likely they are to be semivoltine. By being able to shift the lifecycle due to the conditions this allows for twice the amount of development time, so larger adults are typically found in more northern areas.
Once the larvae emerge as adults between May to August they have a brief time to feed before they are to find a mate and reproduce the next generation of larvae. Once emerged, there is an estimated sex ratio of 1:1 within the colony, allows for mating within the colony to be less of a competition.
During mating, the male clasps the female by her neck while she bends her body around to his reproductive organs – this is called a mating wheel. The pair flies together over the water and eggs are laid within a suitable plant, just below the surface. The eggs hatch and the larvae, called nymphs, live in the water and feed on small aquatic animals. Nymphs climb out of the water up a suitable stem to molt into damselflies.


The wingspan is 22–27 mm. The length of the forewings is 11–13 mm. The wings have a purple-grey ground colour. There are three dark crossbars on the forewings, which are thickened at the front edge and often dissolve into points. A wide reddish-yellow transverse band is visible behind the outer cross line, beginning with a brownish red stain on the front edge and continuing on to the hindwings. The forewings are slightly indented below the apex, the hindwings show a short tip in the middle.


The moth flies from May to September.
The caterpillars feed on coniferous trees such as Scots pine.They are green with pale stripes and thus resemble pine leaves.
The species inhabited prefers coniferous and mixed forests.


It is found from the British Isles to Siberia, the Russian Far East and Japan. In the south and western Mediterranean it is found in Italy, the Balkans and the Black Sea region and the Caucasus. In the north it occurs above the Arctic Circle. It rises to about 1600 meters above sea level in the Alps. The nominate subspecies is found in the West Palearctic and Macaria liturata pressaria is found in the East Palearctic.


The water rail breeds across temperate Eurasia from Iceland and Ireland discontinuously to North Africa, Saudi Arabia and western China. Its distribution in Asia is poorly studied.
The Icelandic population of water rail, R. a. hibernans, became extinct around 1965, as a result of loss of habitat through the draining of wetlands, and predation by the introduced American mink.
Prior to its extinction, at least some birds were present year-round on the island, relying on warm volcanic springs to survive through the coldest months, but this race was also found in winter in the Faroe Islands and Ireland, and on passage through the Western Isles, suggesting that the Icelandic form was a partial migrant. The nominate subspecies, R. a. aquaticus is resident in the milder south and west of its range, but migrates south from areas that are subject to harsh winters. It winters within its breeding range, and also further south in North Africa, the Middle East and the Caspian Sea area. The peak migration period is September to October, with most birds returning to the breeding grounds from March to mid-April. A specimen of the nominate population labelled as "Baluchistan" and collected by Richard Meinertzhagen is considered of doubtful provenance. R. a. korejewi is another partial migrant, with some of the population wintering from Iraq and eastern Saudi Arabia eastwards through Pakistan and northern India to western China.
The breeding habitat of the water rail is permanent wetland with still or slow-moving fresh or brackish water and dense, tall vegetation, which may include common reed, reedmace, irises, bur-reed or sedges. In coastal areas, sea rush is common in saltmarsh breeding sites, with sedges and bur-reed dominant in somewhat less saline environments. A study in the Netherlands and Spain showed that the rush provided better concealment than the other maritime plants. As elsewhere, nests were constructed from the nearest available plants. Where it occurs, saw-sedge provides good breeding habitat, its tall (1.5 m (4.9 ft)) dense structure providing good cover for the nesting rails. The preferred habitat is Phragmites reedbed with the plants standing in water, with a depth of 5–30 cm (2.0–11.8 in), muddy areas for feeding and a rich diversity of invertebrate species. Locations with nearby willows or shrubs are favoured above large areas of uniform habitat. In addition to natural fresh or marine marshes, this rail may use gravel or clay excavations and peat workings as long as there is suitable habitat with good cover. It may be found in rice paddies or on floating islands, and it occurs in Kashmir in flooded sugarcane fields. A Finnish study showed that the main factor influencing the distribution of water rails was the extent of vegetation cover, with the highest densities in the most vegetated areas; the presence of other marshes nearby was also significant. However, factors such as temperature, rainfall, length of shore line and extent of peat, important for some other marsh birds, were not statistically relevant. The areas with the highest densities of the rail also had the greatest numbers of three species considered at risk in Finland, the great reed warbler, Eurasian bittern and marsh harrier. The northern limit of breeding seems to be determined by the transition from nutrient-rich wetland to poorer, more acidic water. This leads to the replacement of common reed by a more open vegetation type dominated by marsh cinquefoil, which is unsuitable for the rails.
Occasionally, more unusual locations are used. One pair in Scotland nested in the open by the side of a road, and when an English nature reserve installed nest boxes for bearded tits (reed "wigwams" with a wooden floor), rails nested both in the boxes and under the wooden floor, in the latter case sometimes with the tits in residence above. Although mainly a lowland species, the water rail breeds at 1,240 m (4,070 ft) in the Alps and 2,000 m (6,600 ft) in Armenia. An Italian study suggested that reed bed birds need a minimum area of wetland for breeding, which for the water rail is about 1 ha (2.5 acres), although the highest densities are in marshes of 10 ha (25 acres) or more.
On migration and in winter, a wider range of wet habitats may be used, including flooded thickets or bracken. Freezing condition may force birds into more open locations such as ditches, rubbish dumps and gardens, or even out onto exposed ice. A Welsh study suggested that individual winter territories overlap, with each bird using a significant proportion of the reed bed. After site desertion in freezing weather, birds return to their former range. A density of 14 birds per hectare (6.6 per acre) was recorded. Birds wintering in Iceland rely on warm geothermal streams, and may access streams through tunnels under the snow. When not feeding, they may shelter in holes and crevices in the solidified lava. This species sometimes wanders well outside its normal range and vagrants have been found in the Azores, Madeira, Mauritania, the Arctic, Greenland, Malaysia and Vietnam.


