Question: What country does this park belong to?

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Rila National Park. Rila National Park () is the largest national park in Bulgaria spanning an area of 810.46 (km2) in the Rila mountain range in the south-west of the country. ## History.It was established on 24 February 1992 to protect several ecosystems of national importance. Its altitude varies from 800 (m) near Blagoevgrad to 2925 (m) at Musala Peak, the highest summit in the Balkan Peninsula. There are 120 glacial lakes, including the prominent Seven Rila Lakes. Many rivers have their source in the national park, including the river that carries the most water entirely within the Balkans (the Maritsa river) and.

Rila National Park. the longest river entirely within in Bulgaria (the Iskar river).The national park occupies territory from 4 of the 28 provinces of the country: Sofia, Kyustendil, Blagoevgrad and Pazardzhik. It includes four nature reserves: Parangalitsa, Central Rila Reserve, Ibar and Skakavitsa.Rila National Park is among the largest and most valuable protected areas in Europe. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has listed the park as Category II. Two of the four nature reserves are included in the UN list of Representative Protected Areas, and four of the nature reserves are included in the World Network of Biosphere Reserves under.


Question: What is this plant named after?

Instruction: Retrieve a Wikipedia paragraph that provides an answer to the given query about the image.

Banksia. Banksia is a genus of around 170 species in the plant family Proteaceae. These Australian wildflowers and popular garden plants are easily recognised by their characteristic flower spikes, and fruiting "cones" and heads. "Banksias" range in size from prostrate woody shrubs to trees up to 30 metres (100 ft) tall. They are found in a wide variety of landscapes: sclerophyll forest, (occasionally) rainforest, shrubland, and some more arid landscapes, though not in Australia's deserts.Heavy producers of nectar, "banksias" are a vital part of the food chain in the Australian bush. They are an important food source for all sorts of.

Banksia. nectarivorous animals, including birds, bats, rats, possums, stingless bees and a host of invertebrates. Further, they are of economic importance to Australia's nursery and cut flower industries. However, these plants are threatened by a number of processes including land clearing, frequent burning and disease, and a number of species are rare and endangered.## Description.Banksias grow as trees or woody shrubs. Trees of the largest species, "B. integrifolia" (coast banksia) and "B. seminuda" (river banksia), often grow over 15 metres tall, some even grow to standing 30 metres tall. "Banksia" species that grow as shrubs are usually erect, but there are.

Banksia. several species that are prostrate, with branches that grow on or below the soil.The leaves of "Banksia" vary greatly between species. Sizes vary from the narrow, 1– centimetre long needle-like leaves of "B. ericifolia" (heath-leaved banksia), to the very large leaves of "B. grandis" (bull banksia), which may be up to 45 centimetres long. The leaves of most species have serrated edges, but a few, such as "B. integrifolia", do not. Leaves are usually arranged along the branches in irregular spirals, but in some species they are crowded together in whorls. Many species have differing juvenile and adult leaves (e.g.,.

Banksia. "Banksia integrifolia" has large serrated juvenile leaves).The flowers are arranged in flower spikes or capitate flower heads. The character most commonly associated with "Banksia" is the flower spike, an elongated inflorescence consisting of a woody axis covered in tightly packed pairs of flowers attached at right angles. A single flower spike generally contains hundreds or even thousands of flowers; the most recorded is around 6000 on inflorescences of "B. grandis". Not all "Banksia" have an elongate flower spike, however: the members of the small "Isostylis" complex have long been recognised as "banksias" in which the flower spike has been reduced.

Banksia. to a head; and recently the large genus "Dryandra" has been found to have arisen from within the ranks of "Banksia", and sunk into it as "B." ser. "Dryandra". They similarly have capitate flower heads rather than spikes."Banksia" flowers are usually a shade of yellow, but orange, red, pink and even violet flowers also occur. The colour of the flowers is determined by the colour of the perianth parts and often the style. The style is much longer than the perianth, and is initially trapped by the upper perianth parts. These are gradually released over a period of days, either.

Banksia. from top to bottom or from bottom to top. When the styles and perianth parts are different colours, the visual effect is of a colour change sweeping along the spike. This can be most spectacular in "B. prionotes" (acorn banksia) and related species, as the white inflorescence in bud becomes a brilliant orange. In most cases, the individual flowers are tall, thin saccate (sack-shaped) in shape.Occasionally, multiple flower spikes can form. This is most often seen in "Banksia marginata" and "B. ericifolia" "(pictured right)".As the flower spikes or heads age, the flower parts dry up and may turn shades of.

Banksia. orange, tan or dark brown colour, before fading to grey over a period of years. In some species, old flower parts are lost, revealing the axis; in others, the old flower parts may persist for many years, giving the fruiting structure a hairy appearance. Old flower spikes are commonly referred to as "cones", although they are not technically cones according to the botanical definition of the term: cones only occur in conifers and cycads.Despite the large number of flowers per inflorescence, only a few of them ever develop fruit, and in some species a flower spike will set no fruit.

Banksia. at all. The fruit of "Banksia" is a woody follicle embedded in the axis of the inflorescence. In many species, the resulting structure is a massive woody structure commonly called a cone. Each follicle consists of two horizontal valves that tightly enclose the seeds. The follicle opens to release the seed by splitting along the suture. In some species, each valve splits too. In some species the follicles open as soon as the seed is mature, but in most species most follicles open only after stimulated to do so by bushfire. Each follicle usually contains one or two small seeds,.

Banksia. each with a wedge-shaped papery wing that causes it to spin as it falls to the ground.## Taxonomy.Specimens of "Banksia" were first collected by Sir Joseph Banks and Dr Daniel Solander, naturalists on the "Endeavour" during Lieutenant (later Captain) James Cook's first voyage to the Pacific Ocean. Cook landed on Australian soil for the first time on 29 April 1770, at a place that he later named Botany Bay in recognition of "the great quantity of plants Mr Banks and Dr Solander found in this place". Over the next seven weeks, Banks and Solander collected thousands of plant specimens, including.

Banksia. the first specimens of a new genus that would later be named "Banksia" in Banks' honour. Four species were present in this first collection: "B. serrata" (Saw Banksia), "B. integrifolia" (Coast Banksia), "B. ericifolia" (Heath-leaved Banksia) and "B. robur" (Swamp Banksia). In June the ship was careened at Endeavour River, where specimens of "B. dentata" (Tropical Banksia) were collected.The genus "Banksia" was finally described and named by Carolus Linnaeus the Younger in his April 1782 publication "Supplementum Plantarum"; hence the full name for the genus is ""Banksia" L.f.". Linnaeus placed the genus in class Tetrandra, order Monogynia of his father's.

Banksia. classification, and named it in honour of Banks. The name "Banksia" had in fact already been published in 1775 as "Banksia" J.R.Forst & G.Forst, referring to some New Zealand species that the Forsters had collected during Cook's second voyage. However Linnaeus incorrectly attributed the Forsters' specimens to the genus "Passerina", and therefore considered the name "Banksia" available for use. By the time Joseph Gaertner corrected Banks' error in 1788, "Banksia" L.f. was widely known and accepted, so Gaertner renamed "Banksia" J.R.Forst, & G.Forst to "Pimelea", a name previously chosen for the genus by Banks and Solander.The first specimens of a.

Banksia. "Dryandra" were collected by Archibald Menzies, surgeon and naturalist to the Vancouver Expedition. At the request of Joseph Banks, Menzies collected natural history specimens wherever possible during the voyage. During September and October 1791, while the expedition were anchored at King George Sound, he collected numerous plant specimens, including the first specimens of "Dryandra ("now" Banksia) sessilis" (Parrotbush) and "D. ("now" Banksia) pellaeifolia". Upon Menzies' return to England, he turned his specimens over to Banks; as with most other specimens in Banks' library, they remained undescribed for many years. Robert Brown gave a lecture, naming the new genus "Dryandra" in.

Banksia. 1809, however Joseph Knight published the name "Josephia" before Brown published his paper with the description of "Dryandra". Brown ignored Knight's name, as did subsequent botanists.In 1891, Otto Kuntze, strictly applying the principle of priority, argued that "Pimelea" should revert to the name "Banksia" J.R.Forst & G.Forst. He proposed the new genus "Sirmuellera" to replaced "Banksia" L.f. and transferred its species to the new genus. This arrangement was largely ignored by Kuntze's contemporaries."Banksia" L.f. was formally conserved and "Sirmuellera" rejected in 1940."Banksia" belongs to the family Proteaceae, subfamily Grevilleoideae, and tribe Banksieae. There are around 170 species. The closest relatives.

Banksia. of "Banksia" are two genera of rainforest trees in North Queensland ("Musgravea" and "Austromuellera").## Subgeneric arrangement.Alex George arranged the genus into two subgenera—subgenus "Isostylis" (containing "B. ilicifolia", "B. oligantha" and "B. cuneata") and subgenus "Banksia" (containing all other species except those he considered dryandras)—in his 1981 monograph and 1999 treatment for the Flora of Australia series. He held that flower morphology was the key to relationships in the genus. Austin Mast and Kevin Thiele published the official merging of "Dryandra" within "Banksia" in 2007, recalibrating the genus into subgenus "Banksia" and subgenus "Spathulatae".## Distribution and habitat.All but one of the.

Banksia. living "Banksia" species are endemic to Australia. The exception is "B. dentata" (tropical banksia), which occurs throughout northern Australia, and on islands to the north including New Guinea and the Aru Islands. An extinct species, "B. novae-zelandiae", was found in New Zealand. The other species occur in two distinct geographical regions: southwest Western Australia and eastern Australia. Southwest Western Australia is the main centre of biodiversity; over 90% of all "Banksia" species occur only there, from Exmouth in the north, south and east to beyond Esperance on the south coast. Eastern Australia has far fewer species, but these include some.

Banksia. of best known and most widely distributed species, including "B. integrifolia" (coast banksia) and "B. spinulosa" (hairpin banksia). Here they occur from the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia right around the east coast up to Cape York in Queensland.The vast majority of "Banksia" are found in sandy or gravelly soils, though some populations of "B. marginata" (silver banksia) and "B. spinulosa" do occur on soil that is heavier and more clay-like. "B. seminuda" is exceptional for its preference for rich loams along watercourses.Most occur in heathlands or low woodlands; of the eastern species, "B. integrifolia" and "B. marginata" occur in.

