The Florida scrub jay is found only in Florida scrub habitat, an ecosystem that exists only in central Florida and in limited areas along the Atlantic coast, and is characterized by nutrient-poor soil, occasional drought, and frequent wildfires. Because of its being isolated from the mainland as an island ("Orange Island") 34 to 28 million years ago  and somewhat harsh weather pattern, this habitat in isolation evolved to host, not only the Florida scrub jay endemic only to Florida but also a small assortment of very ancient specific plants, including sand pine, sand live oak, myrtle oak, Chapman's oak, sandhill oak, Florida rosemary and various other hardy plants such as Eastern prickly pear.
Florida scrub jays are omnivorous and eat a wide variety of acorns, seeds, peanuts, insects, tree frogs, turtles, snakes, lizards, and young mice. They have also been occasionally observed to eat other birds' eggs or nestlings, but this occurs rarely. They routinely cache thousands of acorns a year, burying them just beneath the surface. The acorns are typically buried in the fall and consumed during the winter and spring. Acorns that are forgotten or missed may germinate, making the Florida Scrub-Jay an effective agent for the dispersal of a variety of oak trees.
Scrub jays may also take silverware and other shiny objects in a manner similar             to the American crow.


Florida scrub jays are one of the few cooperative breeding birds in North America. Fledglings remain in their parents' habitat for several years and help to rear young, watch for predators (such as short-tailed hawks or Accipiters), and defend territory against neighboring Florida scrub jay family groups. These families can range in size from 2 to 8.
 After about 2 to 3 years, fledglings leave the group to form mating pairs of their own. Mating season ranges from March to June. Clutches usually contain about 3 to 4 eggs which are incubated in about 17 days. Fledging occurs in about 16 to 19 days. Fledglings can be distinguished from the adult birds due to the coloration of the feathers on their head, which are brown instead of blue. The brown feathers on the juvenile's head are slowly replaced by blue feathers as the bird matures into adulthood.


Scrub habitat has dwindled considerably in the past several decades as Florida has continued to develop. Wildfire suppression also leads to the natural succession of large oaks and trees which changes the habitat. In recent years, environmental groups within the state have made a strong effort at preserving Florida's remaining scrub through controlled burns and even clearing out areas of large trees to increase the size of a scrub habitat. Because scrub habitat is typically "well-drained sites with low nutrient levels and periodic fires," the species is vulnerable to climate change. Oscar Scherer State Park near Sarasota has one of the larger habitats under state management.
The Florida scrub jay was officially listed as a threatened state species by Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission in 1975 and it was listed as a threatened federal species by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service in 1987.
According to Partners in Flight, there were estimated to be 4000 individuals left in the wild. Despite the protections, the Florida scrub jay is still thought to be on the decline. Studies done in Brevard County, once the county with the greatest population of scrub jays, has noted declines of some 33% since the 1993 census alone.
Another attempt to conserve the bird is an ongoing campaign to name the Florida scrub jay as the new state bird of Florida. The main argument for changing the state bird is that the current state bird (viz. the northern mockingbird) is the state bird of several other states, while the scrub jay is exclusive to Florida.
In recent years there has been some debate about whether or not the Florida scrub jay should be officially listed as an Endangered Species because of the loss of homes. However, environmentalists hope that current conservation efforts should help the species population to at least stabilize.
On the other hand, the IUCN classifies this species as vulnerable to extinction. In 2004, the population was declining and no more than 10 subpopulations were known. Both the number of adult birds as well as amount and quality of habitat were in decline, and local subpopulations were in danger of disappearing altogether. About 8000 mature birds were believed to exist—with no more than 1000 in any one subpopulation—and population numbers had dropped by about 10% over the last decade or so.
A long-term and ongoing study of the Florida scrub jay has been taking place at the Archbold Biological Station at Lake Placid.
The Florida scrub jay was featured in episode 11, season 3 of the Showtime television series Penn & Teller: Bullshit!.


An inquisitive and intelligent species, the most striking attribute of the Florida scrub jay's behavior is its remarkable tameness. As such, scrub jays willingly take food from human hands.
Unfortunately, this tameness is dangerous to the well-being of the species. Florida scrub jays that are fed by humans will reproduce earlier in the year than those that are not.  However, fledgling scrub jays feed primarily on caterpillars present in the late spring and summer; if they hatch too early in the year when the caterpillars are not available, this can lead to their malnutrition or starvation.
Another potential danger of feeding Florida scrub jays occurs when people feed them near a road, as one major cause of death for scrub jays in urban areas is collision with vehicles.
Since humans build subdivisions, railroads, and highways on the highest and driest ground, where Florida scrub jays like to live, this removal of habitats, along with the introduction of pets, especially cats not on a leash, has devastated scrub jay populations. In the last 100 years, 90% of the bird's population has been lost.


The Mexican jay (Aphelocoma wollweberi)  formerly known as the gray-breasted jay, is a New World jay native to the Sierra Madre Oriental, Sierra Madre Occidental, and Central Plateau of Mexico and parts of the southwestern United States. In May 2011, the American Ornithologists' Union voted to split the Mexican jay into two species, one retaining the common name Mexican jay and one called the Transvolcanic jay. The Mexican jay is a medium-sized jay with blue upper parts and pale gray underparts. It resembles the Woodhouse's scrub-jay, but has an unstreaked throat and breast. It feeds largely on acorns and pine nuts, but includes many other plant and animal foods in its diet. It has a cooperative breeding system where the parents are assisted by other birds to raise their young. This is a common species with a wide range and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated its conservation status as being of "least concern".


A recent decision by the American Ornithologists' Union Check-list Committee elevated some populations of the Mexican jay to a separate species, called the Transvolcanic jay (A. ultramarina), based on diagnosable phenotypic differences in plumage and morphology, millions of years of genetic divergence and no evidence for interbreeding with Mexican jays. The Transvolcanic jay inhabits montane forest in the Transvolcanic Belt of central Mexico. Populations to the north retained the common name Mexican jay, but the Latin name changed to A. wollweberi. This was because the type specimen was a Transvolcanic jay, meaning that this species had precedent for the original Latin name A. ultramarina.
Thus, as of this decision, there are now five described subspecies of the Mexican jay that are divided into three divergent groups (see below). Marked differences in size, color, vocalizations, and genetics have led some authors to consider at least two of these groups as separate species (Eastern and Western; Navarro-Sigüenza and Peterson 2004). The three groups inhabit three distinct mountainous regions in northern and central Mexico. Genetic breaks in mitochondrial and microsatellite DNA occur abruptly between the groups, indicating some barriers to genetic exchange (McCormack et al. 2008). Size variation among the groups does not always follow Bergmann's rule, with more southerly populations in the Sierra Madre Oriental being larger than populations to the north. Mexican jays do not seem to follow Gloger's rule either, as populations in arid habitat in southwestern Texas are very blue. On the other hand, Mexican jays in Arizona - also arid habitat - have a washed-out appearance, in accordance with Gloger's rule.
Western group
Sierra Madre Occidental in northern [Jalisco] north to central Arizona and southwestern New Mexico. Southern and eastern limits in Jalisco deserve further study. Juveniles have a pink/pale base to the otherwise black bill for up to two years. Eggs are pale green-blue and unspeckled, unlike Eastern group where speckled eggs are common.
Aphelocoma wollweberi gracilis
Eastern Nayarit and northern Jalisco
Smallest of the Western subspecies with a distinct, high-pitched vocalization.
Aphelocoma wollweberi wollweberi
Durango and Zacatecas
Intermediate in size.
Aphelocoma wollweberi arizonae
Sonora and Chihuahua north to Arizona and New Mexico, United States
Largest and palest of all the subspecies.
Eastern group
Sierra Madre Oriental in Nuevo León and western Tamaulipas north to Texas (Chisos Mountains). Juveniles have an all-black exterior to the bill after fledging, but roof of inner upper mandible can remain partially white for up to two years. Reports of less social behavior compared to other groups are over-stated and credible accounts of cooperative breeding (Ligon and Husar 1974) and large flock sizes (Bhagabati and Horvath 2006) exist. Plain, speckled, and even white eggs have been observed in a single study area (McCormack and Berg 2010).
Aphelocoma wollweberi couchii
Smaller than preceding. Population of the latter subspecies distinguishable by more contrasting markings and ecological preferences (lowland birds). Egg color may range from plain blue to Nile blue with pale brownish speckling, most heavy on blunt half. Gives rattle call similar to Cyanocitta and other Aphelocoma jays.
Central Plateau group

Central Plateau in Queretaro, Guanajuato, San Luis Potosi, and eastern Jalisco. Similar to Eastern group but larger in most features. Distinguishable in morphology and plumage in ~80% of specimens. There is an area of apparent hybridization in San Luis Potosi that deserves study.
Aphelocoma wollweberi potosina


The Mexican jay is a medium-large (~120 g) passerine similar in size to most other jays, with a blue head, blue-gray mantle, blue wings and tail, and pale gray breast and underparts. The sexes are morphologically similar, and juveniles differ only in having less blue coloration and, in some populations, a pink/pale (instead of black) bill that progressively becomes more black with age (Brown and Horvath 1989). Some field guides misreport this color as yellow because the pale bill becomes yellow in museum study skins.  The iris is brown and legs are black. It is most readily distinguished from the similar Woodhouse's scrub-jay by the plain (unstreaked) throat and breast, and the mantle contrasting less with the head and wings. Its range somewhat overlaps with the Woodhouse's scrub-jay, but, where they co-occur, the two species seem to show ecological and morphological character displacement (Curry et al. 2002).


In the winter, the Mexican jay's diet consists mainly of acorns and pine nuts, which are stored in the autumn. However, they are omnivorous in all seasons and their diet includes a wide variety of plant and animal matter, including invertebrates, small amphibians and reptiles, and birds' eggs and nestlings (McCormack and Brown 2008).
It has a cooperative breeding system similar to that of the related Florida scrub-jay, with several birds helping at a nest; these "helpers" are usually immature offspring of the dominant pair from the previous 1–2 years, but also include apparently unrelated flock members.


Aphelodoris varia is a species of sea slug, a dorid nudibranch, a shell-less marine gastropod mollusk in the family Dorididae.