Water rails are omnivorous, although they mainly feed on animals. These include leeches, worms, gastropods, small crustaceans, spiders, and a wide range of both terrestrial and aquatic insects and their larvae. Small vertebrates such as amphibians, fish, birds and mammals may be killed or eaten as carrion. Vertebrates are impaled with a strike of the bill which breaks the prey's spinal cord. Plant food, which is consumed more in autumn and winter, includes the buds, flowers, shoots and seeds of water plants, berries and fruit. In south Asia, paddy (harvested rice kernels) may sometimes be eaten. The young rails are fed mainly on insects and spiders. Food obtained on land or from mud is normally washed in water before it is eaten. After rain, rails may probe soft ground for earthworms. This species will occasionally feed in the open even when not forced to do so by cold weather; Edmund Meade-Waldo described seven rails feeding in an open meadow. Despite its skulking nature, the water rail appears to thrive in captivity when fed on animal food such as raw meat or earthworms; one individual was taught to jump for worms suspended from a fishing rod.
Water rails follow definite routes when feeding, frequently returning to good hunting areas. These rails are versatile and opportunist foragers. They will jump to take insects from plants, climb to find berries, or dislodge apples from trees so they can be eaten on the ground. They will kill birds by impaling or drowning them, particularly if the bird's ability to escape is restricted. They have been recorded as killing a European greenfinch and a king quail in an aviary, and small birds trapped in bird ringers' mist nets. One bird killed a twite caught with it in a Heligoland trap. They are also nest predators, particularly of small birds that nest in reeds such as the great reed warbler. Water rails may defend a winter feeding territory, although this is smaller than when breeding, with individuals perhaps less than 10 m (11 yd) apart; favoured sites may hold hundreds of birds. Aggressive behaviour outside the breeding season may extend to attacks on other marsh rails such as spotted and Baillon's crake.


The water rail (Rallus aquaticus) is a bird of the rail family which breeds in well-vegetated wetlands across Europe, Asia and North Africa. Northern and eastern populations are migratory, but this species is a permanent resident in the warmer parts of its breeding range. The adult is 23–28 cm (9–11 in) long, and, like other rails, has a body that is flattened laterally, allowing it easier passage through the reed beds it inhabits. It has mainly brown upperparts and blue-grey underparts, black barring on the flanks, long toes, a short tail and a long reddish bill. Immature birds are generally similar in appearance to the adults, but the blue-grey in the plumage is replaced by buff. The downy chicks are black, as with all rails. The former subspecies R. indicus, has distinctive markings and a call that is very different from the pig-like squeal of the western races, and is now usually split as a separate species, the brown-cheeked rail.
The water rail breeds in reed beds and other marshy sites with tall, dense vegetation, building its nest a little above the water level from whatever plants are available nearby. The off-white, blotched eggs are incubated mainly by the female, and the precocial downy chicks hatch in 19–22 days. The female will defend her eggs and brood against intruders, or move them to another location if they are discovered. This species can breed after its first year, and it normally raises two clutches in each season. Water rails are omnivorous, feeding mainly on invertebrates during summer and berries or plant stems towards winter. They are territorial even after breeding, and will aggressively defend feeding areas in winter.
These rails are vulnerable to flooding or freezing conditions, loss of habitat and predation by mammals and large birds. The introduced American mink has exterminated some island populations, but overall the species' huge range and large numbers mean that it is not considered to be threatened.