Banksia. forests; many south-western species such as "B. grandis", "B. sphaerocarpa", "B. sessilis", "B. nobilis" and "B. dallanneyi" grow as understorey plants in jarrah ("Eucalyptus marginata"), wandoo ("E. wandoo") and karri ("E. diversicolor") forests, with "B. seminuda" being one of the forest trees in suitable habitat.Most species do not grow well near the coast, notable exceptions being the southern Western Australian species "B. speciosa", "B. praemorsa" and "B. repens". Only a few species, such as "B. rosserae" and "B. elderiana" (swordfish banksia), occur in arid areas. Most of the eastern Australian species survive in uplands, but only a few of the.

Banksia. Western Australian species native to the Stirling Ranges – "B. solandri", "B. oreophila", "B. brownii" and "B. montana" – survive at high altitudes.Studies of the south-western species have found the distribution of "Banksia" species to be primarily constrained by rainfall. With the exception of "B. rosserae", no species tolerates annual rainfall of less than 200 millimetres, despite many species surviving in areas that receive less than 400 millimetres. "Banksia" species are present throughout the region of suitable rainfall, with greatest speciation in cooler, wetter areas. Hotter, drier regions around the edges of its range tend to have fewer species with.

Banksia. larger distributions. The greatest species richness occurs in association with uplands, especially the Stirling Range.## Evolution and fossil record.There are many fossils of "Banksia". The oldest of these are fossil pollen between 65 and 59 million years old. There are fossil leaves between 59 and 56 million years old found in southern New South Wales. The oldest fossil cones are between 47.8 and 41.2 million years old, found in Western Australia. Although "Banksia" is now only native to Australia and New Guinea, there are fossils from New Zealand, between 21 and 25 million years old.Evolutionary scientists Marcell Cardillo and Renae.

Banksia. Pratt have proposed a southwest Australian origin for banksias despite their closest relatives being north Queensland rainforest species.## Ecology.Banksias are heavy producers of nectar, making them an important source of food for nectivorous animals, including honeyeaters and small mammals such as rodents, antechinus, honey possums, pygmy possums, gliders and bats. Many of these animals play a role in pollination of "Banksia". Various studies have shown mammals and birds to be important pollinators. In 1978 Carpenter observed that some banksias had a stronger odour at night, possibly to attract nocturnal mammal pollinators. Other associated fauna include the larvae of moths (such.

Banksia. as the Dryandra Moth) and weevils, which burrow into the "cones" to eat the seeds and pupate in the follicles; and birds such as cockatoos, who break off the "cones" to eat both the seeds and the insect larvae.A number of "Banksia" species are considered rare or endangered. These include "B. brownii" (feather-leaved banksia), "B. cuneata" (matchstick banksia), "B. goodii" (Good's banksia), "B. oligantha" (Wagin banksia), "B. tricuspis" (pine banksia), and "B. verticillata" (granite banksia).## Response to fire."Banksia" plants are naturally adapted to the presence of regular bushfires in the Australian landscape. About half of "Banksia" species are killed by.

Banksia. bushfire, but these regenerate quickly from seed, as fire also stimulates the opening of seed-bearing follicles and the germination of seed in the ground. The remaining species usually survive bushfire, either by resprouting from a woody base known as a lignotuber or, more rarely, epicormic buds protected by thick bark. In Western Australia, banksias of the first group are known as 'seeders' and the second group as 'sprouters'.Infrequent bushfires at expected intervals pose no threat, and are in fact beneficial for regeneration of "banksia" populations. However, too frequent bushfires can seriously reduce or even eliminate populations from certain areas, by.

Banksia. killing seedlings and young plants before they reach fruiting age. Many fires near urban areas are caused by arson, and thus the frequency is often much higher than fires would have been prior to human habitation. Furthermore, residents who live in areas near bushland may pressure local councils to burn areas near homes more frequently, to reduce fuel-load in the bush and thus reduce ferocity of future fires. Unfortunately there are often discrepancies in agreed frequency between these groups and conservation groups.## Dieback.Another threat to "Banksia" is the water mould "Phytophthora cinnamomi", commonly known as "dieback". Dieback attacks the roots.

Banksia. of plants, destroying the structure of the root tissues, "rotting" the root, and preventing the plant from absorbing water and nutrients. "Banksia"'s proteoid roots, which help it to survive in low-nutrient soils, make it highly susceptible to this disease. All Western Australian species are vulnerable, although most eastern species are fairly resistant.Vulnerable plants typically die within a few years of infection. In southwest Western Australia, where dieback infestation is widespread, infested areas of "Banksia" forest typically have less than 30% of the cover of uninfested areas. Plant deaths in such large proportions can have a profound influence on the makeup.

Banksia. of plant communities. For example, in southwestern Australia "Banksia" often occurs as an understorey to forests of jarrah ("Eucalyptus marginata"), another species highly vulnerable to dieback. Infestation kills both the jarrah overstorey and the original "Banksia" understorey, and over time these may be replaced by a more open woodland consisting of an overstorey of the resistant marri ("Corymbia calophylla"), and an understorey of the somewhat resistant "Banksia sessilis" (parrot bush).A number of species of "Banksia" are threatened by dieback. Nearly every known wild population of "B. brownii" shows some signs of dieback infection, which could possibly wipe it out within.

Banksia. years. Other vulnerable species include "B. cuneata", and "B. verticillata".Dieback is notoriously difficult to treat, although there has been some success with phosphite and phosphorous acid, which are currently used to inoculate wild "B. brownii" populations. However this is not without potential problems as it alters the soil composition by adding phosphorus. Some evidence suggests that phosphorous acid may inhibit proteoid root formation.Because dieback thrives in moist soil conditions, it can be a severe problem for banksias that are watered, such as in the cut flower industry and urban gardens.## Uses.## Gardening.Most of species are shrubs, only few of them.

Banksia. can be found as trees and they are very popular because of their size, the tallest species are: "B. integrifolia" having its subspecies "B. integrifolia" subsp. "monticola" notable for reaching the biggest size for the genus and it is the most frost tolerant in this genus, "B. seminuda", "B. littoralis", "B. serrata"; species that can grow as small trees or big shrubs: "B. grandis", "B. prionotes", "B. marginata", "B. coccinea", "B. speciosa" and "B. menziesii". Due to their size these species are popularly planted in parks, gardens and streets, the remaining species in this genus are only shrubs.Banksias are popular.

Banksia. garden plants in Australia because of their large, showy flower heads, and because the large amounts of nectar they produce attracts birds and small mammals. Popular garden species include "B. spinulosa", "B. ericifolia", "B. aemula" (Wallum Banksia ), "B. serrata" (Saw Banksia), "Banksia media" (Southern Plains Banksia) and the cultivar "Banksia" 'Giant Candles'. "Banksia" species are primarily propagated by seed in the home garden as cuttings can be difficult to strike. However commercial nurserymen extensively utilize the latter method (indeed, cultivars by nature must be vegetatively propagated by cuttings or grafting).Over time, dwarf cultivars and prostrate species are becoming more.

Banksia. popular as urban gardens grow ever smaller. These include miniature forms under 50 cm high of "B. spinulosa" and "B. media", as well as prostrate species such as "B. petiolaris" and "B. blechnifolia" .Banksias possibly require more maintenance than other Australian natives, though are fairly hardy if the right conditions are provided (sunny aspect and well drained sandy soil).They may need extra water during dry spells until established, which can take up to two years. If fertilised, only slow-release, low-phosphorus fertilizer should be used, as the proteoid roots may be damaged by high nutrient levels in the soil. All respond.

Banksia. well to some form of pruning.Within the Australian horticultural community there is an active subculture of "Banksia" enthusiasts who seek out interesting flower variants, breed and propagate cultivars, exchange materials and undertake research into cultivation problems and challenges. The main forum for exchange of information within this group is ASGAP's "Banksia Study Group".## Cut flower industry.With the exception of the nursery industry, "Banksia" have limited commercial use. Some species, principally "B. coccinea" (scarlet banksia), "B. baxteri", "B. hookeriana" (Hooker's banksia), "B. sceptrum" (sceptre banksia), and "B. prionotes" (acorn banksia), and less commonly "B. speciosa" (showy banksia), "B. menziesii" (Menzies' banksia),.

Banksia. "B. burdettii" and "B. ashbyi" are grown on farms in Western and Southern Australia, as well as Israel and Hawaii, and the flower heads harvested for the cut flower trade. Eastern species, such as "B. ericifolia", "B. robur" and "B. plagiocarpa", are sometimes cultivated for this purpose. The nectar is also sought by beekeepers, not for the quality of the dark-coloured honey, which is often poor, but because the trees provide an abundant and reliable source of nectar at times when other sources provide little.## Woodworking."Banksia" wood is reddish in color with an attractive grain but it is rarely used.

Banksia. as it warps badly on drying. It is occasionally used for ornamental purposes in wood turning and cabinet paneling. It has also been used to make keels for small boats. Historically, the wood of certain species such as "B. serrata" was used for yokes and boat parts. The large "cones" or seed pods of "B. grandis" are used for woodturning projects. They are also sliced up and sold as drink coasters; these are generally marketed as souvenirs for international tourists. Woodturners throughout the world value "Banksia" pods for making ornamental objects.## Indigenous uses.The Indigenous people of south-western Australia would suck.

Banksia. on the flower spikes to obtain the nectar, they also soaked the flower spikes in water to make a sweet drink. The Noongar people of southwest Western Australia also used infusions of the flower spikes to relieve coughs and sore throats. The Girai wurrung peoples of the western district of Victoria used the spent flower cones to strain water by placing the cones in their mouths and using them like a straw. "Banksia" trees are a reliable source of insect larvae which are extracted as food.## Cultural references.## Field guides and other technical resources.A number of field guides and other.

Banksia. semi-technical books on the genus have been published. These include:Field Guide to BanksiasWritten by Ivan Holliday and Geoffrey Watton and first published in 1975, this book contained descriptions and colour photographs of species known at the time. It was largely outdated by the publication of Alex George's classic 1981 monograph, but a revised and updated second edition was released in 1990."The Banksias"This three volume monograph contains watercolour paintings of every "Banksia" species by renowned botanical illustrator Celia Rosser, with accompanying text by Alex George. Its publication represents the first time that such a large genus has been entirely painted. Published.

