...Fireflies are familiar, but few realize that these insects are actually beetles, nocturnal members of the family Lampyridae. Most fireflies are winged, which distinguishes them from other luminescent insects of the same family, commonly known as glowworms. There are about 2,000 firefly species. These insects live in a variety of warm environments, as well as in more temperate regions, and are a familiar sight on summer evenings. Fireflies love moisture and often live in humid regions of Asia and the Americas. In drier areas, they are found around wet or damp areas that retain moisture. Everyone knows how fireflies got their name, but many people don't know how the insects produce their signature glow. Fireflies have dedicated light organs that are located under their abdomens. The insects take in oxygen and, inside special cells, combine it with a substance called luciferin to produce light with almost no heat. Firefly light is usually intermittent, and flashes in patterns that are unique to each species. Each blinking pattern is an optical signal that helps fireflies find potential mates. Scientists are not sure how the insects regulate this process to turn their lights on and off. Firefly light may also serve as a defense mechanism that flashes a clear warning of the insect's unappetizing taste. The fact that even larvae are luminescent lends support to this theory. Females deposit their eggs in the ground, which is where larvae develop to adulthood. Underground...
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...standard error was 0.9728 (Figure 2). A comparative t-test was performed and from it the t-value, degrees of freedom, and p-value were determined. The t-value, for two-tailed distribution, was 2.20099, the degrees of freedom was 11, and the p-value was 0.00033 (Figure 1). DISCUSSION: Our hypothesis was accepted because the female bean beetles preferred to lay eggs on the beans without eggs rather than the beans with eggs already on them; therefore, the null hypothesis was rejected, because the p-value, 0.00033, was less than 0.05. This research is important because it tells us more about the ovipositional preferences of the female bean beetles. Larvae can’t move from the egg which is deposited, so the bean determined the future food resources that is available for their offspring, which would affect the the influence of the growth or reproduction; therefore, minimizing competition of resources between the offspring. It also important to know how if intraspecific competition will severely limit the rate of a population and there has been little published research done on this concept. In a similar experiment, the behavior of bean beetles was observed as well. The data also shows scramble competition, both in terms of the process of competition and its outcome. Their results showed that the more larvae per cowpea, the less emergence weight of the female...
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...Name: Yolanda Sanchez Lab Activity 11 – Aquatic Biodiversity (Macroinvertebrates) NSCI 102 In this activity, you will learn about how samples of macroinvertebrates found on stream bottoms can be analyzed to determine water quality. Macroinvertebrates are organisms with no backbone that are visible without using a microscope. Crayfish, aquatic snails, and the larvae of aquatic insects are examples of stream-bottom macroinvertebrates. Macroinvertebrates are an important link in the aquatic food chain. They feed upon algae and leaves that fall into the stream and are eaten by larger consumers, such as fish. Macroinvertebrates are useful for studying water quality because some of them cannot survive in polluted waters, while others thrive. Since stream-bottom macroinvertebrates do not generally move very far within a stream, they are excellent indicators of long-term pollution trends. Levels of pollution may vary over time, so a one-time chemical analysis of the water may not provide an accurate picture. However, if pollutants are common in a stream, the macroinvertebrates found there will primarily be the ones that are tolerant of poor water quality. In addition, macroinvertebrates are relatively easy to collect, so analyzing this community can be used to get an initial indication of water quality to see if additional chemical tests are necessary. Materials needed for this lab: - Handouts: Stream Sample A, Stream Sample B, Macroinvertebrate Key ...
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...Does anyone like slimey scaley creatures of all shapes and sizes? If so one might want to look into to a career of herpetology. There are several things one needs to do before becoming a herpetologist. They mainly help the population of reptiles and amphibians. There are a ton of places to work if one becomes a herpetologist. A herpetologist works to keep the population of reptiles and amphibians steady there is a lot of things one has to do before becoming one there are plenty of places to work after one becomes a herpetologist. A herpetologist is someone who studies reptiles and amphibians. There are lots of requirements to become a herpetologist. To become a herpetologist one needs at least four years of college in biology with courses...
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...THE GAMBIA COLLEGE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH COURSE: EHS 311: INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT TOPIC: LADY BEETLE Presented by: Omar ceesay GC # 214426 Submitted to: LECTURER: Mr. Fabakary minteh DATE: 9TH MARCH 2015 Lady beetles, also known as “ladybugs” or “ladybird beetles”, are familiar insects. They belong to phylum arthropod and family of Coccinellidae. Some 70 species are native to Colorado and about 10 to 12 additional species have established during the past century. Adult Lady Beetles are round and small (1-10 mm) long. This paper gives a comprehensive overview of the morphology and the economic importance of the lady beetle. The morphology look into the size, shape and the colour of the above insect, while the life cycle look into the various stages of the development from the egg to the adult. Under the economic important, it look into its impact on human, on agriculture and its medical impact as well. It went further to look at the types of lady beetle and its habitat as well as some of the preventive measures in controlling and managing them. Key words: lady beetle, pest, Coccinellidae ...