This species was described by Abraham in 1864 as Doris variabilis but this name is preoccupied by Doris variabilis Kelaart, 1858.


This species is recorded from New South Wales, Australia.


Apios americana, sometimes called the American groundnut, potato bean, hopniss, Indian potato (but not to be confused with other plants sometimes known by the name Indian potato), hodoimo, America-hodoimo, cinnamon vine,  or groundnut (but not to be confused with other plants sometimes known by the name groundnut) is a perennial vine that bears edible beans and large edible tubers. Its vine can grow to 1–6 m (3.3–19.7 ft) long, with pinnate leaves 8–15 cm (3.1–5.9 in) long with 5–7 leaflets. The flowers are usually pink, purple, or red-brown, and are produced in dense racemes 7.5–13 cm (3.0–5.1 in) in length. The fruit is a legume (pod) 5–13 cm (2.0–5.1 in) long. Botanically speaking, the tubers are rhizomatous stems, not roots. Its natural range is from Southern Canada (including Ontario, Quebec, and New Brunswick) down through Florida and West as far as the border of Colorado.  It is a larval host for the Epargyreus clarus.


The tubers are highly palatable with culinary characteristics of a potato, although the flavor can be somewhat nuttier than a potato and the texture can be finer. Studies in rats suggest that raw tubers should not be consumed. They contain harmful protease inhibitors that are denatured by cooking. These tubers contain roughly three times the protein content of a potato (16.5% by dry weight), and the amino acid balance is good with the exception of cysteine and methionine. Apios americana tubers were found to have a protein concentration of 15–30 mg/g (0.24–0.48 oz/lb). This was similar to that of other species in the Apios genus, A. carnea and A. fortunei. However, A. americana had larger levels of genistein than the other two species. The fatty acid content of tubers is approximately 4.2% to 4.6%, with linoleic fatty acids predominating. Thirty-six percent of the fresh weight of a tuber is carbohydrate (primarily starch). The tubers are also an excellent source of calcium and iron. Calcium content is 10-fold greater than a potato and iron is 2-fold greater than a potato, although vitamin C was considerably less than a potato. The tuber and the flower also contain mono and oligosaccharides. The tuber has more monosaccharides and oligosaccharides than the soybean, potato, and sweet potato.
In addition, the tubers appear to have numerous health-promoting factors. Hypertensive rats that were fed powdered tubers as 5% of their total diet had a 10% decrease in blood pressure and also a reduction in cholesterol and triglycerides. It has been shown that the tubers contain genistein and other isoflavones that have various health benefits, including an anti-carcinogenic function against colon, prostate, and breast cancer.  Genistein-7-O-gentiobioside is a novel isoflavone that is found in the American groundnut. Extract from the American groundnut was shown to drive the anti-oxidative pathway in cells although it did not have anti-oxidative activity itself. Human breast carcinoma MCF-7 cells were pretreated with the extract of A. americana for 24 hours. Subsequent analysis showed an increase in expression of heme oxygenase-1, a protein induced during oxidative stress. The American groundnut, like soybean, is a great source of isoflavone.
Furthermore, a study on A. americana and its flower shows that the flower of the particular plant is not toxic to mice. Consumption of the flower was shown to lower plasma glucose levels in diabetic mice. The flower was shown to have an inhibitory activity on maltose and an anti-hyperglycemic effect in mice, suggesting that not only is it a viable and novel food source for the general population, but also in the prevention of diabetes.


The only place in the world today where American groundnuts are commercially farmed in any significant quantities is in Japan. Before the American groundnut was introduced to Japan, the people on the main island of Honshu and the northern island of Hokkaido were already familiar with a native, wild plant called hodoimo (Apios fortunei), which was occasionally eaten as an emergency food. It is believed that sometime during the Meiji period (1868-1912), American groundnut was accidentally or deliberately brought to Japan. One theory is that American groundnut was accidentally brought to Japan as a stowaway weed among apple seedlings imported from North America. Another theory is that American groundnut may have been deliberately brought to Japan in the middle of the Meiji period as an ornamental flower.
It has become a culinary specialty of the Aomori Prefecture, where American groundnut agriculture is centered. It has been eaten there for more than one hundred years. Although American groundnut agriculture is primarily identified with agriculture in the Aomori prefecture, it is grown in the nearby prefectures of Akita and Miyagi as well. In addition, it is known to be grown in the southern part of Honshu in the Tottori prefecture. Radioactive testing records following the Fukushima nuclear disaster record cesium testing of American groundnut agricultural products in the central prefecture of Tochigi.
An important part of the spread and popularization of American groundnut consumption in Japan has been the efforts of Dr. Kiyochika Hoshikawa to promote the cultivation of this crop in Japan, and the flurry of scientific articles on the health benefits of eating American groundnut tubers. Japanese websites that sell American groundnut continue to emphasize its health benefits in their marketing efforts. There are reports of American groundnut cultivation in South Korea as well, where it is grown for its nutritional benefits.


The tubers and seeds can  both be cooked and eaten.


The tubers have traditionally been a staple food among most Indigenous peoples of the Americas within the natural range of the plant. In 1749, the travelling Swedish botanist Peter Kalm writes, "Hopniss or Hapniss was the Indian name of a wild plant, which they ate at that time... The roots resemble potatoes, and were boiled by the Indians who ate them instead of bread."  Strachey in 1612 recorded observations of the Indigenous peoples found in Virginia: "In June, July, and August they feed upon roots of tockohow, berries, groundnutts, fish, and greene wheate..."   In Eastern Canada, the Jesuit missionary, Le Jeune, observed  that the Indigenous peoples there would, "eat, besides, roots, such as the bulbs of the red lily; ... another that our French people call 'Rosary' because it is distinguished by tubers in the form of beads."  The early author Rafinesque observed that the Cree were cultivating the plant for both its tubers and seeds. The author Brinton wrote in 1885 in regards to the Lenape people, "Of wild fruits and plants they consumed the esculent and nutritious tubers on the roots of the Wild Bean, Apios tuberosa... which the Indians called hobbenis..."  In 1910, Parker writes that the Iroquois were consuming significant quantities of groundnuts up until about thirty years before his writing. The Paris Documents of 1666 record that the sixth tribe of the second division of the Iroquois were identified as, "that of the Potatoe, which they call Schoneschironon" and an illustration of tubers is found in the Paris Documents with the explanation, "This is the manner they paint the tribe of the Potatoe."  The author Gilmore records the use of groundnuts by the Caddoan and Siouan tribes of the Missouri river region, and the authors Prescott and Palmer record its use among the Sioux. The Indigenous peoples would prepare the tubers in many different ways, such as frying them in animal fat or drying them into flour. Many tribes peel them and dry them in the sun, such as the Menomini who have traditionally built scaffolds of cedar bark covered with mats to dry their tubers for winter use. The Menomini are recorded as having dried the tubers in maple syrup or making a preserve of Groundnut tubers by boiling them in maple syrup. The Potawatomi have traditionally boiled their tubers. The traditional Meskwaki and Chippewa preparation involves peeling, parboiling, slicing, and drying the tubers. The Chippewa have historically used them as a sort of seasoning in all their foods.


The Europeans learned to use the American groundnut from the Indigenous peoples of the Americas. As a result, the American groundnut became interwoven with the history of the American colonies and Europe. The early traveler John Brereton was sustained by the "good meat" and "medicinable" qualities of American groundnut during his travels in New England in 1602. In 1613, the followers of Biencourt at Port-Royal ate the tubers to help them survive in the New World. The American groundnut was an important factor in the survival of the Pilgrims during the first few winters of their settlement. In 1623 the Pilgrims, "having but a small quantity of corn left," were "enforced to live on groundnuts... and such other things that the country afforded... and were easily gotten...". The Pilgrims were taught to find and prepare American groundnut by the Wampanoag people. The groundnut was likely eaten at the harvest festival of November 1621 that is regarded as the first Thanksgiving, although only venison was specifically named as a food item at this meal by a Pilgrim eyewitness account.
Philosopher Henry David Thoreau commented on the nutty flavor and dry texture in October 1852.
It is believed that American groundnut may have been shipped to Europe as early as 1597. It was listed in 1885 as a European garden crop. In 1845 it was evaluated as a possible alternative potato crop in Ireland during the Great Famine. These early introductions to Europe appear to have resulted in little or no assimilation of the new food into the European diet. A primary reason for this lack of assimilation was that the two-year cycle for an acceptable tuber yield did not match the cropping systems that were familiar to Europeans.


American groundnut is generally considered to be an undomesticated crop. In her 1939 description of the Native American use of American groundnut, Gretchen Beardsley states that several historical sources describe the "cultivation" of American groundnut by Indigenous peoples. She dismisses the ambiguous term "cultivation" as perhaps referring to transplantation of tubers near a settlement. She quotes the historical author Waugh on this subject of cultivation: "sometimes planted in suitable locations, though they are not, strictly speaking, cultivated." Subsequent authors on the American groundnut have followed Beardsley's interpretation of "cultivation" when referring to the early use by Indigenous peoples of American groundnut. However, recent evidence suggests that North American indigenous peoples likely intervened significantly as cultivators of the native plants of the region, in a manner similar to contemporary Western permaculture practices. So, from a permacultural perspective, Native Americans may well have "cultivated" the groundnut.
In 1985, Dr. William J. Blackmon, Dr. Berthal D. Reynolds, and their colleagues at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge began a program of deliberate domestication of American groundnut. Their primary goal was to develop an American groundnut that can produce a significant yield in a single season. Early trials identified LA85-034 as a promising cultivar, with "elongate tubers of uniform, medium size with light brown skin and little extra rhizomatous material". By 1988, they had collected wild seeds and tubers from 210 plants found in 19 states, although the bulk of their selections came from the state of Louisiana. From these wild materials, and a small number of single crosses, they rigorously selected for plants that met their primary breeding goals of (1) larger tuber size, (2) denser tuber set, (3) single season production, and (4) productivity in untrellised cultivation. The American groundnut domestication program at Louisiana State University continued in various forms until the mid-1990s. Cultivars from this program can still occasionally be found available from small seed companies.
From 1985 to 1994, an Apios breeding program took place that resulted in the collection of over two hundred wild accessions. These accessions underwent hybridization and selection, and over 2,200 lines were assessed. Of these lines, only 53 genotypes were kept for further analysis. Three different locations and three different growing conditions—field, pots, and grow-bags— were used. There was significant variation found among almost all of the 20 genotypes in the field growing condition. Inter-node length, plant vigor, and stem diameter during plant growth were positively correlated with the plant yield below ground. There were four distinct genotypic clusters found in this collection of Apios lines. Several genotypes yielded large plants in all locations, maxing up to 1.5 kg (3.3 lb) of below ground tuber. This suggests that the plant has a good ability to adapt and grow in a wide variety of locations and conditions. Furthermore, the superior germplasm identified in this project may be suitable as cultivars, and will aid in further development of Apios lines as a crop.
The largest germplasm collection of Apios americana cultivars today is found at Iowa State University under the direction of Dr. Steven Cannon. It is maintained there for scholarly and academic use. Research continues at Iowa State on the domestication of American groundnut.
Despite these efforts at domestication, the American groundnut remains largely uncultivated and underused in North America and Europe. There are challenges to breeding and domesticating this plant, as well. There seems to be a partial self-incompatibility with Apios breeding and manual pollinations, resulting in rare seed-sets. Disadvantages in Apios as a crop are its vining habit. The crop has small tuber size for most genotypes. These sizes are typically smaller than 50 g (1.8 oz); however, some do average around 100 g (3.5 oz). The tuber plant is difficult to harvest because of the "beads on a string" arrangement on stolons, which extend for over a meter.