Banksia. by Academic Press in association with Monash University, the three volumes were published in 1981, 1988 and 2000 respectively.The "Banksia" BookBegun by Australian photographer Fred Humphreys and Charles Gardner, both of whom died before its completion, "The Banksia Book" was eventually completed by Alex George and first published in 1984. It included every species known at the time, with a second edition appearing in 1987 and third in 1996.The "Banksia" AtlasIn 1983 the Australian Biological Resources Study (ABRS) decided to pilot an Australia-wide distribution study of a significant plant genus. "Banksia" was chosen because it was a high-profile, widely distributed.

Banksia. genus that was easily identified, but for which distribution and habitat was poorly known. The study mobilised over 400 volunteers, collecting over 25,000 field observations over a two-year period. Outcomes included the discovery of two new species, as well as new varieties and some rare colour variants, and discoveries of previously unknown populations of rare and threatened species. The collated data was used to create "The Banksia Atlas", which was first published in 1988.Banksias, Waratahs and Grevilleas and all other plants in the Australian Proteaceae familyWritten by J. W. Wrigley and M. Fagg, this was published by Collins Publishers in.

Banksia. 1989. A comprehensive text on all the Proteaceae genera with good historical notes and an overview of the 1975 Johnson & Briggs classification. It is out of print and hard to find.## May Gibb's "Banksia men".Perhaps the best known cultural reference to "Banksia" is the "big bad Banksia men" of May Gibbs' children's book "Snugglepot and Cuddlepie". Gibb's "Banksia men" are modelled on the appearance of aged "Banksia" "cones", with follicles for eyes and other facial features. There is some contention over which species actually provided the inspiration for the "Banksia men": the drawings most resemble the old cones of.

Banksia. "B. aemula" or "B. serrata", but "B. attenuata" (slender banksia) has also been cited, as this was the species that Gibbs saw as a child in Western Australia.## Other cultural references.In 1989, the Banksia Environmental Foundation was created to support and recognise people and organizations that make a positive contribution to the environment. The Foundation launched the annual Banksia Environmental Awards in the same year."B. archaeocarpa"†"B. attenuata""B. integrifolia""B. seminuda""B. ericifolia""B. grandis""B. marginata""B. prionotes""B. dentata""B. novae-zelandiae"†"B. spinulosa""B. sphaerocarpa""B. sessilis""B. nobilis""B. dallanneyi""B. praemorsa""B. repens""B. rosserae""B. elderiana""B. solandri""B. oreophila""B. brownii""B. montana""B. goodii" (Good's Banksia)"B. tricuspis" (Pine Banksia)"B. verticillata" (Granite Banksia)"Isostylis""B. cuneata" (Matchstick Banksia)"B.

Banksia. ilicifolia" (Holly-leaved Banksia)"B. oligantha" (Wagin Banksia) "Banksiamyces" The Banksia Page of ASGAP Banksia Study Group of ASGAP Banksia Farm, Private collection of all Banksia Species, Mount Barker, Western Australia.


Question: What is this food named after?

Instruction: Determine the Wikipedia snippet that matches the question of this image.

Peking duck. Peking duck is a dish from Beijing (Peking) that has been prepared since the Imperial era. The meat is characterized by its thin, crispy skin, with authentic versions of the dish serving mostly the skin and little meat, sliced in front of the diners by the cook. Ducks bred especially for the dish are slaughtered after 65 days and seasoned before being roasted in a closed or hung oven. The meat is often eaten with spring onion, cucumber and sweet bean sauce with pancakes rolled around the fillings. Sometimes pickled radish is also inside. Crispy aromatic duck is a similar.

Peking duck. dish to Peking duck and is popular in the United Kingdom.## History.Duck has been roasted in China since the Southern and Northern Dynasties. A variation of roast duck was prepared for the Emperor of China in the Yuan Dynasty. The dish, originally named "shāo yāzi" (燒鴨子), was mentioned in the "Complete Recipes for Dishes and Beverages" (飲膳正要) manual in 1330 by Hu Sihui (忽思慧), an inspector of the imperial kitchen. The Peking roast duck that came to be associated with the term was fully developed during the later Ming Dynasty, and by then, Peking duck was one of the main.

Peking duck. dishes on imperial court menus. The first restaurant specialising in Peking duck, Bianyifang, was established in the Xianyukou, close to Qianmen of Beijing in 1416.By the Qianlong Period (1736–1796) of the Qing Dynasty, the popularity of Peking duck spread to the upper classes, inspiring poetry from poets and scholars who enjoyed the dish. For instance, one verse of "Dūmén zhúzhīcí", a Beijing local poem was, "Fill your plates with roast duck and suckling pig".In 1864, the Quanjude (全聚德) restaurant was established in Beijing. Yang Quanren (楊全仁), the founder of Quanjude, developed the hung oven to roast ducks.By the mid-20th century,.

Peking duck. Peking duck had become a national symbol of China, favored by tourists and diplomats alike. For example, Henry Kissinger, the Secretary of State of the United States, met Premier Zhou Enlai in the Great Hall of the People on 10 July 1971, during his first (secret) visit to China. After a round of inconclusive talks in the morning, the delegation was served Peking duck for lunch, which became Kissinger's favourite. The Americans and Chinese issued a joint statement the following day, inviting President Richard Nixon to visit China in 1972. Following Zhou's death in 1976, Kissinger paid another visit to.

Peking duck. Beijing to savor Peking duck. Peking duck, at the Quanjude in particular, has also been a favorite dish for various political leaders ranging from Cuban Fidel Castro to former German chancellor Helmut Kohl.Two notable restaurants in Beijing which serve this dish are Quanjude and Bianyifang, both centuries-old establishments which have become household names, each with their own style: Quanjude is known for using the hung oven roasting method, while Bianyifang uses the oldest technique of closed oven roasting.## Preparation.## Raising the duck.The ducks used to prepare Peking duck originated in Nanjing. They were large, had black feathers, and lived in.

Peking duck. the canals that linked the city to major waterways.With the relocation of the Chinese capital to Beijing, supply barge traffic increased in that area. Often these barges spilled water into side-canals, providing a habitat for the ducks. By the time of adoption of five-spice powder, a new breed of duck had been domesticated by Chinese farmers. Nowadays, Peking duck is prepared from the American Pekin duck ("Anas platyrhynchos domestica").Newborn ducks are raised in a free range environment for the first 45 days of their lives, and force fed 4 times a day for the next 15–20 days, resulting in ducks.

Peking duck. that weigh 5–7 kg (11–15 lbs). The force feeding of the ducks led to an alternate name for the animal, "Peking "stuffed" duck" ().## Cooking the duck.Fattened ducks are killed, plucked, eviscerated and rinsed thoroughly with water. Air is pumped under the skin through the neck cavity to separate the skin from the fat. The duck is then blanched in boiling hot water for two to three minutes before it is hung up to dry. This tightens the skin. While it is hung, the duck is glazed with a layer of runny syrup, and the inside is rinsed once more.

Peking duck. with water. A second layer of glaze/marinade of soy sauce, five-spice powder, and more maltose is then applied inside and out, and the duck is left to stand for 24 hours in a cool, dry place (or a refrigerator). It is then roasted in an oven until the skin turns shiny brown.Besides two traditional methods to prepare Peking duck, recipes have been compiled by chefs around the world to produce the dish at home.## Closed-oven style.Peking duck is originally roasted in a closed oven (), and Bianyifang is the restaurant that keeps this tradition. The closed oven is built of.

Peking duck. brick and fitted with metal griddles (). The oven is preheated by burning Gaoliang sorghum straw () at the base. The duck is placed in the oven immediately after the fire burns out, allowing the meat to be slowly cooked through the convection of heat within the oven. Controlling the fuel and the temperature is the main skill. In closed-oven style, duck meat is combined well with the fat under the skin, and therefore is juicy and tender.## Open-oven style.The open oven () was developed in the imperial kitchens during the Qing Dynasty, and adopted by the Quanjude restaurant chain.

Peking duck. It is designed to roast up to 20 ducks at the same time with an open fire fueled by hardwood from peach or pear trees. The ducks are hung on hooks above the fire and roasted at a temperature of 270 °C (525 °F) for 30–40 minutes. While the ducks are roasting, the chef may use a pole to dangle each duck closer to the fire for 30-second intervals. In open-oven style, the fat is usually melted during the cooking process, so the skin is crispy.## Serving.Peking duck is traditionally carved in front of the guests and served in three.

Peking duck. stages. First, slices of duck skin are served with sugar and sweet bean sauce as a dip. Duck skin is best enjoyed hot and crisp to the bite. The meat is then served with steamed pancakes () and an assortment of vegetable dishes, typically julienned cucumber and spring onion. Traditionally, diners dip slices of duck into the condiments and wrap into the pancake with cucumber and any other ingredients. The wrap is then eaten by hand or with chopsticks. The carved duck (鸭架) – the remainder of the roast duck, with choice cuts removed – can be cooked in three.

Peking duck. ways. The traditional way is in a broth with ingredients such as Chinese cabbage and soft tofu. The carved duck can also be chopped and stir-fried in sweet bean sauce, or rapidly sautéed and served with salt and pepper (椒鹽). Otherwise, the carved duck is packed to be taken home by the customers.## Reheating.Whole Peking ducks can be ordered as takeaway. The ducks can be reheated at home with an oven or stove. When an oven is used, the duck is heated at a temperature of 150 °C (300 °F) for 20 minutes, and then at 160 °C (325 °F).

Peking duck. for another 10 minutes. The stove method involves submerging the duck in boiling water before placing it on a griddle 70 cm (28 in) above the cooking fire. The water is replaced every 3–4 minutes until the duck is piping hot. To reheat the Peking duck with oil, the duck is sliced into thin pieces and placed in a strainer held over a wok of hot oil. The duck is then rinsed several times with the oil.## Notable restaurants.A number of restaurants in Beijing specialise in Peking duck. Examples include Quanjude, Bianyifang, Changan Yihao (長安一號), Dayali, Beijing Xiaowangfu (北京小王府) and.