The water rail is monogamous and highly territorial when breeding. The birds pair off after arriving at their nesting areas, or possibly even before spring migration. In large wetlands with good conditions birds may nest 20–50 m (22–55 yd) apart. Territories vary in size, but 300 m² (360 sq yd) is typical. The pair give courting and contact calls throughout the breeding season. The male selects the nest site which he shows to the female while posturing with raised back feathers, wings arched over his back, tail spread and bill pointed vertically downwards. This display is accompanied by a loud call. Before mating, he raises his wings and tail, and bows with his bill touching his breast. The male feeds the female during courtship, and, when incubating, she may leave the nest to display to the male, walking round him, calling softly, rubbing her bill against his and taking short runs to and from him.
The nest is made from whatever wetland vegetation is available and built mostly by the male, usually in a single day. It is raised 15 cm (5.9 in) or more above the level of the marsh, and is sometimes constructed on clumps of roots, tree stumps or similar support. It may be built up higher if the marsh waters start to rise. The nest is 13–16 cm (5.1–6.3 in) across and about 7 cm (2.8 in) high. It is well hidden and approached by narrow tracks.
The typical clutch is 6–11 eggs across most of the range, but appears to be smaller (5–8) in Kashmir at around 1,500 m (4,900 ft) altitude. Laying dates vary with location, from late March in Western Europe and North Africa, to late May in Kashmir and June in Iceland. The clutch size may be smaller early or late in the breeding season. The breeding season can be extended by replacement and second clutches. The eggs are blunt and oval, smooth and slightly glossy; the colour varies from off-white to pink-buff, with reddish-brown blotches mainly at the broader end that sometimes merging into a single patch. Variation in egg size across the four subspecies is much less than the differences between individual eggs; the average size of the eggs of the nominate subspecies, 36 mm × 26 mm (1.4 in × 1.0 in), is therefore typical for the species as a whole. The eggs weigh about 13 g (0.46 oz), of which 7% is shell.
Both parents incubate the eggs, although the female takes the larger share of this duty. The eggs are incubated for 19–22 days to hatching, with at least 87% success. Food is brought to the nest by the other adult and passed to the sitting parent who feeds the chicks. The precocial, downy young leave the nest within two days of hatching but continue to be fed by their parents, although the chicks also find some of their own food after about five days. They are independent of their parents after 20–30 days and can fly when aged 7–9 weeks. If a nest appears to have been discovered, the female may carry the chicks or eggs one by one to another location; the eggs are carried in the bill, but small chicks may be tucked under the wing. Sitting birds may stay on the eggs even when approached closely, attack the intruder, or feign injury as a distraction. The water rail can breed after its first year, and it normally raises two broods.
Average survival after fledging has been estimated as between 17 and 20 months, with an annual survival rate slightly less than 50% per year for the first three years, and somewhat higher thereafter. The maximum recorded age is 8 years 10 months.