American groundnut fixes its own nitrogen, which could be a great advantage in comparison to other roots crops, such as potatoes, true yams, and sweet potatoes. These do not fix their own nitrogen and require large applications of nitrogen fertilizer. American groundnut can be nodulated by bacterial strains that are normally found in symbiosis with soybeans or cowpeas.
Research has been done on the potential of the soybean strain B. japonicum to nodulate American groundnut. It was found that plants nodulated with B. japonicum yielded ~30% better than unnodulated plants if no nitrogen fertilizer was used. It was also determined that nodulated plants partitioned more carbon into non-edible shoots when they were given nitrogen fertilizer, whereas unnodulated plants responded to nitrogen fertilizer with greater tuber yields than nodulated plants. This data suggests that nitrogen fertilization may be required to maximize tuber size and yields in A. americana.


American groundnut is normally 2n=2x=22, diploid, but both diploid and triploid forms exist. Only diploids are capable of producing seeds; triploids will produce flowers but not seeds. Thus, triploids are entirely dependent on tuber division for propagation whereas diploids can be propagated through both seeds and tubers. Other than seed production, there are no easily identifiable differences between diploids and triploids. Triploids are generally found in the Northern part of American groundnut's range whereas diploids predominate in the Southern part of the range. Triploids have been identified in the provinces or states of New Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario, Connecticut, Vermont, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, New Hampshire, Rhode Island,  Wisconsin, and Iowa. A few diploids have been found in the Northeastern part of the range, such as along the Black River in Central Ontario. All samples tested in the Southeastern United States have been found to be diploid.


Apis dorsata, the giant honey bee, is a honey bee of South and Southeast Asia, found mainly in forested areas such as the Terai of Nepal. They are typically around 17–20 mm (0.7–0.8 in) long. Nests are mainly built in exposed places far off the ground, like on tree limbs, under cliff overhangs, and sometimes on buildings. These social bees are known for their aggressive defense strategies and vicious behavior when disturbed. Though not domesticating it, indigenous peoples have traditionally used this species as a source of honey and beeswax, a practice known as honey hunting.


Apis dorsata belongs to the family Apidae, which is in the class Insecta. This honeybee is most closely related to Apis mellifera, (the western honey bee) Apis cerana, and Apis florea. Apis dorsata belongs to the subgenus Megapis. There are a few hypotheses as to when Apis dorsata diverged from both Apis florea and Apis cerana, as it is unclear which divergence occurred first. Currently, the consensus hypothesis provides a family tree that claims that Apis dorsata diverged from both Apis cerana and Apis florea at the same time.


Michael S. Engel identified the following subspecies:
A. d. dorsata; (Indian giant honey bee),  primarily from India
A. d. binghami Cockerell; (Indonesian giant honey bee), from Malaysia and Indonesia
A. d. breviligula Maa;  (Philippine giant honey bee), from the Philippines
A. d. laboriosa Fabricius; (Himalayan giant honey bee), from India, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam and southern China.
Recent research has removed laboriosa from inclusion within A. dorsata, as a separate species, with supporting evidence including a significant region of sympatry. A. laboriosa is hardly distinct morphologically from the nominate subspecies of dorsata (darker abdomen, longer thoracic hair) but has different housekeeping and swarming behavior, allowing it to survive at high altitudes. In addition, little gene flow has occurred between A. dorsata and A. laboriosa for millions of years; accordingly, some authors have previously classified it as a distinct species.
Likewise, the southeastern taxon A. d. binghami seems also to be potentially distinct. The limits of their ranges in Indochina and the possible distinctness of the geographically distant Philippines population require more study. However, the use of the taxonomic rank of "subspecies" is typical for geographically discrete populations, so the difference in opinion here is whether to recognize the rank of subspecies or not (i.e., no one is disputing that they are distinct lineages, the dispute is over whether or not to call them "species").


Apis dorsata differs from the other bees in its genus in terms of nest design. Each colony consists of a single vertical comb made of workers’ wax suspended from above, and the comb is typically covered by a dense mass of bees in several layers. The nests vary in size, reaching up to 1 meter. Each cell within the comb is hexagonal in shape. Apis dorsata store their honey in an upper corner of the nest. The same size and type of cells are used to rear larvae. Nests are constructed in the open and in elevated locations, such as on urban buildings or tall trees. These bees rarely build nests on old or weak buildings for safety concerns. Apis dorsata can form dense aggregations at one nesting site, sometimes with up to 200 colonies in one tree.
Each colony can have up to 100,000 bees and is separated by only a few centimeters from the other colonies in an aggregation. Some colonies also exhibit patterns of nest recognition, in which they return to the same nesting sites post migration.


Apis dorsata is found from the Indian subcontinent to Southeast Asia. The greatest populations of Apis dorsata are found in China, Malaysia, Indonesia, India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. In the Philippines, which used to have one of the greatest populations of Apis dorsata, the populations have now become relatively rare due to deforestation and people's "mindsets" towards the bees. They mostly reside in tall trees in dense forests, but also build nests on urban buildings. These bees are tropical and in most places, they migrate seasonally. Individual colonies migrate between nesting sites during the transition from the rainy to dry seasons and occupy each nesting site for about 3–4 months at a time. Some recent evidence indicates these bees return to the same nest site, though most, if not all, of the original workers might be replaced in the process because workers usually live for less than two months. Furthermore, these bees build small combs that serve as temporary nests during their long migrations.
In Bornean rainforests, Apis koschevnikovi and Apis dorsata are the only honeybees that appear frequently at flowering canopy trees or baits. Even though they share most of the same rain forest habitat, they are still able to coexist. Their difference in size and tongue length help separate their resource use.


There are two methods of reproductive swarming in which Apis dorsata initiates new colonies, which usually occurs in October or November. The most common occurs when a queen flies away from the original nest slowly and a swarm of workers follows her. This new cluster of bees can be temporary, or they can permanently move to a new nesting site. The distance these bees travel is unknown, but some have been observed to travel about 500 meters away from the original nest. The second, more rare method is referred to as “budding.” In budding, a group of workers leave the natal nest to form a new colony at a nesting site about 1 meter away from the original.
A non-reproductive method of colony initiation is absconding. Absconding refers to when an entire colony moves to a new location. As a colony is formed, multiple curtains, essentially layers, of bees are formed around the developing nest.
Colony initiation is related to the migratory patterns of these bees.


As a colony is initiated, the migration depends on foraging resources and predation risks. These bees travel to different sites depending on the blooming season of flowers. There are about 100,000 members in each colony and each colony resides in one nesting site for about 3–4 months at a time. Colonies tend to decline when resources, such as food, honey, and pollen, are depleted. Colonies decline during the rainy and summer seasons because of the instability of foraging sources due to climate change.


Some drones and the queen fly away from the nest and mate on the wing. This is called nuptial flight. The drone flights are comparatively shorter than those of other Asian honeybee species. The Apis dorsata flights occur around dusk for 13 minutes on average. Apis dorsata exhibit high degrees of polyandry, with many drones mating with the queen. In fact, Apis dorsata fabricius is known to have the highest levels of polyandry among all social insects. In general, this bee population experiences extreme multiple matings. This may be attributed to the short duration of flight times for mating. During mating, the drones fly to “drone congregation areas” (DCAs). There is sufficient evidence to conclude that each aggregation has its own DCA since there is more genetic relatedness within aggregations and because of the short duration and distance traveled during the mating flight.


Apis dorsata utilizes what is known as a dance language, also known as waggle dance, to communicate the location of food sources to other bees in the colony. The dance language indicates the distance, profitability, and direction of the food source. These social bees dance in the open and their dances produce sound signals of high intensity in the air. The orientation of the dancer’s body points in the direction of the food source and the frequency of the sound indicates the profitability of the food source. Apis dorsata produces silent dances, which usually involve visual cues during the day. They additionally produce sound with their dances in the nighttime, as they are the only bees of its genus that exhibit nocturnal foraging activity. Furthermore, there is some evidence that Apis dorsata dances for migration purposes as well. Bees that have returned from the new nesting site perform dances that alert the colony of information such as the direction of the new nesting site.


A. dorsata foragers can travel farther than A. cerana and A. florea, which travel to a maximum of 500 meters; however, 72% of observed A. dorsata foragers traveled no more than 400 meters.


Unlike the rearing patterns of other species of the genus Apis, the worker and drone brood of Apis dorsata are dispersed across in the same area and even share cells, and are not differentiated in separate locations of the nest. It would seem that worker policing makes mistakes often in correctly removing the drone brood since the drone brood are interspersed with worker brood, but every male raised comes from a queen-laid egg (not a worker-laid egg). This shows us that worker policing does indeed work within populations of these bees. In these instances, worker policing occurs through “egg-eating” or oophagy, but in the case of these bees, worker policing is directed at workers with ovaries since oophagy is hard to achieve, as worker-laid and queen-laid eggs are nearly identical in shape and size.