Peking duck. Dadong Kaoyadian (大董烤鴨店). Some restaurants, in particular Quanjude and Bianyifang, have long histories of serving high quality duck that they are now household names, or "Lao zihao" (老字号), literally "old brand name". In addition, Quanjude has received worldwide recognition, having been named a China Renowned Trademark in 1999.Duck Chang's Restaurant, established in 1975 in Virginia, USA, was the first Chinese restaurant to prepare and serve Peking duck without a 24-hour advanced notice.In 2018, the James Beard Foundation awarded Sun Wah BBQ in Chicago, Illinois with their America's Classics award, specifically citing Sun Wah's three-course "Beijing Duck Feast" in their announcement.

Peking duck. of the award.## Crispy aromatic duck.Crispy aromatic duck (香酥鴨 xiang su ya) is a similar dish to Peking duck. It is very popular in the United Kingdom, where it was created in the latter half of the twentieth century.The duck is first marinated with spices, then steamed until tender, and finally deep fried until crispy. The meat has less fat and is drier and crispier compared to that of Peking duck. Crispy aromatic duck can also be seen in the United States, usually served with buns rather than pancakes.In Germany, some Asian fusion restaurants also serve crispy aromatic duck ("Knusprige.

Peking duck. Ente"), sometimes also labeled as Peking duck ("Peking-ente", also "Pekingente"). The duck is marinated with spices and deep-fried, served together with stir-fried vegetables ("Wokgemüse") over fried noodles or with rice. Chinese cuisine List of duck dishes Mandarin cuisine Roast goose Zhangcha duck In Pictures: Making Peking Duck (BBC).


Question: In which year did this animal go extinct?

Instruction: I want to find a paragraph from Wikipedia that answers my question about this image.

Aurochs. Europe to the Holstein interglacial. As indicated by fossil remains in Northern Europe, it reached Denmark and southern Sweden during the Holocene. The aurochs declined during the late Holocene due to habitat loss and hunting, and became extinct when the last individual died in 1627 in Jaktorów forest in Poland.The aurochs is depicted in Paleolithic cave paintings, Neolithic petroglyphs, Ancient Egyptian reliefs and Bronze Age figurines. It symbolised power, sexual potency and prowess in religions of the ancient Near East. Its horns were used in votive offerings, as trophies and drinking horns.Two aurochs domestication events occurred during the Neolithic Revolution.

Aurochs. in 1627 from natural causes.## Behaviour and ecology.Aurochs formed small herds mainly in winter, but lived singly or in smaller groups during the summer. If aurochs had social behaviour similar to their descendants, social status was gained through displays and fights, in which both cows and bulls engaged. With its hypsodont jaw, the aurochs was probably a grazer, with a food selection very similar to domesticated cattle feeding on grass, twigs and acorns.Mating season was in September, and calves were born in spring. The bulls had severe fights, and evidence from the Jaktorów forest shows these could lead to death.


Question: What product does this object produce?

Instruction: I want to find a paragraph from Wikipedia that answers my question about this image.

Laser printing. Laser printing is an electrostatic digital printing process. It produces high-quality text and graphics (and moderate-quality photographs) by repeatedly passing a laser beam back and forth over a negatively-charged cylinder called a "drum" to define a differentially-charged image. The drum then selectively collects electrically-charged powdered ink (toner), and transfers the image to paper, which is then heated to permanently fuse the text, imagery, or both, to the paper. As with digital photocopiers, laser printers employ a xerographic printing process. Laser printing differs from traditional xerography as implemented in analog photocopiers in that in the latter, the image is formed by.

Laser printing. reflecting light off an existing document onto the exposed drum.Invented at Xerox PARC in the 1970s, laser printers were introduced for the office and then home markets in subsequent years by IBM, Canon, Xerox, Apple, Hewlett-Packard and many others. Over the decades, quality and speed have increased as prices have decreased, and the once cutting-edge printing devices are now ubiquitous.## History.In the 1960s, the Xerox Corporation held a dominant position in the photocopier market. In 1969, Gary Starkweather, who worked in Xerox's product development department, had the idea of using a laser beam to "draw" an image of what was.

Laser printing. to be copied directly onto the copier drum. After transferring to the recently formed Palo Alto Research Center (Xerox PARC) in 1971, Starkweather adapted a Xerox 7000 copier to make SLOT (Scanned Laser Output Terminal). In 1972, Starkweather worked with Butler Lampson and Ronald Rider to add a control system and character generator, resulting in a printer called EARS (Ethernet, Alto Research character generator, Scanned laser output terminal)—which later became the Xerox 9700 laser printer. 1976: The first commercial implementation of a laser printer, the IBM 3800, was released. It was designed for data centers, where it replaced line printers.

Laser printing. Japanese camera and optics company Canon developed the Canon LBP-10, a low-cost desktop laser printer. Canon then began work on a much-improved print engine, the Canon CX, resulting in the LBP-CX printer. Having no experience in selling to computer users, Canon sought partnerships with three Silicon Valley companies: Diablo Data Systems (who rejected the offer), Hewlett-Packard (HP), and Apple Computer. 1981: The first small personal computer designed for office use, the Xerox Star 8010, reached market. The system used a desktop metaphor that was unsurpassed in commercial sales, until the Apple Macintosh. Although it was innovative, the Star workstation was.

Laser printing. a prohibitively-expensive () system, affordable only to a fraction of the businesses and institutions at which it was targeted. 1984: The first laser printer intended for mass-market sales, the HP LaserJet, was released; it used the Canon CX engine, controlled by HP software. The LaserJet was quickly followed by printers from Brother Industries, IBM, and others. First-generation machines had large photosensitive drums, of circumference greater than the loaded paper's length. Once faster-recovery coatings were developed, the drums could touch the paper multiple times in a pass, and therefore be smaller in diameter. 1985: Apple introduced the LaserWriter (also based on.

Laser printing. page is known as a raster line or scan line.Laser printing differs from other printing technologies in that each page is always rendered in a single continuous process without any pausing in the middle, while other technologies like inkjet can pause every few lines. To avoid a buffer underrun (where the laser reaches a point on the page before it has the dots to draw there), a laser printer typically needs enough raster memory to hold the bitmap image of an entire page.Memory requirements increase with the square of the dots per inch, so 600 dpi requires a minimum of.

Laser printing. or 8,388,608 bits, which is just large enough to hold the entire page at 300 dpi, leaving about 100 kilobytes to spare for use by the raster image processor.In a color printer, each of the four CMYK toner layers is stored as a separate bitmap, and all four layers are typically preprocessed before printing begins, so a minimum of 4 megabytes is needed for a full-color letter-size or A4-size page at 300 dpi.During the 1980s, memory chips were still very expensive, which is why entry-level laser printers in that era always came with four-digit suggested retail prices in US dollars.

Laser printing. Memory prices later decreased significantly, while rapid improvements in the performance of personal computers and peripheral cables enabled the development of low-end laser printers which offload rasterization to the sending PC. For such printers, the operating system's print spooler renders the raw bitmap of each page into the PC's system memory at the target resolution, then sends that bitmap directly to the laser (at the expense of slowing down all other programs on the sending PC). The appearance of so-called "dumb" or "host-based" laser printers from NEC made it possible for the retail cost of low-end 600-dpi laser printers to.

Laser printing. decrease to as low as US$700 by early 1994 and US$600 by early 1995.1200 dpi printers have been widely available in the home market since 2008. 2400 dpi electrophotographic printing plate makers, essentially laser printers that print on plastic sheets, are also available.## Charging.In older printers, a corona wire positioned parallel to the drum or, in more recent printers, a primary charge roller, projects an electrostatic charge onto the photoreceptor (otherwise named the photoconductor unit), a revolving photosensitive drum or belt, which is capable of holding an electrostatic charge on its surface while it is in the dark.An AC bias.

Laser printing. silicon nitride.## Exposing.A laser printer uses a laser because lasers are able to form highly-focused, precise, and intense beams of light, especially over the short distances inside of a printer. The laser is aimed at a rotating polygonal mirror which directs the light beam through a system of lenses and mirrors onto the photoreceptor drum, writing pixels at rates up to sixty-five million times per second. The drum continues to rotate during the sweep, and the angle of sweep is canted very slightly to compensate for this motion. The stream of rasterized data held in the printer's memory rapidly turns.

Laser printing. the laser on and off as it sweeps.The laser beam neutralizes (or reverses) the charge on the surface of the drum, leaving a static electric negative image on the drum's surface which will repel the negatively-charged toner particles. The areas on the drum which were struck by the laser, however, momentarily have no charge, and the toner being pressed against the drum by the toner-coated developer roll in the next step moves from the roll's rubber surface to the charged portions of the surface of the drum.Some non-laser printers (LED printers) use an array of light-emitting diodes spanning the width.

Laser printing. uniformly heats the roller from the inside. For proper bonding of the toner, the fuser roller must be uniformly hot.Some printers use a very thin flexible metal foil roller, so there is less thermal mass to be heated and the fuser can more quickly reach operating temperature. If paper moves through the fuser more slowly, there is more roller contact time for the toner to melt, and the fuser can operate at a lower temperature. Smaller, inexpensive laser printers typically print slowly, due to this energy-saving design, compared to large high-speed printers where paper moves more rapidly through a high-temperature.

Laser printing. (on some very fast, expensive printers) a xenon flash lamp. The warmup process that a laser printer goes through when power is initially applied to the printer consists mainly of heating the fuser element.## Malfunctions.The mechanism inside a laser printer is somewhat delicate and, once damaged, often impossible to repair. The drum, in particular, is a critical component: it must not be left exposed to ambient light for more than a few hours, as light is what causes it to lose its charge and will eventually wear it out. Anything that interferes with the operation of the laser such as.

Laser printing. formulations may not match the original specifications in terms of either tendency to accept a negative charge, to move to the discharged areas of the photoreceptor drum from the developer roll, to fuse appropriately to the paper, or to come off the drum cleanly in each revolution.## Performance.As with most electronic devices, the cost of laser printers has decreased significantly over the years. In 1984, the HP LaserJet sold for $3500, had trouble with even small, low-resolution graphics, and weighed 32 (kg). By the late 1990s, monochrome laser printers had become inexpensive enough for home-office use, having displaced other printing.