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...Mealworms are the larvae stage the darkling beetle and because of this they are not really worms. The mealworms are golden brown in color and they like to live in dark and moist environments. They also can be very commonly found in homes near the stored grains (Iowa Insect Information Notes, 2005). It is commonly known that these organisms feed on organic matter, but they are also notorious for being found in a home where a family keeps its grains. Mealworms were used for this experiment because they are inexpensive to obtain and produce lots of offspring so we can use them for a bigger sample size to obtain better results in our experiment. What interests me about these bugs is that this experiment could possible help us get a better understanding...
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...Over Population The impact of over-population is more widespread than most Americans realize. With an average of over 200,000 more people being added to this planet daily, an effect on the environment is inevitable. I believe over-population has more of a negative effect than positive. Issues such as depletion of natural resources, over-crowding, and the spread of diseases are why I am so concerned about this epidemic. With such a rapid average growth in population, natural resources are dwindling. Our country does not have enough resources to provide for the people. In return, we are cutting down forests to use those resources for fuel. The forests were a natural protection to our planet from global warming. Since they are being destroyed, we are no longer protected. Also, species are becoming extinct because we are destroying their natural habitats. A large percentage of the population lives in poverty and these families are growing rapidly. Some parents from low-income families cannot afford to properly provide the needs of their children. This is causing a rise in mal-nourishment. These children are going without nutrients they need which in turn causes health problems. These health problems go untreated because the families cannot afford health care. Again, this affects everyone because those that have jobs end up having to pay higher health premiums to provide for those that cannot pay for their own medical services. We are also affected because...
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...During my expedition through the Museum of Modern Art in San Jose I saw a photograph that hit me like a bolt of lightning and got me thinking about probably the world’s biggest problem, overpopulation. The photograph I saw was called Architecture of Density and it was taken by photographer and artist Michael Wolf. The photograph portrayed a massive building in Hong Kong that looked as if it was built to house thousands of people using the least amount of space possible. The apartment building seemed to be designed to have people crammed together with no room to move. Although Wolf’s main focus of his picture was to show viewers that the culture of Hong Kong starts in the homes of the people, I saw Wolf’s photograph as a look into the far more complicated issue of overpopulation, whose effects are currently felt worldwide and are slowly getting worse. Human overpopulation on earth is the leading cause of many of the planet’s problems. Overpopulation is defined as “excessive population of an area to the point of overcrowding, depletion of natural resources, or environmental deterioration”, (Answers). The problems caused by the overpopulation of humans range from the extreme of global warming/climate change, pollution, water shortages, desertification and depletion of other resources to other smaller problems such as deforestation, species extinction and overcrowding. However unfortunately, few governments or government officials around the world are willing to look...
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...The literal meaning of OVER population explosion is “a pyramiding of numbers of a biological population” (Webster’s dictionary). The main factors affecting the population change are the birth rate, death rate and migration. Migration is the number of people moving in (immigration) or out (emigration) of a country, place or locality. The population change is calculated by the formula: Population change = (Births + Immigration) – (Deaths + Emigration) India, being a developing country, has had to face several economic and political challenges. One of the most important problems is the population explosion. India's population hit 1 billion in May 2000, increasing the urgency for the country to take steps to control its population growth. Some of the reasons for this population explosion are poverty, better medical facilities, and immigration from our neighbouring countries of Bangladesh and Nepal. The population density of India in 1996 was about 287 persons per square kilometre. Several solutions to decrease the rate of population increase have been tried by the government, some successful, some unsuccessful. Although the rate of increase has decreased, the rate has not reached the satisfactory level yet. The population in India continues to increase at an alarming rate. The effects of this population increase can be felt in the increasing poverty, unemployment, air and water pollution, and shortage of food, health resources and educational resources. The main reasons, effects...
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...ontent Page * Aging Population * Overpopulation * Mindmap Aging Population Article : http://www.cnbc.com/id/46010334/page/11 1. Monaco Old/young ratio: 2.18:1 65 years & over: 26.9% 0-14 years: 2.18% Monaco, one of the world’s most densely populated countries, is home to the oldest population. It leads eight other European countries in the top 10 list. But the country is also a bit of a statistical anomaly because its status as a tax haven makes it a big draw for the wealthy and the retired rich. With an estimated population of 30,539, the country saw its population decline in 2011 by 0.12 percent, according the to CIA Factbook. Only around 8,000 people are citizens of the city-state. The proportion of Monaco’s population aged 65 and over is 26.9 percent, the highest in Western Europe, where the average is 16.5 percent, according to a 2011 study by research firm Euromonitor. The median age of Monaco’s population is 49.4 years, according to the CIA Factbook. With its older demographic, Monaco spent just 1.2 percent of its GDP in 2009 on education, according to the World Bank. In an effort to attract young professionals and entrepreneurs to boost its economy, Prince Albert launched a new consular service in Britain to attract foreigners in 2007. Overpopulation ARTICLE: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alon-tal/overpopulation-is-still-t_b_3990646.html Country: China Overpopulation remains the leading driver of hunger, desertification...
