Water strider (Ptilomera tigrina)

Water strider (Ptilomera tigrina) is an animal species in Gerridae, a predatory insect that spends time on the surface of fast water with back and forth movements with a speed of up to 1.5 m/s to float and is very easily recognized by its habit of always walking and jumping on around water.

P. tigrina has an elongated, dark cylindrical body with several bright or silvery white parts. A pair of big eyes at the tip of the head. The stomach has joints and tapers towards the back.

A pair of antennae is very long with several joints and stick-shaped legs. The forelegs pair have three sections with two joints and the first is slightly thickened. The second and third pairs of legs are several times the length of the body.

Water strider has a very fast movement on the surface of the water to float and target prey near the surface. This species is a model in biophysical research regarding the ability to float on the surface and the ability to move forward quickly.

The buoyancy originates from the microsetae arranged in a specific direction and nanometer-sized grooves at the end of the leg and is provided with a waxy coating, but the hydrophobic effect is due more to the physical structure of the limbs than to the wax coating.

The angle of contact of the legs with water, tiny hairs and indentations cause air to become trapped and act as a float. P. tigrina presses the surface of the water using the middle leg without penetrating the surface to form a basin on the surface. Hollows to propel the body forward.

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Hexapoda
Class: Insecta
Subclass: Pterygota
Order: Hemiptera
Suborder: Heteroptera
Infraorder: Gerromorpha
Superfamily: Gerroidea
Family: Gerridae
Subfamily: Ptilomerinae
Genus: Ptilomera
Species: Ptilomera tigrina

Korean mulberry (Morus indica)

Murbei or Korean mulberry ( Morus indica ) is a species of plant in Moraceae, shrub or small tree, up to 10 meters tall, slow growing, cylindrical stem, light brown with white nodules, M. indica has heart-shaped or oval-shaped leaves and sometimes three-lobed, 4-12.5 cm long, 2.5-7.5 cm wide, pointed tip, serrated margin, green and has a stalk. Monoecious inflorescences with male and female grow on the same tree, though often on different branches. Male flowers have a size of 9-11.5 mm and are covered with fine hairs. The female flowers are subglubose or only round in shape, measuring 6-9.5 mm. Stigma is 3.5 mm long with short, thick hair. The female flowers form compound fruit and are fleshy, green and white-haired to white, red and black when ripe. Korean mulberry is used in regulating blood glucose levels in diabetic patients. Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Subphylum: Angiospermae Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Rosales Family: Moraceae Genus: Morus Species: Morus indica

Swietenia mahagoni and Swietenia macrophylla, the differences

SPECIES HEAD TO HEAD - To date, mahogany ( Swietenia Jacq.) is recorded as having four species: West Indian mahogany or small-leaved mahogany ( Swietenia mahagoni (L.) Jacq.), big-leaf mahogany ( Swietenia macrophylla King), Honduran mahogany ( Swietenia humilis Zucc.) and Swietenia × aubrevilleana Stehlé & Cusin. The debate over the number of taxa in the genus is still not resolved. Some researchers believe that there are only two species: S. mahagoni and S. macrophylla . I agree with that opinion and the two species can only be differentiated by the size of the leaves. All species in this genus have similar morphology except for leaf size. The following is the key to identifying these two species. S. mahagoni has a stalk length of around 37 cm with 5-6 pairs of strands. The strands are about 10 cm long and about 3.5 cm wide. S. macrophylla has a stalk length of up to 45 cm with 4-5 pairs of strands. The strands are up to 31 cm long and up to 8 cm wide. By Aryo Bando...

Broad-handed carpenter bee (Xylocopa latipes)

Broad-handed carpenter bee ( Xylocopa latipes ) is an animal species in the Apidae, tropical wood bees, very large, strong, solitary lives and builds nests by burrowing into fallen trees to telephone poles in forests and cities with warm tropical climates. X. latipes is overall black and shiny with black wings that turn bluish or greenish or metallic purple in sunlight. A pair of large eyes and a pair of antennae have broad bases. The back has a horizontal line. The abdomen is oval in shape with segments, the margins are wide and the back has thick hair. The broad-handed carpenter bee produces a loud, distinctive low-pitched hum that can be heard in flight. Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Arthropoda Subphylum: Hexapoda Class: Insecta Subclass: Pterygota Order: Hymenoptera Suborder: Apocrita Infraorder: Aculeata Superfamily: Apoidea Epifamily: Anthophila Family: Apidae Subfamily: Xylocopinae Tribe: Xylocopini Genus: Xylocopa Subgenus: Platynopoda Species: Xylocopa latipes

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