Laser printing. technologies, although color inkjet printers (see below) still had advantages in photo quality reproduction. , low-end monochrome laser printers can sell for less than $75, and while these printers tend to lack onboard processing and rely on the host computer to generate a raster image, they nonetheless outperform the 1984 LaserJet in nearly all situations.Laser printer speed can vary widely, and depends on many factors, including the graphic intensity of the job being processed. The fastest models can print over 200 monochrome pages per minute (12,000 pages per hour). The fastest color laser printers can print over 100 pages per.

Laser printing. minute (6000 pages per hour). Very high-speed laser printers are used for mass mailings of personalized documents, such as credit card or utility bills, and are competing with lithography in some commercial applications.The cost of this technology depends on a combination of factors, including the cost of paper, toner, drum replacement, as well as the replacement of other items such as the fuser assembly and transfer assembly. Often printers with soft plastic drums can have a very high cost of ownership that does not become apparent until the drum requires replacement.Duplex printing (printing on both sides of the paper) can.

Laser printing. halve paper costs and reduce filing volumes, albeit at a slower page-printing speed because of the longer paper path. Formerly only available on high-end printers, duplexers are now common on mid-range office printers, though not all printers can accommodate a duplexing unit.In a commercial environment such as an office, it is becoming increasingly common for businesses to use external software that increases the performance and efficiency of laser printers in the workplace. The software can be used to set rules dictating how employees interact with printers, such as setting limits on how many pages can be printed per day, limiting.

Laser printing. usage of color ink, and flagging jobs that appear to be wasteful.## Color laser printers.Color laser printers use colored toner (dry ink), typically cyan, magenta, yellow, and black (CMYK). While monochrome printers only use one laser scanner assembly, color printers often have two or more, often one for each of the four colors.Color printing adds complexity to the printing process because very slight misalignments known as registration errors can occur between printing each color, causing unintended color fringing, blurring, or light/dark streaking along the edges of colored regions. To permit a high registration accuracy, some color laser printers use a.

Laser printing. Color laser transfer printers.Color laser transfer printers are designed to produce transfer media which are transfer sheets designed to be applied by means of a heat press. These transfers are typically used to make custom T-shirts or custom logo products with corporate or team logos on them.2-part Color laser transfers are part of a two-step process whereby the color laser printers use colored toner (dry ink), typically cyan, magenta, yellow, and black (CMYK); however, newer printers designed to print on dark T-shirts utilize a special white toner allowing them to make transfers for dark garments or dark business products.The CMYK.

Laser printing. color printing process allows for millions of colors to be faithfully represented by the unique imaging process.## Business-model comparison with inkjet printers.Manufacturers use a similar business model for both low-cost color laser printers and inkjet printers: the printers are sold cheaply while replacement toners and inks are relatively expensive. A color laser printer's average running cost per page is usually slightly less, even though both the laser printer and laser toner cartridge have higher upfront prices, as laser toner cartridges print many more sheets relative to their cost than inkjet cartridges. Inkjet printers are better at printing photographs and color.

Laser printing. records, and keeping in mind that there are color laser printers, they're more costly.The print quality of color lasers is limited by their resolution (typically 600–1200 dpi) and their use of just four color toners. They often have trouble printing large areas of the same or subtle gradations of color. Inkjet printers designed for printing photos can produce much higher quality color images. An in-depth comparison of inkjet and laser printers suggest that laser printers are the ideal choice for a high quality, volume printer, while inkjet printers tend to focus on large-format printers and household units. Laser printers offer.

Laser printing. more precise edging and in-depth monochromatic color. In addition, color laser printers are much faster than inkjet printers, although being generally larger and bulkier.## Anti-counterfeiting marks.Many modern color laser printers mark printouts by a nearly invisible dot raster, for the purpose of traceability. The dots are yellow and about 0.1 (mm) in size, with a raster of about 1 (mm). This is purportedly the result of a deal between the US government and printer manufacturers to help track counterfeiters. The dots encode data such as printing date, time, and printer serial number in binary-coded decimal on every sheet of paper.

Laser printing. printer users, this technique also increases waste, and thus increases pressure on the environment. For these toner cartridges (as with inkjet cartridges), reset devices can be used to override the limitation set by the smart chip. Also, for some printers, online walk-throughs have been posted to demonstrate how to use up all the ink in the cartridge. These chips offer no benefit to the end-user—some laser printers used an optical mechanism to assess the amount of remaining toner in the cartridge rather than using a chip to electrically count the number of printed pages, and the chip's only function was.

Laser printing. toner spills into the laser printer, a special type of vacuum cleaner with an electrically conductive hose and a high-efficiency (HEPA) filter may be needed for effective cleaning. These specialized tools are called "ESD-safe" (Electrostatic Discharge-safe) or "toner vacuums".## Ozone hazards.As a normal part of the printing process, the high voltages inside the printer can produce a corona discharge that generates a small amount of ionized oxygen and nitrogen, which react to form ozone and nitrogen oxides. In larger commercial printers and copiers, an activated carbon filter in the air exhaust stream breaks down these noxious gases to prevent pollution.

Laser printing. of the office environment.However, some ozone escapes the filtering process in commercial printers, and ozone filters are not used at all in most smaller home printers. When a laser printer or copier is operated for a long period of time in a small, poorly-ventilated space, these gases can build up to levels at which the odor of ozone or irritation may be noticed. A potential health hazard is theoretically possible in extreme cases.## Respiratory health risks.According to a 2012 study conducted in Queensland, Australia, some printers emit sub-micrometer particles which some suspect may be associated with respiratory diseases. Of 63.

Laser printing. printer emissions with adverse health outcomes were located" and that several assessments conclude that "risk of direct toxicity and health effects from exposure to laser printer emissions is negligible". The review also observes that, because the emissions have been shown to be volatile or semi-volatile organic compounds, "it would be logical to expect possible health effects to be more related to the chemical nature of the aerosol rather than the physical character of the ‘particulate’ since such emissions are unlikely to be or remain as ‘particulates’ after they come into contact with respiratory tissue".The German Social Accident Insurance has commissioned.

Laser printing. a human study project to examine the effects on health resulting from exposure to toner dusts and from photocopying and printing cycles. Volunteers (23 control persons, 15 exposed persons and 14 asthmatics) were exposed to laser printer emissions under defined conditions in an exposure chamber. The findings from the study based on a broad spectrum of processes and subjects fail to confirm that exposure to high laser printer emissions initiates a verifiable pathological process resulting in the reported illnesses.A much-discussed proposal for reducing emissions from laser printers is to retrofit them with filters. These are fixed with adhesive tape to.

Laser printing. the printer's fan vents to reduce particle emissions. However, all printers have a paper output tray, which is an outlet for particle emissions. Paper output trays cannot be provided with filters, so it is impossible to reduce their contribution to overall emissions with retrofit filters.## Air-transport ban.After the 2010 cargo plane bomb plot, in which shipments of laser printers with explosive-filled toner cartridges were discovered on separate cargo airplanes, the US Transportation Security Administration prohibited pass-through passengers from carrying toner or ink cartridges weighing over 1 (lb) on inbound flights, in both carry-on and checked luggage. "PC Magazine" noted that.


Question: Who designed this building?

Instruction: Determine the Wikipedia snippet that matches the question of this image.

Monument to the Great Fire of London. Margaret, New Fish Street, the first church to be destroyed by the Great Fire. It is Grade I-listed and is a scheduled monument. Another monument, the Golden Boy of Pye Corner, marks the point near Smithfield where the fire was stopped.The Monument comprises a Doric column built of Portland stone topped with a gilded urn of fire. It was designed by Christopher Wren and Robert Hooke. Its height marks its distance from the site of the shop of Thomas Farriner (or Farynor), the king's baker, where the blaze began.The viewing platform near the top of the Monument is reached by.

Monument to the Great Fire of London. bakery, where the fire began. Christopher Wren, as surveyor-general of the King's Works, was asked to submit a design. Wren worked with Robert Hooke on the design. It is impossible to know the extent of the collaboration between Hooke and Wren, but Hooke's drawings of possible designs for the column still exist, with Wren's signature on them indicating his approval of the drawings rather than their authorship. It was not until 1671 that the City Council approved the design, and it took six years to complete the 202 (ft) column. It was two more years before the inscription (which had.

Monument to the Great Fire of London. in 1844, describes the Monument thus: The Monument is a prominent setting in "The System of the World", the third book in Neal Stephenson's "Baroque Cycle". George, the hero of Charlie Fletcher's children's book about unLondon "Stoneheart", has a fight at the top of the Monument with a raven and a gargoyle. In Robert J. Lloyd's mystery novel "The Bloodless Boy", Robert Hooke (designer of the Monument with Christopher Wren), investigates the sinister death of a blood-drained boy discovered on the banks of the River Fleet. Hooke's assistant, Harry Hunt, witnessing another murder, is chased up to the top of.

Monument to the Great Fire of London. 'London’s Standard: Christopher Wren and the Heraldry of the Monument’, in "RES: Journal of Anthropology and Aesthetics", vol.73/74, Autumn 2020, pp. 325–39 Hart, V., "Christopher Wren: In Search of Eastern Antiquity" (Yale University Press, 2020) Jardine, L., "On a Grander Scale: The Outstanding Career of Sir Christopher Wren" ( hardback, paperback) Official Monument website City of London Monument pageHistory of The Monument with some account of the great fire of London, which it commemorates (1921), by Charles Welch3D photoscan of the base or the Monument showing Latin inscription.


Question: What is the closest upper taxonomy of this plant?

Instruction: Determine the Wikipedia snippet that matches the question of this image.

Equisetum fluviatile. Equisetum fluviatile, the water horsetail or swamp horsetail, is a vascular plant that commonly grows in dense colonies along freshwater shorelines or in shallow water in ponds, swamps, ditches, and other sluggish or still waters with mud bottoms. It is a perennial herbaceous species, growing 30–100 cm (rarely 140 cm) tall with erect dark green stems 2–8 mm in diameter, smooth, with about 10–30 fine ridges. At each joint, the stem has a whorl of tiny, black-tipped scale leaves 5–10 mm long. Many, but not all, stems also have whorls of short ascending and spreading branches 1–5 cm long, with.