Since Apis dorsata is known for its highly polyandrous activity, these bees exhibit a large number of colonies in close proximity to each other. Although the colonies within an aggregation are near each other, these colonies are not closely related. The queens of the colonies in an aggregation are not closely related, but the aggregation itself is more genetically linked than is expected by chance. Higher than expected genetic links may exist among colonies because they migrate together during their long distance migratory routes to the same nesting sites in the new location. This may also be attributed to short distance reproductive swarming methods and brief mating periods as well. Since it has been observed that rarely any queen-daughter relationships exist within aggregations, the “budding” hypothesis of colony initiation rarely occurs. Due to their long distance migratory patterns, the bees cause enough gene flow to occur between the colonies of different aggregations. There is distinct genetic differentiation between aggregations. In turn, the genetic relatedness between colonies within a single aggregation decreases.


Apis dorsata is better than many of its relatives at avoiding drifting, an event when bees return to the wrong colonies after foraging. Apis dorsata tends to form dense aggregations, contributing to the high nest fidelity and recognition amongst these bees. These bees usually return to their natal nests because this behavior results in higher fitness. If drifting were common, robbing bees and parasites could spread quickly through colonies. The high fidelity to the natal nests also leads to the aggressive behavior of Apis dorsata bees. They aggressively attack workers from colonies that aren’t their own. If workers and queens do not return to the same colony, they have a high chance of getting killed because the other colony views them as potential robbers or carriers of disease. Some colonies even return to exactly the same nesting sites after their seasonal migrations.


Similar to other honeybees, Apis dorsata is regularly afflicted by parasitic mites. The parasitic mite associated with Apis dorsata is Tropilaelaps clareae which needs brood to reproduce and is predominantly found in the male brood of the colony. Apis dorsata is thought to be the original host of this parasite. Since Apis dorsata engages in brood-less migration, as is true for all other Apis species, this reduces infestation by this parasitic mite. Although rarely seen, some experimental evidence has shown that Apis dorsata exhibits a specialized grooming behavior as a defense mechanism to remove parasites. The grooming behavior involves intense shaking of the body and auto-grooming with the legs.


Since the nests of Apis dorsata are fairly exposed and accessible to predators, these giant honeybees exhibit strong and aggressive defense strategies. Their predators include wasps, hornets, birds, and human bee-hunters. Their defense strategies typically include physical contact, especially when they face attacks from wasps. These giant honeybees utilize a method called “heat balling,” in which they heat their thoraces to a temperature of 45 °C which is lethal to wasps.
Another method Apis dorsata utilizes against wasps is referred to as “shimmering” behavior or "defense waving". Bees in the outer layer thrust their abdomens 90° in an upward direction and shake them in a synchronous way. This may be accompanied by stroking of the wings. The signal is transmitted to nearby workers that also adopt the posture, thus creating a visible — and audible — "ripple" effect across the face of the comb, in an almost identical manner to an audience wave at a crowded stadium. These wave-like patterns repel wasps that get too close to the nests of these bees and serve to confuse the wasp. In turn, the wasp cannot fixate on capturing one bee or getting food from the bees’ nest, so the wasp will seek to find easier prey and leave the nest alone. Shimmering appears to be an evolutionary successful behavior for group living amongst social bees.
Studies have also provided evidence that these bee colonies aggregate in defense. If one part of the nest is directly threatened by a bird, a signal (still unknown as to how) gets relayed to the rest of the colony so that all of them help in the defense, even if they are not directly threatened.


Since large amounts of honey (up to 45 kilograms) can be stored in the nests of Apis dorsata, many people frequently harvest their nests. Honey represents a livelihood for some of these people as it can provide them with an important source of income. However, deforestation, urbanization, pesticides, and honey hunting have threatened local populations of bees and their honey. These bees are known to be aggressive, and they have the potential to viciously sting humans. At least one fatal defensive attack on a human has been reported.


In some  Melaleuca forests of southern Vietnam, people use a traditional method of collecting honey and wax from A. dorsata colonies. This method of “rafter beekeeping” was first reported in 1902. A similar method is practiced in the Songkhla Province in Thailand.
According to Vietnamese sociologists, in the early 19th century, honey hunting or raftering was the most important occupation of the people who lived in the Melaleuca forest swamp. At that time, people paid taxes to the government in exchange for living in the forest. Beeswax was used to pay the tax and for making candles, and was sold to visiting ships from Hainan, China.
Between 1945 and 1975, the forests were devastated first by wars, and then by forest clearing for wood and agricultural purposes. As a consequence, rafter beekeeping dramatically decreased in the area. The technique is still used today at the state farm of Song Trem in U Minh District. According to a survey, about 96 beekeepers are in the area. In 1991, they harvested 16,608 litres of honey and 747 kg of wax.


The dwarf honey bee (or red dwarf honey bee), Apis florea, is one of two species of small, wild honey bees of southern and southeastern Asia. It has a much wider distribution than its sister species, Apis andreniformis. First identified in the late 18th century, Apis florea is unique for its morphology, foraging behavior and defensive mechanisms like making a piping noise. Apis florea have open nests and small colonies, which makes them more susceptible to predation than cavity nesters with large numbers of defensive workers. These honey bees are important pollinators and therefore commodified in countries like Cambodia.


Danish zoologist Johan Christian Fabricius first identified Apis florea in 1787. A. florea is a member of the Apis genus. The Apidae is a diverse family of bees including honey bees, orchid bees, bumble bees, stingless bees, cuckoo bees and carpenter bees. The name Florea is a personal name of Romanian origin. A. florea is native to southeast Asia, and therefore one of the most phylogenetically basal bees. This suggests that honeybees originated in this region, with A. florea being one of the oldest and potentially similar to ancestors; therefore its first appearance in phylogeny occurs before that of A. mellifera and A. cerena. A. mellifera most likely evolved from A. florea and then migrated to Europe. A. florea, a dwarf honeybee, is a sister species of Apis andreniformis. These sister species are the most ancient honeybee lineage, most likely diverging in the Bartonian era.


A. florea is called the dwarf honey bee due to its small size compared to other honeybees. A worker is typically 7–10 mm in body length and its overall coloration is red-brown. A colony builds a single, exposed comb usually on tree branches or shrubs. A. florea produce honey that is harvested and eaten in Thailand and Cambodia. They are excellent pollinators, which gives them an important ecological role in the places they inhabit. Drones carry a thumb-like bifurcation called the basitarsus, which is located two-thirds along the length of the tibia. The fimbriate lobe of A. florea has three protrusions and they sting using two stylet barbs.
Apis florea and its sister species together comprise the subgenus Micrapis, and are the most primitive of the living species of Apis, reflected in their small colony size, and simple nest construction. The exposed single combs are built on branches of shrubs and small trees. The forager bees do not perform a gravity-oriented waggle dance on the vertical face of the comb to recruit nestmates as in the domesticated Apis mellifera and other species. Instead, they perform the dance on the horizontal upper surface where the comb wraps around the supporting branch. The dance is a straight run pointing directly to the source of pollen or nectar the forager has been visiting. The distinctiveness of the two species A. florea and A. andreniformis was established unequivocally in the 1990s. A. florea is redder and old workers always have a red first abdomen (younger workers are paler in colour, as is the case in giant honey bees); A. andreniformis is generally darker and the first abdomen segment is completely black in old bees. Distinguishing characteristics of the dwarf honey bees are outlined below:


A. florea spans the continents of Asia and Africa and is most commonly seen in Southeastern Asia (Thailand), the Northeastern part of India, China, and forested regions of the Middle East. A. florea reach a decision about a new nesting site via dancing. They decide on a site when the largest number of individuals dance in the direction of the new site. The workers use an auditory signal of piping to indicate a decision about a new site has been reached, with the top of the swarm lifting off into the air first, followed by the bottom of the swarm and then the middle reaching the air last, but all within one minute of the swarm’s initial lift off. Since dancing is a common mechanism of communicating about a new nesting site in both A. florea and A. mellifera, it is suggested that this form of nest site selection evolved in the common ancestor of Apis. However, A. florea do not re-evaluate a site before several individuals move to the new site like A. mellifera does. Instead, swarms travel to the new site as a group and leave to a new site if it is later discovered to be unsuitable. This makes searching for new sites a much faster process for A. florea, but not necessarily more accurate.
Apis florea are found in southeastern Asian countries, especially in Thailand, Iran, Oman, United Arab Emirates, India, Myanmar, and some parts of China, Cambodia, and Vietnam. Since 1985 Apis florea is also found in Sudan. They live in forest habitats but they are also pollinators of tropical fruit crops in Thailand. Apis florea build exposed nests always with a single comb on a single branch. If they are building a new nest near to the old one, they salvage the wax from the old nest. Other species of honeybee do not exhibit this behavior, perhaps because of the risk of contaminating pathogens. This behavior is only observed in this species. Even within the species this behavior differs, the colonies that migrate less than 200 meters engage in wax recycling, but the colonies that migrate longer distances do not.


The annual colony cycle of honeybees involves migration, swarming, and absconding. A. florea migrate seasonally from one habitat to another. This might increase colony fitness, as the honeybees search for new territories, resources, or a reduction in parasites. Once a colony has outgrown its hive space, it will reproduce via swarming. During warmer seasons like spring and summer, ambient temperatures allow honeybees to forage actively, and they will reproduce frequently. During the colder seasons of autumn and winter, colonies diminish in size because they depend on food stores. Before swarming, the colony will build queen cells in order for virgin queens to rear young queens. Before the new queens emerge, the colony’s workers search for a new nesting site. Afterwards, the bees will choose who stays and who goes. Similar to absconding behavior, the old queen will swarm while the new queens prepare for emergence.