The adult of the nominate subspecies is a medium-sized rail, 23–28 cm (9.1–11.0 in) long with a 38–45 cm (15–18 in) wingspan. Males typically weigh 114–164 g (4.0–5.8 oz) and females are slightly lighter at 92–107 g (3.2–3.8 oz). The upper parts from the forehead to tail are olive-brown with black streaks, especially on the shoulders. The sides of the head and the underparts down to the upper belly are dark slate-blue, except for a blackish area between bill and eye, and brownish sides to the upper breast. The flanks are barred black and white, and the undertail is white with some darker streaks. The long bill and the iris are red, and the legs are flesh-brown. The sexes are similar; although the female averages slightly smaller than the male, with a more slender bill, determining sex through measurements alone is unreliable. The juvenile has a blackish crown and a white chin and throat. The underparts are buff or white with darker bars, and the flank markings are brown and buff, rather than black and white. The undertail is buff, and the eye, bill and leg colours are duller than the adult. The downy chick is all black apart from a mainly white bill. After breeding, the rail has an extensive moult, and is flightless for about three weeks. Individual adults can be identified by the markings on the undertail, which are unique to each bird. Adult males have the strongest black undertail streaks. It has been suggested that the dark barring on the undertail of this species is a compromise between the signalling function of a pure white undertail, as found in open water or gregarious species like the common moorhen, and the need to avoid being too conspicuous.
The water rail can readily be distinguished from most other reed bed rails by its white undertail and red bill; the latter is a little longer than the rest of the rail's head (55–58% of the total) and slightly down-curved. The somewhat similar slaty-breasted rail of tropical Asia has a stouter bill, a chestnut crown and white-spotted upperparts. Juvenile and freshly moulted water rails may show a buff undertail like spotted crake, but that species' plumage is spotted with white, and it has a much shorter, mainly yellowish bill. The range of the water rail does not overlap with that of any other Rallus species, but vagrants could be distinguished from their American relatives by the lack of rufous or chestnut on the closed wing. The larger African rail has unstreaked darker brown upperparts and brighter red legs and feet.


The yellow-legged gull is a large gull found in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, which has only recently achieved wide recognition as a distinct species. It was formerly treated as a subspecies of either the Caspian gull L. cachinnans, or more broadly as a subspecies of the herring gull L. argentatus.
The genus name is from Latin Larus which appears to have referred to a gull or other large seabird, and the species name honours the German zoologist Karl Michahelles.


The breeding range is centred on the Mediterranean Sea. In North Africa, it is common in Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia and increasing in places. Recent breeding has occurred in Libya and Egypt. In the Middle East, a few breed in Israel and Syria with larger numbers in Cyprus and Turkey. In Europe, there are colonies all along the Mediterranean coast, and also on the Atlantic islands and coasts north to Brittany and west to the Azores. It also breeds on the western side of the Black Sea; here it overlaps with the Caspian gull but there is a difference in habitat, with the yellow-legged gull preferring sea cliffs and the Caspian gull flatter shores. In recent decades birds have spread north into central and western Europe. One to four pairs have attempted to breed in southern England since 1995 (sometimes hybrid pairs with lesser black-backed gulls), though colonisation has been very slow.
Many birds remain in the same area all year round, but others migrate to spend the winter in mild areas of western Europe or head south as far as Senegal, Gambia and the Red Sea. There is also extensive northward post-breeding dispersal in the late summer, with numbers in southern England high from July to October. It is reported as a vagrant to northeastern North America and Nigeria.


Like most Larus gulls, they are omnivores and opportunistic foragers. They will scavenge on rubbish tips and elsewhere, as well as seeking suitable prey in fields or on the coast, or robbing smaller gulls and other seabirds of their catches. Although urban populations are generally opportunistic scavengers, they can shift to a predatory diet if necessary; this was observed during the lockdown of Italy in 2020, when the lack of food scraps led the yellow-legged gulls of Rome to take prey as large as rats and rock doves.
Atlantic gulls in Gibraltar have been observed and photographed picking and eating fruit from olive trees in flight.


Yellow-legged gulls usually breed in colonies. Eggs, usually three, are laid from mid March to early May and are defended vigorously by this large gull. The nest is a sometimes sparse mound of vegetation built on the ground or on cliff ledges. In some places such as Gibraltar they have started nesting on buildings and even on trees. The eggs are incubated for 27–31 days and the young birds fledge after 35–40 days.