Equisetum fluviatile. the longest branches on the lower middle of the stem. The side branches are slender, dark green, and have 1–8 nodes with a whorl of five scale leaves at each node. The water horsetail has the largest central hollow of the horsetails, with 80% of the stem diameter typically being hollow.The stems readily pull apart at the joints, and both fertile and sterile stems look alike.The water horsetail reproduces both by spores and vegetatively by rhizomes. It primarily reproduces by vegetative means, with the majority of shoots arising from rhizomes. Spores are produced in blunt-tipped cones at the tips of.

Equisetum fluviatile. some stems. The spore cones are yellowish-green, 1–2 cm long and 1 cm broad, with numerous scales in dense whorls.The water horsetail ranges throughout the temperate Northern Hemisphere, from Eurasia south to central Spain, Italy, the Caucasus, China, Korea and Japan, and in North America from the Aleutian Islands to Newfoundland, south to Oregon, Idaho, northwest Montana, northeast Wyoming, West Virginia and Virginia.This horsetail is sometimes seen as an invasive species because it is very hardy and tends to overwhelm other garden plants unless it is contained. When planting, it is best to plant them with the rhizome in a.

Equisetum fluviatile. container.The water horsetail is most often confused with the marsh horsetail "E. palustre", which has rougher stems with fewer (4-8) stem ridges with a smaller hollow in the stem centre, and longer spore cones 2–4 cm long.## Uses.The water horsetail has historically been used by both Europeans and Native Americans for scouring, sanding, and filing because of the high silica content in the stems. Early spring shoots were eaten. Medically it was used by the ancient Greeks and Romans to stop bleeding and treat kidney ailments, ulcers, and tuberculosis, and by the ancient Chinese to treat superficial visual obstructions. Rootstocks.

Equisetum fluviatile. and stems are sometimes eaten by waterfowl. Horsetails absorb heavy metals from the soil, and are often used in bioassays for metals.According to Carl Linnaeus, reindeer, which refuse ordinary hay, will eat this horsetail, which is juicy, and that it is cut as fodder in the north of Sweden for cows, with a view to increasing their milk yield, but that horses will not touch it.## Taxonomy.Linnaeus was the first to describe water horsetail with the binomial "Equisetum sylvaticum" in his "Species Plantarum" of 1753. In the same work, he also described the unbranched form of the plant as a.

Equisetum fluviatile. separate species, "E. limosum". "Equisetum fluviatile" Water Horsetail at Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness "Equisetum fluviatile" at World of Equisetum "Equisetetum fluviatilis.


Question: What is the source that produces this material?

Instruction: You have to find a Wikipedia segment that answers the question about the displayed image.

Tortoiseshell. Tortoiseshell or tortoise shell is a material produced from the shells of the larger species of tortoise and turtle, mainly the hawksbill sea turtle, which is a critically endangered species according to the IUCN Red List largely because of its exploitation for this trade. The large size, fine color, and unusual form of the hawksbill's scutes make it especially suitable. The distinctive patterning is referred to in names such as the tortoiseshell cat, several breeds of guinea pig, and the common names of several species of the butterfly genera "Nymphalis" and "Aglais", and some other uses.## Uses.Tortoiseshell was widely used.


Question: What is the location of this building?

Instruction: You have to find a Wikipedia segment that answers the question about the displayed image.

Marble Church, Bodelwyddan. St Margaret's Church (nicknamed The Marble Church), Bodelwyddan, is a Decorated Gothic Style parish church in the lower Vale of Clwyd in Denbighshire, Wales and is visible for many miles because its spire rises to 202 feet. It lies just off the A55 trunk road.The church was erected by Lady Margaret Willoughby de Broke (daughter of Sir John Williams of nearby Bodelwyddan Castle) in memory of her husband, Henry Peyto-Verney, 16th Baron Willoughby de Broke. She laid the foundation stone on 24 July 1856 and the new church designed by John Gibson was consecrated by the Bishop of St Asaph.

Marble Church, Bodelwyddan. on 23 August 1860 after construction at a cost of £60,000. The new parish of Bodelwyddan was created on 3 August 1860, from the communities of Bodelwyddan, Faenol and Pengwern, which until that date had been part of the parish of St Asaph. When it was first built, it was nicknamed the 'Pearl of the Vale'.The church contains fourteen varieties of marble including pillars made of Belgian Red marble, a nave entrance is made from Anglesey marble and shafts of Languedoc marble on bases of Purbeck marble. It also contains elaborate woodwork, and in the tower can be found windows.

Marble Church, Bodelwyddan. of stained glass on the north and south sides, featuring Saint Margaret and Saint Kentigern. It is a popular tourist destination. The church was designated with Grade II* listed status in November 1962.Until the latter part of the 20th century the church, and in particular its high steeple, was very distinctive because it was so white. With the passage of time, pollution has resulted in the colour becoming more grey, and therefore more like other stone buildings.Local government reorganisation resulted in the church being in Flintshire until 1974, in Clwyd from 1974 until 1996, and since then in Denbighshire.## Churchyard.Immediately.

Marble Church, Bodelwyddan. to the west of the church is Kinmel Camp, which was a military camp located in the grounds of Kinmel Hall. The camp was used by Canadian troops during the First World War. The churchyard contains the graves of numerous victims of the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918–19 in the camp. On 4–5 March 1919 a riot occurred in the camp when the ship allocated to return the troops to Canada was diverted to carry food supplies to Russia. Five Canadian soldiers were killed in the disturbances, four of whom were buried in St Margaret's Churchyard, with the fifth, Gunner.

Marble Church, Bodelwyddan. John Frederick Hickman, being buried in Dorchester, New Brunswick. A common story is that they were executed for mutiny, but this has been denied by the Canadian Department of National Defence.In total there are 112 Commonwealth service personnel commemorated here from World War I. More than 80 of the graves are Canadian, and there are also Special Memorial headstones to 4 British soldiers who were buried at St Peter's Churchyard in Holywell. There are 2 war graves of British servicemen from World War II. Parish websiteArtwork at Marble Church, Bodelwyddan.


Question: In which year was this facility first mentioned in writing?

Instruction: I want to find a paragraph from Wikipedia that answers my question about this image.

La Recoleta Cemetery. () and a church, Our Lady of Pilar ("), built in 1732.The order was disbanded in 1822, and the garden of the convent was converted into the first public cemetery in Buenos Aires. Inaugurated on 17 November of the same year under the name of " (Northern Cemetery), those responsible for its creation were the then-Governor Martin Rodríguez, who would be eventually buried in the cemetery, and government minister Bernardino Rivadavia.The 1822 layout was done by French civil engineer Próspero Catelin, who also designed the current facade of the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Cathedral. The cemetery was last remodeled in 1881,.


Question: Which place is this animal endemic to?

Instruction: Determine the Wikipedia snippet that matches the question of this image.

Tiger snake. Tiger snakes ("Notechis scutatus") are a large and highly venomous snake of southern Australia, including its coastal islands and Tasmania. These snakes are often observed and locally well known by their banding, black and yellow like a tiger, although the species can be highly variable in coloration and patterning. All populations are classified within the genus Notechis (Elapidae). Their diverse characteristics have been classified either as distinct species or by subspecies and regional variation.While tiger snakes are usually ground-dwelling, they are able to swim as well as climb into trees and buildings.## Taxonomy.The genus "Notechis" is allied to the elapid.

Tiger snake. family, venomous snakes with fixed front fangs. The classification of this genus is given as a single and highly variable species, "Notechis scutatus", or a second species "Notechis ater", and by an arrangement of subspecies or regional morphs.A 2016 genetic analysis showed that the closest relative of the tiger snakes is the rough-scaled snake ("Tropidechis carinatus").The two extensively recognized species of this genus are "Notechis scutatus" (Peters, 1861) and "Notechis ater" (Krefft, 1866), which show further variety in their characteristics. Several authors have published revisions or described subspecies of these species. Others consider the names contained by this taxonomic arrangement.

Tiger snake. to be unwarranted, and describe "Notechis" as a monotypic genus. Various authorities accept some or all the systematics previously applied, but most agree a revision of the genus is needed. Names for these subdivisions include the western types, appended to both species names as "occidentalis" (Glauert 1948) The island groups have also been described as subspecies: Chappell Island tiger snake as "N. ater serventyi" (Warrell, 1963), King Island and Tasmanian tiger snakes subspecies as "N. ater humphreysi", (Warrell, 1963) and the Peninsula tiger snake as "N. ater niger" (Kinghorn 1921).Island populations of "N. scutatus" have evolved larger heads to cope.

Tiger snake. with large prey animals. Young populations have larger heads by phenotypic plasticity, whereas large heads have become genetically assimilated in older populations."* Not including the nominate subspecies (typical form)."## Description."Notechis" is a genus of large venomous snakes in the family Elapidae restricted to subtropical and temperate regions of Australia. Tiger snakes are a large group of distinct populations, which may be isolated or overlapping, with extreme variance in size and colour. Individuals also show seasonal variation in colour. The total length is typically about 1.2 (m) The patterning is darker bands, strongly contrasting or indistinct, which are pale to very.

Tiger snake. the neck. Ventral scales number 140 to 190, subcaudals 35 to 65, mid-body in 17 or 19 rows and the anal scale is single.The western tiger snake head is distinct from its robust body, and grows to 2 (m) in length. Dorsally, it is steel-blue to black in color with bright yellow bands; unbanded specimens occur. The ventral surface is yellow, tending black towards the tail. Midbody scales are in 17 or 19 rows, ventrals number 140 to 165, subcaudals 36 to 51 (single) and the anal scale is single (rarely divided).The Chappell Island tiger snake has a blunt head.

Tiger snake. distinct from a robust body. The giant of the tiger snakes species, it averages 1.9 m (over 6 ft) in length. Dorsally, its colour is olive-brown to almost black, sometimes with lighter crossbands. The ventral surface is usually lighter in colour. Juveniles are banded. Mid-body scales are in 17 rows; ventrals number 160 to 171, subcaudals 47 to 52 (single), and the anal scale is single. These snakes are quite docile.The King Island and Tasmanian tiger snakes each have a blunt head distinct from a robust body. Younger snakes may be slimmer and similar to other tiger snakes, eventually growing.