In a single patriline, more workers mean the colony will produce more drones. High mating frequency in A. florea has been evolutionarily selected for as observed in other members of the genus. The average lifespan of a drone is 15.6 days, ranging from 6–41 days. The queen has a much longer lifespan consistent with the longevity of the colony. A. florea have workers that police to ensure that workers’ eggs are destroyed at twice the rate of queens’ eggs using oophagy. The queens’ eggs are marked as to avoid destruction by worker bees. Since this behavior is also observed in A. mellifera, this suggests that policing mechanism behaviors evolved before the divergence of the genus Apis.


A. florea adults eat primarily honey and nectar but also feed the brood on pollen. Future queens are fed royal jelly and are reared in larger cells so they become larger.


A. florea adopt the open-comb branch site as an information center for foraging. The branch platforms serves as a location for bee dancing that conveys important foraging information to other bees.  They are commonly seen foraging near branches and small bushes. They mainly forage for pollen and nectar as food sources as well as water and safety from predators. Their frequent foraging and long migration range displays their high degree of mobility. They tend to build combs at lower elevations, away from direct sunlight and on the peripheral side of plant branches. A. florea forage openly, unlike A. cerana that mostly forage in parts of the hive that are not visible. Dialect observed in A. florea does not correlate with foraging range. A. florea tend to have longer foraging durations when compared to other bees in this genus, perhaps because they require smaller territories at lower altitudes and build open-combs on branches or twigs. Their small size necessitates more time to forage for pollen or nectar because they have a limit on how much food they can carry. Therefore, it is worth the cost of foraging for a longer duration if it means gaining the benefit of a highly nutritious food source.


A. florea demonstrate aggressive behaviors when competing for territory. Additionally, they compensate for their small size and limited flight range with more aggressive behavior since their flight range is also limited. This suggests that aggressive behavior is naturally selected for in A. florea because it facilitates defending flowers in a smaller territory.


When a queen mates, the sperm is transferred into the spermatheca directly. Specifically, A. florea females produce no mucus as a sign of mating, unlike A. mellifera queens.  A. florea males use a clasper organ at the hindleg to hold the queen’s leg during mating. Anatomical studies support the hypothesis that A. florea mate via direct sperm transfer. A. florea queens typically mate with 3-4 males.  A. florea mate with fewer drones than A. mellifera. A. mellifera queens mate with as many as 25 drones and simply deposit spermatozoa in the oviducts of the queen, where only 10% of spermatozoa reach the spermatheca. Thus, A. florea use the more energetically efficient method of sperm transfer.


Defending a large social honey bee colony containing several thousands of workers requires simultaneous action of many individuals, which ideally involved communication between workers, enabling coordinated action and a fast response. Apis florea employ a defensive strategy called "piping", in which one individual emits an initial warning signal ("piping"), which is followed 0.3-0.7 seconds later by a general response from a large number of bees ("hissing"). With a fundamental frequency of 384 ± 31 Hz that lasts 0.82 ± 0.35 seconds, piping is audible to the human ear. Hissing is a noisy, broad band signal that is also audible to the human ear and produced by slight movements of the bees' wings. Individuals close to the piping bee are the first to hiss, which spreads rapidly to neighbors until an impressive coordinated crescendo is produced by the entire colony. Piping and hissing are accompanied by workers ceasing activity such as foraging dancing and departures from the colony.


As social bees, A. florea require a mechanism of communication, especially when conveying important spatial information about foraging, including direction and distance. The time elapsed during the waggle phase when a dancer moves forward while shaking the abdomen from side to side indicates the distance to a site. The longer the waggle phase, the longer the distance to a site and vice versa. In order to indicate direction, A. florea workers orient the waggle phase in the direction of the site, while dancing on the crow of the nest or swarm. The precision of dance does not depend on the type of site i.e. nest sites or food patches. In other words, A. florea do not change the precision of the waggle dance to indicate a goal is a nest site or food patch, unlike A. mellifera, which do change precision when conveying information about food patches specifically. This suggests that A. florea do not prioritize nesting site nor food patch information by changing the precision of dance.


Even in a single nest there is high genetic diversity among the Apis florea bees. Since honey bee queens are polygamous, strong genetic variability exists. The tendency of this species to perform certain tasks is dependent on this variation. For example, fanning of the nest is done by specific set of workers, when the nest reaches a specific temperature threshold.


Apis florea's younger individuals work within the nests performing maintenance while older individuals are responsible for protection and foraging. Some specific tasks like fanning of the comb to maintain a stable temperature are done by a specific set of workers, which is genetically motivated. This is completed by patrilines because diverse patrilines respond to a specific temperature threshold. When a queen mates with multiple unrelated males, genotypically diverse workers emerge in the colony. These colonies may be more fit than genetically uniform colonies perhaps because they are able to tolerate a wider range of environmental conditions. In such cases, A. florea may use genetically based task specialization, in which highly related daughters of a haploid male have genetic predispositions to undertake certain tasks. This could explain why polyandry has evolved and been maintained.


Aside from their small size, simple exposed nests and simplified dance language, the lifecycle and behavior of this species is fairly similar to other species of Apis. Workers of A. florea, like those of the species A. mellifera, also engage in worker policing, a process where nonqueen eggs are removed from the hive. Queenless A. florea colonies have been observed to merge with nearby queen-right A. florea colonies, suggesting workers are attracted to queen bee pheromones.


In the presence of a multiply mated queen, eggs laid by workers are removed in a process called worker policing. Worker policing is thus a result of genetic conflicts of interest among workers used non-exclusively by honeybees and wasps. With worker policing, workers control the production of males by other workers in favor of reproduction by the queen. In a colony with a single, multiple mating queen, all workers are equally related to male eggs laid by the queen [relatedness (r) = 0.25]. However, each worker is more related to a male egg laid by itself (r=0.5) or a male egg laid by a full sister (r=0.375). So in a colony with a singly mated queen, workers do not eat each other's eggs since their own and other's eggs are more closely related to them than the queen eggs are. But Apis florea is multiply mated, which reduces relatedness of workers to the eggs laid by other workers. If they do not share the same father, then relatedness of a worker to her half sister's son is only 0.125, half that of her relatedness to her brothers. So in this case each worker wants to lay her own eggs but her sisters prevent it and worker policing occurs. As an evolutionarily stable strategy (ESS), workers thus compromise by raising the eggs laid by the queen only and removing any eggs laid by other workers. Worker policing is therefore more beneficial to workers than rearing their own eggs because they are better able to ensure the survival of their genetic material through working policing as an ESS. This may explain why workers have inactive ovaries in queenright colonies of this multiply mated species.
Queenless colonies therefore face a reproductive dilemma. Once a colony becomes queenless, some workers activate their ovaries within just four days and lay eggs in a last effort to ensure gene survival before the colony disappears via absconding behavior. In queenless colonies, worker policing decreases as all workers lay male eggs. However, the dilemma occurs when other workers parasitize a queenless colony and thus worker policing may be re-installed to some extent in this case. Workers that contribute resources and/or time to a queenless colony may succumb to the Concorde fallacy, in which investing in a colony with high rates of parasitism diminishes reproductive success and the benefits of remaining within that colony. Therefore, queenless colonies are observed to abscond within three weeks of losing a queen. This further supports the notion that Apis florea prefer to have a queenright colony and use worker policing as an ESS.


Apis florea can migrate to a variety of diverse locations due to human introduction or of their own volition. It poses a threat to native insects like Apis mellifera because they compete for the same resources.


The most dominant predators for Apis florea are ants and other arthropods. Since A. florea use open-combs, they must protect their comb from the outside, specifically at site of a branch. They employ two lines of defense. The first is against any falling object like leaves or other debris. A. florea use the head-pushing technique to move obstructions. The second line of defense is against ants and other arthropods. They accomplish this by creating sticky or repellent barriers (see Defense against Predators).


A. florea have two main interactions with humans: hunting and tourism. In Asia, there is widespread hunting of these bees because they are harmless to humans and they also have social and cultural significance to the two main religions in Asia: Hindu and Buddhism. In Hindu culture, the honey from such bees represents “the blendedness of everything” and is served with other ingredients in a variety of traditional ceremonies. In Buddhist culture, gifting honey to fellow monks is considered equal to giving alms, one of the most expressive ways that one can reward a good deed. In addition to being widely hunted and holding high cultural value, honey hunting sites are considered tourist sites in places like Nepal. Increased deforestation due to industrialization has enhanced bee migration to areas which are less populated, thus human interaction is mainly limited to fairly rural regions of Asia.


Aplectrum hyemale is a species of orchid native to the eastern United States and Canada, from Oklahoma east to the Carolinas and north to Minnesota, Ontario, Quebec and Massachusetts. It is particularly common in the Appalachian Mountains, the Great Lakes Region, and the Ohio and Upper Mississippi Valleys. Isolated populations are also reported from Arizona.
Aplectrum hyemale is the sole species of the genus Aplectrum. The generic name comes from Greek and signifies "spurless". The species is commonly referred to as Adam and Eve or putty root; the latter refers to the mucilaginous fluid which can be removed from the tubers when they are crushed.
Aplectrum hyemale spreads underground through the growth of its tubers, forming large colonies. The leaves appear in late November and persist until March.  They are uniquely pin-striped, with parallel alternating silvery-white and green stripes. In late May or early June the flower stalk emerges carrying several flowers, each only a few millimeters across. It is sometimes confused with Tipularia discolor, another orchid species that occurs in eastern North America.
There exists a color variation, Aplectrum hyemale var. pallidum which differs in flower color.


The Asian glossy starling (Aplonis panayensis) is a species of starling in the family Sturnidae. It is found in Bangladesh, Brunei, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan (introduced) and Thailand. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest and subtropical or tropical mangrove forest. There is also a huge number of this species inhabiting towns and cities, where they take refuge in abandoned buildings and trees. They often move in large groups and are considered one of the noisiest species of birds. In the Philippines, it is known as kulansiyang, galansiyang, or kuling-dagat.


Apogeshna stenialis, the checkered apogeshna moth, is a moth in the family Crambidae. It is found from Maine to Florida, west to Alabama, Illinois and Ohio. It is also found in Mexico (Veracruz, Tabasco), Panama, Honduras, and the Dominican Republic.
The wingspan is about 17 mm. The forewings are variably bright to pale yellow along the costa and brown along the inner margin and beyond the postmedial line. There is a hollow oval spot in median area, and another descending from the antemedial line. The hindwings are brown with large dark-edged pale patches. The fringes are dark with scattered pale patches. Adults are on wing in spring and summer.