The yellow-legged gull is a large gull, though the size does vary, with the smallest females being scarcely larger than a common gull and the largest males being roughly the size of a great black-backed gull. They range in length from 52 to 68 cm (20 to 27 in) in total length, from 120 to 155 cm (47 to 61 in) in wingspan and from 550 to 1,600 g (1.21 to 3.53 lb) in weight. Among standard measurements, the wing chord is 40.8 to 47.2 cm (16.1 to 18.6 in), the bill is 4.6 to 6 cm (1.8 to 2.4 in) and the tarsus is 5.6 to 7.5 cm (2.2 to 3.0 in). Adults are externally similar to herring gulls but have yellow legs. They have a grey back, slightly darker than herring gulls but lighter than lesser black-backed gulls. They are much whiter-headed in autumn, and have more extensively black wing tips with few white spots, just as lesser black-backed. They have a red spot on the bill as adults, like the entire complex. There is a red ring around the eye like in the lesser black-backed gull but unlike in the herring gull which has a dark yellow ring.
First-year birds have a paler head, rump and underparts than those of the herring gull, more closely resembling first-year great black-backed gulls in plumage. They have a dark bill and eyes, pinkish grey legs, dark flight feathers and a well-defined black band on the tail. They become lighter in the underparts and lose the upperpart pattern subsequently. By their second winter, birds are essentially feathered like adults, save for the patterned feathers remaining on the wing coverts. However, their bill tips are black, their eyes still dark, and the legs are a light yellow flesh colour.
The call is a loud laugh which is deeper and more nasal than the call of the herring gull.


The wingspan is 34–50 mm. M. phoebe. The largest Melitaea of the Old World, at least certain of its forms. The forewing much more pointed than in the previous species; equally variable in colour as well as the distinctness of the markings. The black markings are usually united, in some cases even covering nearly the whole wings, but in other cases may be strongly reduced. It is characteristic for this species that the reddish yellow submarginal lunate spot situated between the two median veins reaches with its vertex considerably farther into the disc than the other yellow lunate spots. This is especially the case on the forewing, but also on the hindwing the submarginal lunule between the 1. and 2. median veins projects farther basad than the others of the same row.


The butterfly flies from April to September depending on the location.
The larvae feed on Plantago and Centaurea species (including Centaurea jacea).


Melitaea phoebe, the knapweed fritillary, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is found in the Palearctic realm, except the northernmost locations. It used to include Melitaea telona, recently revalidated as a distinct cryptic species.


Solitary wasps like the eastern cicada killer are very different in their behavior from the social wasps such as hornets, yellowjackets, or paper wasps. Cicada killer females use their stings to paralyze their prey (cicadas) rather than to defend their nests; unlike most social wasps and bees, they do not attempt to sting unless handled roughly. Adults feed on flower nectar and other plant sap exudates.
Adults emerge in summer, typically beginning around late June or early July and die off in September or October. They are present in a given area for 60 to 75 days, usually until mid-September. The large females are commonly seen skimming around lawns seeking good sites to dig burrows and searching for cicadas in trees and taller shrubs.
The males are more often seen in groups, vigorously challenging one another for position on the breeding aggregation from which they emerged, and generally investigate anything that moves or flies near them. Not unusually, two or three male wasps are seen locked together in apparent midair combat, the aggregate adopting an erratic flight path until one of the wasps breaks away. The male wasps' aggressive behavior is similar to that of another robust insect of the area, the male carpenter bee. In both cases, while the males' vigorous territorial defense can be frightening and intimidating to human passersby, the males pose no danger whatsoever. Male cicada killers only grapple with other insects, and cannot sting.
This ground-burrowing wasp may be found in well-drained, sandy to loose clay soils in bare or grass-covered banks, berms, and hills, as well as next to raised sidewalks, driveways and patio slabs. Females may share a burrow, digging their own nest cells off the main tunnel. A typical burrow is 25–50 cm (10–20 in) deep and about 1.5 cm (0.59 in) wide. In digging a burrow, the female dislodges the soil with her jaws, and using her hind legs, pushes loose soil behind her as she backs out of the burrow. Her hind legs are equipped with special spines that help her push the soil behind her. The excess soil pushed out of the burrow forms a mound with a trench through it at the burrow entrance. Cicada killers may nest in planters, window boxes, or flower beds, or under shrubs, ground cover, etc. Nests often are made in the full sun where vegetation is sparse.
After digging a nest chamber in the burrow, female cicada killers capture cicadas, paralyzing them with a sting. After paralyzing a cicada, the female wasp holds it upside down beneath her and takes off toward her burrow; this return flight to the burrow is difficult for the wasp because the cicada is often more than twice her weight. A wasp often lugs her prey up into the nearest tree, to gain altitude for the flight to the burrow. After putting one or more cicadas in her nest cell, the female deposits an egg on a cicada and closes the cell with soil. Male eggs are laid on a single cicada, but female eggs are given two or sometimes three cicadas, because the female wasp is twice as large as the male and must have more food. New nest cells are dug as necessary off of the main burrow tunnel, and a single burrow may eventually have 10 or more nest cells. The egg hatches in one or two days, and the cicadas serve as food for the grub. The larvae complete their development in about 2 weeks. Overwintering occurs as a mature larva within an earth-coated cocoon. Pupation occurs in the nest cell in the spring and lasts 25 to 30 days. Only one generation occurs per year, and no adults overwinter.
This wasp is frequently attacked by the parasitic "velvet ant" wasp, Dasymutilla occidentalis, also known as the "cow-killer" wasp. It lays an egg in the nest cell of the cicada killer, and when the cicada killer larva pupates, the parasitoid larva consumes the pupa.