Tiger snake. up to 1.5 (m) in length. Dorsally, they may be jet black, jet black with lighter crossbands, grey with black flecks forming faint bands, or an unbanded grey or brown. The ventral surface is usually a lighter colour. Midbody scales are in 19, 17 or sometimes 15 rows, ventrals number 161 to 174, subcaudals 48 to 52 (single) and the anal scale is single. Tasmanian tiger snakes tend to be quiet snakes, probably due to the lower temperature ranges they inhabit.The Peninsula tiger snake has a blunt head distinct from a robust body; it averages 1.1 (m) in length. Roxby.

Tiger snake. Island specimens are much smaller, averaging 0.86 (m) in length. Dorsally, it is generally jet black, sometimes with white or cream markings around the lips and chin. On Kangaroo Island, specimens are highly variable in colour, often exhibiting banding and uniform brown colours. The ventral surface is dark grey to black, with some specimens on Kangaroo Island even possessing red bellies. The ventral surface becomes much lighter prior to shedding. Juveniles nearly always have banding. Midbody scales are in 17, 18, 19 and rarely 21 rows, ventrals number 160 to 184, subcaudals 45 to 54 (single) and the anal scale.

Tiger snake. is single.The subspecies "Notechis ater ater", found away from mainland Australia, is typically uniformly black.As with most snakes, the colours vary widely between individuals and are an unreliable means of identifying subspecies. Accurate identification is best performed with a venom test kit or scale count.## Reproduction.Tiger snakes give birth to 20 to 30 live young; an exceptional record was made of 64 from an eastern female.They usually mate in spring when it is in the warmer seasons and will give birth to live young in summer.## Habitat.Tiger snakes are usually found in coastal regions, where they favour wetlands, creeks, dams,.

Tiger snake. and other habitat around watercourses, or at shelter near permanent sources of water in pastoral areas. Habitat providing an abundance of prey can support large populations. The species' distribution extends from the south of Western Australia through to South Australia, Tasmania, up through Victoria, and New South Wales. Its common habitat includes the coastal areas of Australia.## Venom.Tiger snakes accounted for 17% of identified snakebite victims in Australia between 2005 and 2015, with four deaths recorded from 119 confirmed envenomations.Tiger snake venoms possess potent neurotoxins, coagulants, haemolysins, and myotoxins. Symptoms of a bite include localized pain in the foot and.

Tiger snake. neck region, tingling, numbness, and sweating, followed by a fairly rapid onset of breathing difficulties and paralysis. In a study, the mortality rate from untreated bites is reported to be between 40 and 60%.Treatment is the same for all Australian venomous snakes. The pressure immobilization method is used to inhibit the flow of venom through the lymphatic system. Broad, thick bandages are applied over the bite, then down and back along the limb to the armpit or groin. The affected limb is then immobilized with a splint. Identification of the venom is possible if traces are left near the wound.

Tiger snake. Identifying the snake is not necessary if bitten in Tasmania, because the same antivenom is used to treat all Tasmanian snakes' bites. The availability of antivenom has greatly reduced the incidence of fatal tiger snake bites. Among the number of deaths caused by snakebite in Australia, those from tiger snakes are exceeded only by the brown snake. The venom yield is 35-65 mg, while the lethal dose for humans is 3 mg.## Conservation.In most Australian states, they are protected species, and to kill or injure one incurs a fine up to $7,500, as well as a jail sentence of 18.

Tiger snake. months in some states. It is also illegal to export a native Australian snake.Information on bites from survivaliq.comInformation on the genus from snakeshow.netMainland Tiger Snake - Australian Reptile ParkIntegrated Taxonomic Information System - Notechis.


Question: What is the basionym of this plant?

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Pseudognaphalium californicum. Pseudognaphalium californicum (syn. "Gnaphalium californicum") is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by several common names, including ladies' tobacco, California rabbit tobacco, California cudweed, and California everlasting.The plant is native to the west coast of North America from Washington to Baja California, where it is a member of the flora of many habitats, including chaparral.## Description."Pseudognaphalium californicum" is an annual or biennial herb growing a branching stem reaching 20 to 80 centimeters in height. Stem branches bear linear to somewhat lance-shaped leaves 2 to 20 centimeters long. The green herbage is glandular and scented. The leaves.


Question: What country does this park belong to?

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Parc de Saint-Cloud. The Parc de Saint-Cloud, officially the "Domaine National de Saint-Cloud", is a "domaine national" (national estate), located mostly within Saint-Cloud, in the Hauts-de-Seine department, near Paris, France.The park, which covers 460 (ha), was a nature reserve until 1923. It is considered one of the most beautiful gardens in Europe, and in 2005 the park was awarded "Notable Garden" status. On 9 November 1994 the park was classified as a Historic Monument. In 1999 a winter storm heavily damaged the park's forests. The park is operated as a "domaine national" under the French Ministry of Culture.## History.The park is located on.

Parc de Saint-Cloud. the site of the Château de Saint-Cloud, a residence of royal and imperial families from the 16th century. After Napoleon III declared war on the Prussians, the site was occupied by a Prussian force which used the high outcropping to shell Paris. Counter-fire from the French caused the building to burn on 13 October 1870. The structure was completely razed in August 1892.Only a few outbuildings remain from the original structure. The park contains a Le Nôtre-designed garden in the French style, an English garden, and Marie Antoinette's rose garden.The park showcases a panoramic view of Paris called "La Lanterne.


Question: What is the height of this building in metre?

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Sighișoara Clock Tower. In every fortification system there is one fortress that dominates the others: the master-tower. The Clock Tower of Sighișoara (, ) is the main entry point to the citadel, opposite guarded by Tailors' Tower. With its 64 meters of height, the tower is visible from almost every corner of the city from Mures County, its purpose was to defend the main gate of the citadel and also served as the town hall until 1556. Now It's considered one of the most expressive clock tower in the whole Transylvania.## History.The tower began to be built at the end of 13th century,.

Sighișoara Clock Tower. to dig for 35m to find a source of water.## Restorations.The tower was modernized in 1964 with an electric motor, without diminishing the archaic effect of the clock. Since 1898, the tower serves as a museum in Sighisoara, a title that gives to it the status of symbol of the Citadel, and the main attraction for visitors.## Architectural Features.The tower is a rectangular prism with massive walls, with a rectangular base measuring 12x8,66 meters, with four floors and an observation gallery. The current distance between the base of the tower and the base of the roof is 30 meters, and.


Question: Who is the creator of this place?

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Fürstenzug. and 1904. The Fürstenzug is located on the outer wall of the "Stallhof" (Stables Courtyard) of Dresden Castle.## History.By 1589, the outer wall of the recently built "Stallhof" (Stables Courtyard) of the Dresden Castle was already decorated with a fresco.For the upcoming 800th anniversary of the House of Wettin in 1889, another stucco version of a large-scale mural was commissioned. It was painted by the artist Wilhelm Walther between 1871 and 1876. Since the picture rapidly deteriorated, it was replaced with about 23,000 Meissen porcelain tiles between 1904 and 1907. The mural depicts the 35 Saxon margraves, electors, dukes and.


Question: What product does this aircraft produce?

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Dornier Flugzeugwerke. immense size and weight. Dornier's successful landplane airliners, including the Komet ("Comet") and Merkur ("Mercury"), were used by Lufthansa and other European carriers during the 1920s and early 30s. Dornier built its aircraft outside Germany during much of this period due to the restrictions placed on German aircraft manufacturers by the Treaty of Versailles: locations included Altenrhein, Switzerland, 12 km from Zeppelin's Lindau (Bodensee) location. Foreign factories licence-building Dornier products included CMASA and Piaggio in Italy, CASA in Spain, Kawasaki in Japan, and Aviolanda in the Netherlands. Once the Nazi government came to power and abandoned the treaty's restrictions, Dornier.

Dornier Flugzeugwerke. resumed production in Germany.The success of the Wal family encouraged the development of derivatives, and of more advanced successors, such as the Do 18, and Do 24 which saw service in several armed forces, including German, into World War II.Dornier's most important World War II military aircraft design was the Do 17, nicknamed "The Flying Pencil". It first flew in 1934 as a mailplane for Lufthansa but due to its narrow fuselage (hence its nickname) it was not commercially viable and was passed over. Dornier then developed it further as a military aircraft, with a prototype bomber flying in 1935,.

Dornier Flugzeugwerke. which was too late to see service.After WWII, aircraft production was again forbidden in Germany, and Dornier relocated to Spain and then to Switzerland where the firm provided aeronautical consultancy services until returning to Germany in 1954. Post-war, Dornier re-established itself with successful STOL Do 27 and Do 28 utility planes. In 1974 it joined a joint venture with French aircraft manufacturers Dassault-Breguet to develop the Alpha Jet.In 1983, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) acquired a production licence for the Dornier 228 and manufactured the aircraft for the Asian market. By 2013 a total of 117 Dornier 228 aircraft had been.

Dornier Flugzeugwerke. groups continued to show interest in its 728 version in August 2004, but production was not restarted. Dornier 228 production was taken over by Swiss manufacturer RUAG, who then sold it off to General Atomics in 2020. Other subsidiaries became part of the EADS.The medtech division was sold to an investment company and now bears the name Dornier MedTech. Dornier Medtech manufactures medical equipment, such as the "Dornier S lithotriptor", HM3, Compact Delta to treat kidney stones. Dornier MedTech also manufactures laser devices for a wide range of applications.## Dornier Seaplane Company.The Dornier family have a spin-off company and project,.

Dornier Flugzeugwerke. the Dornier Seastar. It is a turboprop-powered amphibious aircraft built largely of composite materials. This was developed by , and later by his son Cornado by Dornier Seawings.## Dornier Technologie.Claude's grandson, , founded Dornier Technologie in 1996 to manufacture the Dornier S-Ray 007. Dornier Gs Precursor to Wal destroyed by Military Inter-Allied Commission of Control (1919) Dornier Do A Libelle (I 1921, III redesignated Do 12) Dornier Spatz Landplane version of Do A (1922) Dornier Do B Merkur Development of Do C (1926) Dornier Do C Komet (I 1921, II 1922, III 1926) Dornier Do C 2, 3, 4 Fighter.