Aptera fusca, the Cape Mountain cockroach, giant cockroach or Table Mountain cockroach, is a large cockroach which is widespread on low vegetation in open areas  in the fynbos biome of the Western Cape region of South Africa. Adult females can be from 30 to 40 millimetres (1.2 to 1.6 in) long. Males are slightly smaller (body length 29 millimetres (1.1 in)) and have dark brown wings, which are absent in females. It is stoutly built, with a reddish head and brown to black body segments with prominent yellow margins. The femora are heavily spined, with the hind tibiae having two very broad ridges with only two rows of spurs. They are nocturnal and herbivorous. Unusually for insects, it gives birth to 18–24 live offspring and protects the young for a while after giving birth. Family groups are found in late summer and autumn: a brood of black nymphs, a wingless female and two or more males, all living in a hidden crack. When alarmed, it raises its abdomen into the air and squeaks loudly; it also releases a foul-smelling liquid from glands on the back  when handled and alarmed, producing an indelible brown stain on skin. The only other species in the genus Aptera, A. munda, is rare, and is found in the Richtersveld.


Aquarius remigis, known as the common water strider, is a species of aquatic bug. It was formerly known as Gerris remigis, but the subgenus Aquarius was elevated to
generic rank in 1990 on the basis of phylogenetic analysis. Aquarius remigis is found throughout North America, but is most prevalent in the mid-west of the United States.


Aquarius remigis grows slightly longer than .5 inches, and is dark brown to black in colour. It has a sharp rostrum that it uses to pierce the body of its prey and suck out the insides.


They normally continue to move to avoid being eaten by predators. It has good vision, and can row quickly over the surface of the water. It uses its front legs to seize its prey.
During breeding season, this species can communicate with potential mates by sending ripples over on the surface of the water.
Adult females normally lay their eggs on plant stems at the water's edge.


This predatory species feeds on mosquito larvae living under the surface, and dead insects on the surface, and other insects that accidentally land on the water.


The wedge-tailed eagle (Aquila audax) is the largest bird of prey in the continent of Australia. It is also found in southern New Guinea to the north and is distributed as far south as the state of Tasmania. This very large but fairly lanky eagle has long, broad wings, fully feathered legs, an unmistakable wedge-shaped tail, a very elongated, strong beak and powerful feet. The wedge-tailed eagle is one of 12 species of large, predominantly dark-coloured booted eagles in the genus Aquila found worldwide. Genetic research has clearly indicated that the wedge-tailed eagle is fairly closely-related to other, generally large members of the Aquila genus. A large brown-to-black bird of prey, it has a maximum reported wingspan of 2.84 m (9 ft 4 in) and a length of up to 1.06 m (3 ft 6 in).
The wedge-tailed eagle is one of its native continent's most generalized birds of prey. They reside in most habitats present in Australia, ranging from desert and semi-desert to plains to mountainous areas to forest, even sometimes tropical rainforests. Preferred habitats, however, tend towards those that have a fairly varied topography including rocky areas, some open terrain and native woodlots such as Eucalyptus stands.
The wedge-tailed eagle is one of the world's most powerful avian predators. Although a true generalist which hunts a wide range of prey, including birds, reptiles and, rarely, other taxa, this species is by and large a mammal predator. The introduction of the European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) has been a boon to the wedge-tailed eagle and they hunt these and other invasive species in large volume, although the wedge-tailed eagle otherwise generally lives off of marsupials, including many surprisingly large macropods. Additionally, wedge-tailed eagles often eat not inconsiderable amounts of carrion, especially while young. Wedge-tailed eagles tend to pair for several years, possibly mating for life.
This species generally constructs a large stick nest in an ample tree, normally the largest in a stand, and lays typically two, although sometimes 1 to 4, eggs. Usually breeding efforts manage to produce one or two fledglings, which after a few months more tend to disperse widely. Nesting failures are usually attributable to human interference such as logging activity and other alterations, which both degrade habitats and cause disturbances. This species is known to be highly sensitive to human disturbance at the nest, which may lead to abandonment of the young. Although historically heavily persecuted by humans via poisonings and shootings, mostly for alleged predation on sheep, wedge-tailed eagles have proved to be exceptionally resilient and have quickly rebounded to similar or even higher than pre-colonization numbers, thanks in part to humans inadvertently providing several food sources such as rabbits and large volumes of roadkills.


The species was first described by the English ornithologist John Latham in 1801 under the binomial name Vultur audax. The genus Vultur is today used only for a completely unrelated bird of the New World vulture family, the Andean condor (Vultur gryphus). The specific scientific name for the species audax, is derived from the Latin audac, meaning “bold”, indicative of the perceived disposition of these raptors, perhaps when hunting (although ironically this species is in general highly wary otherwise and even “timid” towards humans). At one time, the wedge-tailed eagle was classified in it is own monotypical genus Uroaetus, perhaps due to its unique form. However, this species is clearly quite similar, in many respects of morphology, appearance, behaviour and life history, to other species in the Aquila genus. The eagles of the Aquila genus are part of the subfamily Aquilinae, within the larger Accipitridae family. The subfamily is commonly referred to as booted eagles or sometimes as true eagles. These species may be distinguished from most other accipitrids by the feathering covering their legs, regardless of distribution. With some 39 or so species, the Aquilinae is distributed on every continent, excluding Antarctica.
Via a variety of phylogenetic testing, largely via Mitochondrial DNA and Nuclear DNA genes, it has been determined that the wedge-tailed eagle clusters with certain other Aquila eagles. The species found to share the most genetic similarities is the Verreaux's eagle (Aquila verreauxii) of Africa. However, the Gurney's eagle (Aquila gurneyi), a mostly allopatric but outwardly fairly similar eagle is clearly a very close relation of the wedge-tailed eagle and the two are likely sister species, most likely originating from the same radiation across the Indo-Pacific region. These species, the wedge-tailed, Gurney's and Verreaux's eagles, form a clade or a species complex with the well-known golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos), the most widely distributed species in the entire accipitrid family, as well as outwardly dissimilar (smaller and paler-bellied yet also powerful) eagles like the Bonelli's eagle (Aquila fasciata), the African hawk-eagle (Aquila spilogaster) and the Cassin's hawk-eagle (Aquila africanus), the latter three having once been considered members of a different genus. Beyond the aforementioned species, the four other Aquila species while outwardly similar to eagles such as golden and wedge-tailed eagles, being large, dark and brownish with long wings, are thought to form a separate clade based on genetic testing and are paraphyletic from the members of what can be called the golden eagle clade. Other related outliers from, currently from outside the Aquila genus, are the small-to-mid-sized Clanga or spotted eagle species and the widely found and quite small Hieraeetus eagles. One member of the latter genus contains the only other widely found Aquilinae eagle in Australia, the little eagle (Hieraaetus morphnoides).


Two subspecies of wedge-tailed eagle are recognized. However, the separation of the two subspecies has been called into question, largely because the reported differences in both size and coloration can be attributed to clinal variation and some of the insular populations may still be at an intermediate stage of subspecific formation.
A. a. audax (Latham, 1801) – This subspecies resides in the entire continent of Australia as well as in southern New Guinea. It is the typical wedge-tailed eagle as subsequently described.
A. a. fleayi (Condon & Amadon, 1954) – This race is endemic to Tasmania. The subspecies is named in honour of David Fleay, an Australian naturalist who was the first to propose the difference of the insular race. A. a. fleayi differs from mainland wedge-tailed eagles mainly via size and colouring. It is larger than mainland eagle and is said to have particularly outsize mainland eagles in talon dimensions. Furthermore, it is a deep chocolate brown colour rather than blackish in overall colour with a whitish buff colouring to the nape rather than tawny-rufous feathers there. The juvenile is altogether paler and sandier than equivalent aged wedge-tailed eagle on mainland Australia. Although the validity of the subspecies has been questioned, genetic studies have determined that there is no gene flow or introgression between Tasmanian and other wedge-tailed eagles; furthermore, the insular race was likely formed by marine dispersals, a process wedge-tailed eagles may continue to engage in despite usually avoiding large bodies of water, albeit usually in narrower straits.