Adult eastern cicada wasps are large, 1.5 to 5.0 cm (0.6 to 2.0 in) long, robust wasps with hairy, reddish, and black areas on their thoraces (middle parts), and black to reddish brown abdominal (rear) segments that are marked with light yellow stripes. The wings are brownish. Coloration superficially resembles that of some yellowjacket and hornet species. The females are somewhat larger than the males, and both are among the largest wasps seen in the Eastern United States, their unusual size giving them a uniquely fearsome appearance. European hornets (Vespa crabro) are often mistaken for eastern cicada killers, though at about 3.5 cm (1.4 in) long, they are smaller than the largest cicada killers. The males are smaller than the females because they are not given as much larval food; since females must carry the cicadas they have killed to a burrow for nesting, they benefit from being larger, and are given more food as larvae.


Sphecius speciosus, often simply referred to as the cicada killer or the cicada hawk, is a large, solitary digger wasp species in the family Crabronidae. The name may be applied to any species of crabronid that preys on cicadas, though in North America, it is typically applied to this species, also referred to as the eastern cicada killer in order to further differentiate it from the multiple other examples of related wasp species. Sometimes, they are called sand hornets, although they are not hornets, which belong to the family Vespidae. This species can be found in the Eastern and Midwest U.S. and southwards into Mexico and Central America. They are so named because they hunt cicadas and provision their nests with them. Cicada killers exert a measure of natural control on cicada populations, and as such they may directly benefit the deciduous trees upon which the cicadas feed.
The most recent review of this species' biology is found in the posthumously published comprehensive study by noted entomologist Howard Ensign Evans.


The yellow-throated toucan (Ramphastos ambiguus) is a large toucan in the family Ramphastidae found in Central and northern South America.


The call of the yellow-throated toucan is a yelping, far-carrying cry described as “Díos te dé” (Spanish for "God give you..."). This species feeds mainly on fruits, but occasionally on lizards, rodents, smaller birds and insects.
The breeding season lasts from March to June. The nests are usually located in a cavity in rotting wood at 10–25 meters above the ground. The females lay 2-4 white eggs incubating for about two weeks.


The yellow-throated toucan ranges along the eastern slope of the Andes from Peru, north through Ecuador and Colombia, to Venezuela as far as the coastal ranges.
This species is adapted to a wide variety of habitats, from plains to tropical and subtropical forest. It lives at altitudes of 100–2400 m. in humid montane forest, with a preference for the canopy and edge.


This species has a total length of 47–61 cm (18.5–24 in) and weighs from 584 to 746 g (1.287 to 1.645 lb). Among all toucans and living members of the order Piciformes, only the toco toucan and the white-throated toucan average larger than the similarly sized black-mandibled and chestnut-mandibled races. Among standard measurements, the short wing chord is 20.4 to 24.8 cm (8.0 to 9.8 in), the huge bill is 12.9 to 20 cm (5.1 to 7.9 in), the tail is 14.8 to 17.5 cm (5.8 to 6.9 in), and the tarsus is 4.7 to 5.9 cm (1.9 to 2.3 in).
Its plumage is mainly black. Upper breast and throat are bright yellow, with a thin red border on the throat, a creamy rump and a scarlet anal area. The bill is bicolor and massive, a little shorter in the female. It is lemon-yellowish on the upper side and blackish on the rest of the maxilla and on the mandible, often brown close to the base. The skin of the face around the eyes is pale green or yellow-green.