Dornier Flugzeugwerke. O Wal Custom built version of Do J (1924) Dornier Do P (1930) Dornier Do R.2 and R.4 Superwal (1924) Dornier Do S (1930) Dornier Do T (Komet/Merkur converted to Air Ambulance) Dornier Do U (Cancelled civil variant of Do Y) Dornier Do X (1929) Dornier Do Y (1930, redesignated Do 15)## Dornier aircraft projects.## Letter designations (before 1933).Additional unbuilt projects include 3 different Schneider Trophy racers from 1924, 1928 and 1931 and a large multi-engine seaplane similar to the Do X with engines buried in the wings. Dornier Do 10 Dornier Do 11 Dornier Do 12 Dornier Do 13.


Question: What was the building or structure prior to the existence of this building?

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30 St Mary Axe. 30 St Mary Axe (previously known as the Swiss Re Building and informally known as the Gherkin) is a commercial skyscraper in London's primary financial district, the City of London. It was completed in December 2003 and opened in April 2004. With 41 floors, it is 180 (m) tall and stands on the sites of the former Baltic Exchange and Chamber of Shipping, which were extensively damaged in 1992 in the Baltic Exchange bombing by a device placed by the Provisional IRA in St Mary Axe, a narrow street leading north from Leadenhall Street.After plans to build the 92-storey Millennium.

30 St Mary Axe. Tower were dropped, 30 St Mary Axe was designed by Norman Foster and the Arup Group. It was erected by Skanska; construction started in 2001.The building has become a recognisable landmark of London, and it is one of the city's most widely recognised examples of contemporary architecture. It won the 2003 Emporis Skyscraper Award.## Site and early plans.The building stands on the site of the former Baltic Exchange (24–28 St Mary Axe), which was the headquarters of a global marketplace for shipping freight contracts and soft commodities, and the Chamber of Shipping (30–32 St Mary Axe). The tower's topmost panoramic.

30 St Mary Axe. dome, known as the "lens", recalls the iconic glass dome that covered part of the ground floor of the Baltic Exchange and much of which is now displayed at the National Maritime Museum. "The Gherkin" nickname was applied to the current building at least as early as 1999, referring to the plan's highly unorthodox layout and appearance.On 10 April 1992, the Provisional IRA detonated a bomb close to the Baltic Exchange, causing extensive damage to the historic building and neighbouring structures. The United Kingdom government's statutory adviser on the historic environment, English Heritage, and the City of London's governing body,.

30 St Mary Axe. the City of London Corporation, were keen that any redevelopment must restore the Baltic Exchange's old façade onto St Mary Axe. The Exchange Hall was a celebrated fixture of the shipping market.English Heritage then discovered that the damage was far more severe than initially thought, and they stopped insisting on full restoration, albeit over the objections of architectural conservationists. The Baltic Exchange and the Chamber of Shipping sold the land to Trafalgar House in 1995. Most of the remaining structures on the Baltic Exchange site were then carefully dismantled, and the interior of Exchange Hall and the façade were preserved,.

30 St Mary Axe. accepted.## Planning process.John Prescott, the Deputy Prime Minister, granted planning permission on 23 August 2000 to construct a building on the site, which would be much larger than the old Exchange. The site needed development, was not on any of the "sight lines" (planning guidance requires that new buildings do not obstruct or detract from the view of St Paul's Cathedral dome when viewed from a number of locations around London), and had housed the Baltic Exchange.The plan for the site was to reconstruct the Baltic Exchange. GMW Architects proposed a new rectangular building surrounding a restored exchange: it would.


Question: What is the closest upper taxonomy of this insect?

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Bombylius major. Bombylius major (commonly named the large bee-fly, the dark-edged bee-fly or the greater bee fly) is a parasitic bee mimic fly. "B. major" is the most common type of fly within the "Bombylius" genus. The fly derives its name from its close resemblance to bumblebees and are often mistaken for them."B. major" exhibits a unique flight behavior known as "yawing" and plays a role in general pollination, without preference of flower types. The fly does not bite, sting, or spread disease. However, the fly uses this mimicry of bumblebees to its own advantage, allowing close access to host solitary bee.

Bombylius major. and wasp nests in order to deposit its eggs. After hatching, the larvae find their way into the nests to parasitically feed on the grubs.## Description."B. major" is part of the family Bombyliidae, with a reported 6000species worldwide. The subfamily Bombyliinae contains approximately 1100 identified species. The genus "Bombylius" currently comprises around 450 described species."B. major" can be found from April to June throughout temperate Europe, North America and some parts of Asia, concentrated in the northern hemisphere. The species occurs across a variety of environments, from arid to moist.## Morphology.The adult body size varies from 6.3–12 mm in length.

Bombylius major. and is considered a relatively medium sized fly. The body color is dark, but is densely covered by a thick coat of lighter color hairs. The head is typically brown and black hairs, but the lower portion of the head is mostly white hairs. It has dark patches on the anterior half of the wings and long hairy legs that dangle while in flight. The dark wing span can range from 8.4–14 mm and has a dark brown edge. Their boldly patterned wings have a distinct dividing border through the horizontal middle between the dark and clear portions. Their antennae.

Bombylius major. are typically very short and pointed. Additionally, the species has long legs and a long rigid proboscis found in the front of the head, which is used to feed on the nectar of flowers. The proboscis ranges from 5.5 to 7.5 mm in length. While its wings continue to beat, its front legs grip the flower and its long rigid beak is inserted to collect the nectar. Despite its fearsome appearance, the beak is quite harmless. Males are typically smaller than females. Movement of the bee is categorized by both hovering and darting between locations. The flies also emit a.

Bombylius major. high-pitched buzz.## Mimicry.The species gets its name from its similarity in appearance to bumblebees. This mimicry is likely a defense mechanism against predators and also allows the species to get close to the nest of their hosts. However, there are several distinguishable factors. Bees have two pairs of wings, while "B. major" has only one pair. The body is more triangular shaped than the typical round oval shape of a bumblebee.## Life Cycle."B. major" is mostly seen in the spring, beginning to appear at the end of March and large numbers seen until the end of May, with the species.

Bombylius major. being sighted into June. The fly is holometabolous."B. major" has several host species, including the brood of solitary wasps and bees, particularly digging bees such as "Andrena". Egg deposition takes place by the female hovering above the entrance of a host insect nest, usually a solitary bee, and throwing down her eggs using a flicking movement. The larvae are hypermetamorphic parasitoids which then feed on the food stored, as well as the young solitary bees or wasps. If the female is unable to flick her eggs near the nest, she plants them on flowers visited by the host insects. The.

Bombylius major. developing larvae then make their way to the host nest or attach themselves to the bees or wasps to then be carried to the nest.## Egg.The parasitic eggs of "B. major" are produced in large numbers, however few will make it to the host insect burrow entrance. The female fly will dip down and coat her rear abdomen with dust that covers the eggs as they leave the female.## Larvae.Larvae live parasitically in the nests of various solitary bees and wasps. When the fly larva locates a host larva, it will consume it slowly, greatly increasing in size as it.

Bombylius major. tightly holds onto the host, eventually becoming a pupa and overwintering.## Pupae.White larvae gradually turn into a yellowish brown pupa, with distinct mouthparts, wings, antennae, and legs.## Diet.The species acts as a nectar robber; this foraging behavior allows the species to feed on floral nectar and is an essential part of adult fly diets. This is facilitated by the characterizable long proboscis of the fly, which is horizontally inserted into the flower. This occurs as the fly continues to buzz in the air, without touching either the anthers or stigma of the flower. The fly also consumes pollen as part.

Bombylius major. of its diet, with considerable differences between the sexes. Males and females visit the same range of flowers as a food source.Along with one other species, "Bombylius pygmaeus", "B. major" was observed to selectively (and almost exclusively) visit bluets at several North American sites despite the abundant presence of many other flowers. Of the other pollinators present, these flies were also the most frequent visitors to the flowers.## Female.In Russia, female "B. major" act in a narrow oligophagous manner, favoring a limited number of food sources, including pollen grains of Siberian squill ("Scilla siberica"), lesser celandine ("Ficaria verna"), and willow.

Bombylius major. ("Salix caprea") over dandelion ("Taraxacum officinale"), coltsfoot ("Tussilago farfara"), and primrose ("Primula vulgaris").## Male.In the same study, male "B. major" preferred plants similar to females, with the exception of dandelion. However, an examination of the gut showed a regularly lower amount of pollen than in females. Males consistently consume less quantities of pollen than females. Ingestion of pollen differs throughout a male life cycle, with more pollen being consumed in towards earlier stages. Overall, males had a preference for nectar and fed on significantly greater portions of nectar over pollen.## Behavior.There is continued research on the behavior of "B. major.

Bombylius major. in respect to environmental factors, mating, and human interaction.## Flight.It has been discovered that the fly is capable of a unique type of flight behavior, which was discovered with the use of a high speed camera. In this behavior, the flies are seen to rotate around a vertical axis as they fly (this action is known as “yawing”). However, it is still unknown what can cause this behavior to be triggered and what purpose it serves, but a proposed explanation includes mating habits.## Pollinator Role.The "B. major" bee-fly is a common, generalist floral pollinator, meaning that it does not give.

Bombylius major. preference to one flower over another, instead pollinating a wide variety of plant families and species. The fly uses its proboscis to carry and transfer the pollen. The species is a dominant pollinator within its community, sometimes even pollinating up to two thirds of the local flowers. In addition, "B. major" will visit and pollinate plants that attract few other species. Some types of flowers, for example "Pulmonaria officinalis," will be almost exclusively pollinated by "B. major", with other species contributing a negligible amount to that plants pollination. Some flower species, such as "Delphinium tricorne", are even specifically adapted to.

Bombylius major. the fly in terms of color, shape, and form. If given the choice, "B. major" will have a consistency in plant choice.## Flower Attraction.Long distance floral attraction is governed by optical sense, with color being the most important factor. The flies are typically more attracted to blue and violet colors, and occasionally yellow, over orange and pink. However, short distance floral attraction is based on the fly’s olfactory sense.## Activity.The fly is mostly active during day hours when the weather conditions are warm and sunny. "B. major" is attracted to sunnier places and is more likely to pollinate these areas,.

Bombylius major. with a larger average of flower visits in areas of higher amounts of sunshine. The fly will hide in the trees during the night and usually dart away from a cast shadow and occasionally hide in clean washing brought in fresh from the washing line and fly out causing unsettled behaviour in the discoverer. Photograph by Felipe vilarroya.