This is a very large and quite lanky eagle. It is characteristically black but can appear tar to charcoal brown depending on lighting and individual variation. Wedge-tailed eagles have a massive bill but possess a relatively small and rather flat head with a long, almost vulturine neck. Furthermore, they are distinctive for their prominent carpals and baggy feathered trousers. The species tends to perch conspicuously on dead trees, telegraph poles, rocks or the open ground at times. Between the bill size, elongated shape and prominent shoulders this species is highly distinctive, with its long wings extend well down long and markedly wedge-tipped tail while perched. They have a large proportion of bare facial skin is thought to be an adaptation to the warm climate not to carrion eating, as the non-carrion eating Verreaux's eagle has similar facial feathering and the golden eagle eats carrion too. Against the blackish plumage, the tawny-rufous hackles on the neck, forming a lanceolated shape, as well as the pale brown to rufous crissum and narrow mottled grey-brown band across the greater wing coverts all stand out well. The sexes are indistinguishable by plumage. The juvenile is mainly darkish brown with extensive rufous feather edging and a paler, fairly streaky head. Furthermore, the juvenile has a lighter brown crissum, light reddish brown to golden nape with similar colouring extending sometimes to the back and wing band. The wing band is considerably more prominent than those of adults, extending to the median and sometimes the lesser coverts. Rarely, a juvenile may be all dull black, lacking rufous edges or a wing band. The young eagles are much the same by the 2nd through the 4th years though may be almost invariably visibly in moult and with a narrowing wing band. They become darker around the 5th year with a red-brown nape and a still narrowing wing band. Full mature plumage is not attained until the 7th or 8th year, although sexual maturity can be considered as early as 5. Adults have dark brown eyes, while the juvenile has similar but usually slightly darker eyes. Wedge-tailed eagles are typically creamy white on the cere and feet although these can be dull yellow, more so in juveniles than adults. The wedge-tailed eagle has a unique moult process in that they moult almost continuously and very slowly, and it may take 3 or more years for an eagle of the species to complete a moult. Moults are arrested only at times of famine and happen so gradually as to not impede the flight or hunting capacities of an eagle.
In flight, wedge-tailed eagles appear as a very large dark raptor with a well-protruding head, long and relatively narrow-looking wings more or less parallel edged when soaring and most distinctly a long diamond-shaped tail. The shape is fairly dissimilar from any other raptor in the world.  Juveniles tend to be broader winged in comparison. The wingspan is around 2.2 times greater than the total length. They tend to fly with rather loose but deep and powerful beats. Wedge-tailed eagles spend much time sailing along, looking quite stable and controlled even in strong winds. The species glides and soars on upswept wings with long splayed primaries often the ample tail may be upcurved at the edges often (or “dished”). The eagle often spreads its deep wing emarginations to reduce drag in high winds. Quite on the contrary to their superlative and controlled appearance once on the wing, flight for wedge-tailed eagles can be a struggle even in normal circumstances unless from it is from a pinnacle or somewhat windy and within the forest they may clamor about to reach the canopy with a "lack of grace". Gorged birds on the ground can be vulnerable due to being practically grounded, such as historically to Aboriginal hunters. Wedge-tailed eagles have been seen at more than 3,000 m (9,800 ft) in the air by human gliders. The adult is all blackish on the wing but for the tawny-rufous nape and greyish wing band (running less than a quarter of the way down the wing's width). Little relieves the dark coloration below but the pale brown to rufous crissum and the pale greyish bases to their flight feathers. Juvenile wedge-tailed eagles appear much browner although in general are not dissimilar in pattern below though the body and wings relative to adult. However, juveniles may show some paler mottling, of an off-rufous colour. Meanwhile, the juvenile's tail and most flight feathers are barred greyish which in turn contrast against the pale based primaries with black tips. Above, the juvenile bears much paler and more sandy rufous colour from the head to at least upper mantle and along broad wing band (as well as more than half the wing width). The lighter dorsal colour sometimes extends to much of the back and scapulars. Rare individual juvenile wedge-tailed eagles are dull black without wing band or paler edges. With much variation in individuals, generally as the young eagles age, the signature wing band shrinks incrementally and after 5th year the plumage darkens.


The female wedge-tailed eagle is one of the world's largest eagles. Its nearest rival in Australia for size is some 15% smaller linearly and 25% lighter in weight. As is typical in birds of prey, the female is larger than the male; although a few individuals are larger by only 0–17%, they average up to 33% larger. A full-grown female weighs between 3.0 and 5.8 kg (6.6 and 12.8 lb), while the smaller males weigh 2 to 4 kg (4.4 to 8.8 lb). Total length varies between 81 and 106 cm (32 and 42 in) and the wingspan typically is between 182 and 232 cm (6 ft 0 in and 7 ft 7 in). In 1930, the average weight and wingspans of 43 birds were 3.4 kg (7.5 lb) and 204.3 cm (6 ft 8 in). The same average figures for a survey of 126 eagles in 1932 were 3.63 kg (8.0 lb) and 226 cm (7 ft 5 in), respectively. According to one guide, the mean body mass of male wedge-tailed eagles is 2.5 kg (5.5 lb) while that of females is listed as 4.7 kg (10 lb), which, if accurate, is one of the most extreme examples of size sexual dimorphism known in any bird of prey. However, another sample showed far less stark size differences, with 29 males weighing an average of 3.13 kg (6.9 lb) and 29 females an average of 3.8 kg (8.4 lb). In the same sample, from the Nullarbor Plain, males averaged wingspan of 193 cm (6 ft 4 in) (sample of 26) and body length of 85.2 cm (33.5 in) (sample 5) while females had an average wingspan of 209 cm (6 ft 10 in) (sample 23) and body length of 92.1 cm (36.3 in). However, the Nullarbor Plain eagles appear slightly smaller than wedge-tailed eagle sizes from other surveys, based on body mass and wing chord sizes. An average length for males of 91 cm (36 in) and 100 cm (39 in) was described for wedge-tailed eagles in Queensland. Another source claimed an average male weight of 3.2 kg (7.1 lb) and average female body mass of 4.3 kg (9.5 lb). Yet another book lists males as averaging 2.95 kg (6.5 lb) and females as averaging 3.97 kg (8.8 lb). A sample of 10 males averaged 3.14 kg (6.9 lb) while 19 females weighed 4.18 kg (9.2 lb). The mean body mass of males in Tasmania was 3.5 kg (7.7 lb) while that for females was 4.1 kg (9.0 lb).
The largest wingspan ever verified for an eagle was for this species. A female killed in Tasmania in 1931 had a wingspan of 284 cm (9 ft 4 in), and another female measured barely smaller at 279 cm (9 ft 2 in). Similar claims, however, have been made for the Steller's sea eagle (Haliaeetus pelagicus), which has been said to reach or exceed 274 cm (9 ft 0 in) in wingspan. Reported claims of wedge-tailed eagles spanning 312 cm (10 ft 3 in) and 340 cm (11 ft 2 in) were unverified and deemed to be unreliable per Guinness World Records. This eagle's great length and wingspan place it among the largest eagles in the world, but its wings, at more than 65 cm (26 in), and tail, at up to 45 cm (18 in), are unusually elongated for its body weight, and nine or ten other eagle species regularly outweigh it. It is around the third heaviest Aquila species, outsized only somewhat by the golden eagle and slightly by the Verreaux's eagle, although it only slightly exceeds the weight of the Spanish imperial eagle (Aquila adalberti).  Among the entire booted eagle subfamily, in addition to the two heavier Aquila, it is outsized in bulk by the martial eagle (Polemaetus bellicosus), while the also long-tailed crowned eagle (Stephanoaetus coronatus) can average of a roughly similar body mass to the wedge-tailed eagle, although the latter is marginally the heavier bird. The wedge-tailed is significantly exceeded in body mass by only a few eagles, especially the Steller's sea eagle and harpy eagle (Harpia harpyja) and somewhat so by the Philippine eagle (Pithecophaga jefferyi), the white-tailed eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) and the bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus). However, it rivals the Steller's and harpy eagles and is known to be exceeded only by the Philippine eagle in total length. The wedge-tailed eagle's wingspan is the largest of any Aquila, and is exceeded amongst all eagles probably only by the white-tailed and Steller's sea eagles in average spread though its average (not maximum) wingspan is rivaled by that of the martial eagle.
Among standard measurements, within the nominate subspecies, the wing chord of males may range from 553 to 667 mm (21.8 to 26.3 in) while that of the female is from 600 to 703 mm (23.6 to 27.7 in). In Tasmania, the wing chord measured from 594 to 664 mm (23.4 to 26.1 in) in males and 620 to 711 mm (24.4 to 28.0 in) in females. In Nullarbor Plain, males averaged 587 mm (23.1 in) in wing chord while females averaged 638 mm (25.1 in). Other Australian wedge-tailed eagles averaged 611 mm (24.1 in) in wing chord among males and 650 mm (26 in) among females. In Tasmania, the wing chord averaged 618.8 mm (24.36 in) in males and 661.3 mm (26.04 in) in females. The extreme tail length, slightly to greatly exceeding that of other Aquila, is in males from 352 to 479 mm (13.9 to 18.9 in), averaging 370 mm (15 in) in the Nullarbor eagles and 421.2 mm (16.58 in) in Tasmania, and from 376 to 536 mm (14.8 to 21.1 in), averaging 410 mm (16 in) in Nullarbor and 448.9 mm (17.67 in) in Tasmania. Although they only slightly exceed in tail length the heavier two Aquila and crowned eagles and they can rival the tail lengths of the Philippine and the Harpiinae eagles, Tasmanian wedge-tailed eagles are quite likely to be the longest tailed of all modern eagles. The length of the tarsus may be from 99 to 139.9 mm (3.90 to 5.51 in). The tarsus of 7 males averaged 104.3 mm (4.11 in) while that of 7 females averaged 111.1 mm (4.37 in). In terms of bill measurements, the exposed culmen may range from 37.5 to 61.6 mm (1.48 to 2.43 in) in males and 46.3 to 65.1 mm (1.82 to 2.56 in) in females while total bill length (from the gape) is from 55 to 67 mm (2.2 to 2.6 in) and 58.2 to 73 mm (2.29 to 2.87 in), in the sexes respectively. It is likely to be the largest billed Aquila, a bit ahead of the imperial eagles and the Verreaux's eagle, behind only the larger Haliaeetus and Philippine eagles amongst all eagles. In Tasmania, culmen lengths averaged 48.4 mm (1.91 in) in males and 51.4 mm (2.02 in) in females while the total length of the bill averaged 59.4 mm (2.34 in) and 63.2 mm (2.49 in). The hallux claw, the enlarged rear talon on the hind toe, is slightly smaller than that of a golden or Verreaux's eagle, even proportionately, but is by no mean small and is extremely sharp. According to one study, wedge-tailed eagles had a hallux claw of 38.9 mm (1.53 in), ranging from 38.1 to 41 mm (1.50 to 1.61 in), in males 44.7 mm (1.76 in), ranging from 40.6 to 48.1 mm (1.60 to 1.89 in) in a sample of 10, in females. Another source listed the hallux claw of mainland Australian eagles as averaging 41 mm (1.6 in) in males and 46 mm (1.8 in) in females. Meanwhile, in Tasmanian eagles, the hallux claw averaged 45.2 mm (1.78 in), ranging from 38.6 to 48.8 mm (1.52 to 1.92 in), in males while in females the hallux claw averaged 49.9 mm (1.96 in), ranging from 45.5 to 55.6 mm (1.79 to 2.19 in). In terms of osteological structure and size, the wedge-tailed eagle is said to be proportional to other eagles, being notably smaller and less robust than the heaviest eagles such as Steller's and harpies but fairly similar in osteology in both structure and proportions to the golden eagle.