The pale-vented pigeon is common at forest edges, riverbanks, and other partially open areas with some trees. It feeds mainly on small fruits, berries and seed. This is a fairly solitary bird, but may form small flocks at drinking areas. Its flight is high, fast and direct, with the regular beats and an occasional sharp flick of the wings which are characteristic of pigeons in general.
It also has a breeding display with a semi-circular glide down to its original perch. It builds a small twig nest in a small tree,  and normally lays one white egg.
Widespread and common, it is classified a species of least concern by the IUCN.


The pale-vented pigeon is 30–32 cm long and weighs normally 230–250 g. Adult males have a mainly dull purple head, breast and upperpart plumage, with copper glossing on the nape and a whitish throat. The lower back and tail are dark grey and the lower underparts are pale grey. The bill is black and the legs, iris and eyering are red. The female is similar, but duller than the male, and immatures are greyish-brown, very dull, and mainly greyish brown.
The southern subspecies P. c. andersoni has white lower underparts, rather than the pale grey of nominate P. c. cayennensis.
The call is a row of soft kuk kuk croo-ooos; the initial short kuk is characteristic for the "cayennensis group" of Patagioenas. Altogether, this species' song is intermediate between that of its close relatives the plain (P. inornata) and red-billed pigeons (P. flavirostris).
It may in the field resemble a scaled pigeon (P. speciosa), which has a similar display flight. These two large species are also the only pigeons in their range which are often seen flying in the open away from forests. But of course P. cayennensis lacks the scaly appearance, and the calls and appearance from close by indicate that the two are not particularly close relatives among their congeners.


For terms see Morphology of Diptera
Helophilus trivittatus has a wing length of 10.25–12.25 millimetres (0.404–0.482 in). The eyes are separated in both sexes, in the male a little less than in the female. The antennae are black, Face shows a wide yellow longitudinal stripe, with at most a central reddish-brown stripe. On the thorax four narrow pale yellow stripes alternate with three larger dark brown stripes. The drawing of the flattened abdomen is reminiscent of a wasp.
The drawing of the third and fourth segments of the abdomen is different in the two sexes. In the male, only the third segment carries a pale yellow to gray arc line. In the female, such a curve is found on the fourth and the fifth tergite. Tergites 2 and 3 have pale lemon yellow spots, while tergite 4 has white to grey spots. In the females tergite 3 yellow spots touch the front margin. The larva is illustrated by Hartley (1961)
See references for determination.


The flight period of this species is from May to October. Adults feed on various flowers, including umbellifers, yellow composites, Armeria, Aster, Cakile, Centaurea, Chrysanthemum, Cirsium, Crataegus, Epilobium angustifolium, Eryngium, Eupatorium, Euphorbia, Ligustrum, Lychnis, Lythrum, Mentha, Menyanthes, Origanum, Plumbago, Polygonum persicaria, Potentilla, Ranunculus, Rubus fruticosus, Salix and Sorbus.
The larva is a detritivore associated with decaying rhizomes of Typha latifolia and with beds of Glyceria maxima.


Heterophleps triguttaria, the three-spotted fillip, is a species of geometrid moth in the family Geometridae. It is found in North America.
The MONA or Hodges number for Heterophleps triguttaria is 7647.


Dythemis velox, the swift setwing, is a species of skimmer in the dragonfly family Libellulidae. It is found in Central America and North America.
The IUCN conservation status of Dythemis velox is "LC", least concern, with no immediate threat to the species' survival. The population is increasing. The IUCN status was reviewed in 2017.


The pied crow (Corvus albus) is a widely distributed African bird species in the crow genus.
Structurally, the pied crow is better thought of as a small crow-sized raven, especially as it can hybridise with the Somali crow (dwarf raven) where their ranges meet in the Horn of Africa. Its behaviour, though, is more typical of the Eurasian carrion crows, and it may be a modern link (along with the Somali crow) between the Eurasian crows and the common raven.


All of its food is obtained from the ground, trees, etc. including injured wildlife such as insects and other small invertebrates, small reptiles, small mammals, young birds and eggs, grain, peanuts, carrion and any scraps of human food and fruit. It has been recorded killing and eating roosting Fruit Bats and is frequently seen (sometimes in huge numbers) scavenging around slaughterhouses.