Their unique combination of large size, lanky build, long, diamond-shaped tail (though can be round-ended when both central feathers are moulted together), mainly black or rather dark plumage, and long wings seen when soaring or gliding make all ages of the wedge-tailed eagle fairly unmistakable in the majority of their range. The only main confusion species is often the black-breasted kite (Hamirostra melanosternon), which is surprisingly similar in colouring but is much smaller with a relatively short, squared tail and extensive clear white windows covering a good part of their wings. Juveniles of the white-bellied sea eagle (Haliaeetus leucogaster), at times mentioned as potentially confusable with a young wedge-tailed eagle, are much paler below with a rather different flight pattern: a short pale tail, bare legs, shorter, broader wings held in stiff dihedral. In New Guinea, the Gurney's eagle is more similar than those species in form and build but the Gurney's is somewhat smaller and more compact than the wedge-tailed eagle with rich yellow feet, a rather shorter rounded or faintly wedge-tipped tail, shorter and relatively broader wings (in adaptation to more forest-living). Furthermore, the Gurney's eagle has a much paler immature plumage. Although usually considered an island endemic, the Gurney's eagle is possibly capable of marine dispersals, as is the wedge-tailed eagle, that may lead to them to turn up in the forests of northern Australia and historical reports show that a rare vagrant of the species may indeed appear there. Papuan eagle (Harpyopsis novaeguineae), the only other island raptor in New Guinea that approaches the wedge-tailed in size is a highly distinct and forest-restricted species, being much paler, particularly below, with long bare legs and different proportions, more like a giant Accipiter with short rounded wings, a long, somewhat rounded tipped tail and a large, rounded head.


The wedge-tailed eagle is not a bird well known for its vocalization nor are they often heard. They may be silent for long stretches of time, possibly months, at least outside of breeding season. When vocalizations have been documented, it usually only near the nest and in aerial display and can be hard to hear unless at close range. The commonest calls for wedge-tailed eagles are high, rather thin whistles, sometimes transcribed as I-see, I-see followed by a short descending see-tya. Also documented during the breeding season are various other whistles, yelps and squeals and an often rolling series. Characteristically, all their calls are surprisingly weak though the main call is sometimes considered to have a “melancholy” quality. The opinion on their call is not dissimilar to the golden eagle, whose voice is similarly considered unimpressive. Female calls in wedge-tailed eagles are similar but are generally lower and harsher than males.


Wedge-tailed eagles are found throughout Australia, including Tasmania and southern New Guinea in almost all habitats, though they tend to be more common in favourable habitat in southern and eastern Australia. In Australia, they may be found almost continuously all the way from the Cape York Peninsula in the north down to Wilsons Promontory National Park and Great Otway National Parks in the southern tips of the continent and from Shark Bay in the western side of the continent to Great Sandy National Park and Byron Bay in the east. They are widespread throughout the desert interior of Australia, however are rare or occur at low densities in the most arid parts of the continent, such as the Lake Eyre Basin. Offshore, the wedge-tailed eagle may be distributed in several of the larger and some of the smaller Australian islands. These include a majority of the Torres Strait Islands, Albany Island, Pipon Island,  the isles of Bathurst Bay, many small isles in Queensland from Night Island down to the South Cumberland Islands, Fraser Island, Moreton Island, North Stradbroke Island, Montague Island, Kangaroo Island, the Nuyts Archipelago, Groote Eylandt and the Tiwi Islands. In Tasmania, they may be found essentially throughout as well as some isles of the Kent Group, Bass Strait, Flinders Island and Cape Barren Island. In New Guinea, the wedge-tailed eagle is highly range restricted and can be found in predominantly in the Trans-Fly savanna and grasslands and the general area around the Western Province, as well as in the Merauke Regency, with some isolated reports in Western New Guinea, the Bensbach River and the Oriomo River.


The wedge-tailed eagle inhabits an extremely wide range of habitats. Although range restricted relative to the golden eagle, it likely occupies a wider range of habitat types than likely any other Aquila eagle and indeed may outrival any booted eagle species in their usage of diverse habitats, being somewhat more akin to habitat generalist raptors such as Buteo buzzards. Assorted habitats known to host wedge-tailed eagles includes open woodland, savanna, heathland, grasslands, desert edge and semi-desert, subalpine forests, montane grasslands and mountain peaks, not-too-dense tropical rainforests, monsoon forests, dwarf conifer forests, some wetlands as well as regularly forays to coastal areas, though normally along the coasts they occur around plains somewhat away from the water. Favored habitat tends to be remote or rough country, at least partially wooded and not uncommonly varied with some rocky spots as well as in shrubland. Wedge-tailed eagles seem to prefer some dead trees to be present. They may occur around Eucalyptus woodland quite regularly, as well as Acacia woodland and mixed woodlands of Casuarina cristata-Flindersia maculosa-Callitris cypresses and also stands of Casuarina cunninghamiana. A strong preference was detected for C. cunninghamiana alternatively with several Eucalyptus species was detected in the Australian Capital Territory, sloping ground allowing good access and access to tall, mature trees being paramount to the eagles in the study. Quite often they will be seen soaring over hills, mountains or escarpments as well as over flat plains, especially spinex grassland. Dense forest is typically avoided with glades and edge often sought out in forested areas. While they do occur in rich riparian woodlands, it is with relative scarcity despite this being where many other raptors of the nation concentrate. In the deserts of the Lake Eyre basin, they are often seen in gibber plains along treed watercourses and drainage basins, here often concentrated around Eucalyptus in stony creek beds. In the sandy desert areas of Western Australia, wedge-tailed eagles were once reasonably common but have largely vacated the region after the macropod prey they live off of there were all but hunted to extinction. Wedge-tailed eagles commonly occur from sea level up to about 2,000 m (6,600 ft) with seemingly no preference based on altitudinal level. A fairly pronounced liking for mountainous localities such as plateaus has been detected in a few studies of wedge-tailed eagle. One of the few habitat types considered to be strongly avoided by wedge-tailed eagles are areas intensively settled or cultivated areas. A slightly fading tendency to avoid human areas has been detected, perhaps as persecution rates have gone far down, and the wedge-tailed eagle may be seen near towns and villages in exurban and even suburban areas largely within bushland. However, the species is seldom seen other than as a flyover in more developed towns and cities. Additionally, it is not uncommon in manmade spots such as pasture areas, forestry clearings, and rolling farmland areas.


This impressive bird of prey spends much of the day perching in trees, on rocks as well as similar exposed lookout sites such as cliffs from which it has a good view of its surroundings. Alternatively, they may sit on the ground for long periods of time or watch from a lower point, such as or termite mounds or anthills. Now and then, it takes off from its perch to fly low over its territory. Especially whilst not breeding, wedge-tailed eagles spends a considerable amount of the day on the wing. Wedge-tailed eagles are highly aerial, soaring for hours on end without wingbeat and seemingly without effort, regularly reaching 1,800 m (5,900 ft) and sometimes considerably higher. The purpose of soaring is unknown. During the intense heat of the middle part of the day, it often soars high in the air, circling up on the thermal currents that rise from the ground below. Often when on the wing, it is scarcely visible to the human's naked eye. Their keen eyesight extends into ultraviolet bands. With a visual perception some three times more acute than those of humans, one of the largest pecten oculi of any bird and an eye roughly as big as a small human's, they may be one of the most sharp-eyed birds in the world. The wedge-tailed eagle is a largely sedentary as expected of a raptor dwelling in the subtropics, although they also dwell in the tropics (far northern Australia and New Guinea) as well as in the temperate zone (Tasmania). However, juveniles of the species can be quite dispersive. In some cases, they have moved to a recorded distance of some 836 to 868 km (519 to 539 mi). These extreme movements have been completed within 7 to 8 months after dispersal. More typically they move no farther than 200 km (120 mi) or so. The adult eagles can also be nomadic, though only in circumstances such as drought conditions. In turn this explains the species presence in places they don't breed, even adults. In addition to moving for drought in arid zone, also moves in highest part of New South Wales, e.g. the Snowy Mountains, the species often apparently vacates snow-covered alpine zone in winter. The small New Guinea population is apparently indistinguishable from the mainland race and so possibly result of recent colonization, although no records exist of migrating wedge-tailed eagles islands past the Torres Straits. However, it can be projected from its presence in various offshore islands its capacity for crossing straits ranging up to as far as 50 to 100 km (31 to 62 mi) apart. One post dispersal young eagle was observed to distribute from Kangaroo Island to the mainland, possibly a regular occurrence. Due to their tendency for wandering, some authors class the wedge-tailed eagles as a “partial or irruptive migrant”. However, while they are arguably irruptive, it does not fit the mold of a true migrant well since under normal circumstances adults are rather sedentary unless environmental changes force them to move.
The wedge-tailed eagle is the only bird that has a reputation for not infrequently attacking hang gliders and paragliders, although other eagles including the golden eagle have also been recorded to behave thusly. Based on the response the eagles show to the gliders, they presumably are defending their territory and treating the perceived intruder like another eagle. Cases are recorded of the birds damaging the fabric of these gliders with their talons as well as some other parts of the gliding apparatus, but not the humans themselves, has been reported. They have also been reported to attack and destroy unmanned aerial vehicles used for mining survey operations in Australia. The presence of a wedge-tailed eagle often causes panic among smaller birds, and as a result, aggressive species such as magpies (one of the most vulnerable types of passerine to eagle attacks), butcherbirds, wagtails, monarch flycatchers, lapwings, and miners as well as smaller birds of prey, including both accipitrids and falcons, any of which may aggressively mob eagles (see video). Multiple species may join the kerfuffle and mob them, especially while the eagles perched, often engaging in noisy calling, presumably meant to disorient the predator, and occasionally in physical attacks against the eagle, typically focused where the big, relatively lumbering eagles could not grasp the attacking birds. The wedge-tailed eagle usually does not engage its tormentors but sometimes rolls in the air to present talons whether perched or not. Sometimes wedge-tailed eagles appear to fight but this and other behaviours, especially between young eagles, may be interpreted as playful. Some such behaviours have included fetching sticks tossed by others, athletic flipping between juvenile eagles and even playing games with dogs, via floating above them until the dogs bark or leap then floating up until the dog settles and then repeating the “game”.
Flocking behaviour has been noted, similar to that of vultures (Cathartidae and Accipitridae) in other countries, when carrion is available.