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...Chapter 2: The Ecology of Population Growth Review Essay by Max Kosusnik Earth’s population has increased by the billions at rates deemed too quick for us to be capable of controlling. We, as a race, grew to our first billion in 1804. In 1927, only 123 years later, we had reached our second billion. To make matters more substantial, it only took 33 years until we had reached our third billion, in the year 1960. The rate would speed up so much that, on average, every 13 years our world’s population would reach another billion, getting us to 7 billion in 2011. This fast paced growth comes with many consequences. Human demands will and possibly already have overrun the amount of our natural support systems, and our food supplies, such as our fisheries, grasslands, forests, soils, and aquifers. If our demands increase over the sustainable output these resources provide for us, then it will result in overfishing, overgrazing, overcutting, overplowing, and overpumping. A recent demographic projection by the U.N. shows that the world’s population will grow to well over 9 billion by 2050. Although many believe this will materialize, it is unlikely due to the hardships we will face increasing the food supply, global warming, and water shortages. Although world population growth has slowed down from the peak of 2.1 percent in 1967 to 1.1 percent in 2011, it is still unclear whether the population growth has slowed due to the shift to smaller families or the opposite, that we...
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...The long term effect of China’s overpopulation comes with many issues. The main issue China will face is an overall environmental strain. There would be a shortage of food supply, which would increase the hunger and death rate in many Chinese people but mainly children. The water storage would be insufficient, which would result in individuals getting improper water intake. The gases that build up would make the air quality rather poor and causes more asthma and breathing issues. Oil and gas would probably reach its peak and cause prices to rise tremendously. The air pollutions will not only affect breathing, it will also contribute to the already thinning ozone layer. The oceans would be affected and will not sustain quality sea life. Then an issue many do not focus on is top soil. Many farmers and gardeners will not be able to do any deep planting but only shallow. These are the long-term of China overpopulation. The main stakeholder involved in the overpopulation in China issue is the government. The government is the unit that creates and passes the laws that are needed to deal with the issue of over population. One well known government issued policy is that every couple in China can only have one child. It is believed that with the one child policy, there can be a better management on the population growth. Just like any law passed, it is not always followed. For example, if a couple has twins they are and exception to the rule. Now many women are taking fertility...
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...Pamela Kofton ANT 102 Cultural Anthropology Fall 2012 Ellsworth Center Marlboro Cemetery Lamoine, MaineThis old time cemetery in Hancock County, Maine seems, at first glance, to be a forgotten patch of Maine woods. Adjacent to a new housing development, Marlboro Woods with large homes spread out on Ldyia's lane, a seemingly bustling neighborhood of the future, an overgrown woods path leads to an entrance marked with a bent iron gate attached to stone pillars and delineated by a wire fence. Marlboro Cemetery is located in Lamoine, Maine off Route 204 (called Partridge Cove Rd) approximately 4.4 miles from the intersection of Rt 184 and 204. Turn left onto Lydia's Lane, drive approximately 0.1 miles. There is a path to the cemetery on the right. The cemetery is named Marlboro Cemetery. Marlboro is a village which was incorporated into the town of Lamoine. Although a number of gravestones do display Christian symbols, there seems to be no obvious church or religious affiliation represented, leading me to deduce this cemetery was used by all town members. There are a total of twenty two surnames represented with no prevailing ethnicity. Wives are buried with their husbands showing this is a patriarchal society. Most stones are crafted from the local granite with a few different types unrecognizable to me. Surnames Represented in Marlboro Cemetery (QTY) | Bowden (2) | Bragdon (6) | Closson (1) | Corey (1 + 1 Dog) | Ford (5) | Frye...
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...POPULATION GROWTH AND THE PRESSURES IT PLACES ON EARTHS RESOURCES World population has rapidly increased in the last century and has now reached a staggering seven billion, raising alarming concern for the sustainability of our planet. Rapid population growth and economic development are increasing the demands on natural resource stocks (Orimoogunje, 2011). Sub-Saharan Africa is projected to become the primary source of population increase (United, 2002), yet lack of infrastructure represents one of the most significant limitations to economic growth, environment management and achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (Paul M. Pronyk, 2007). Uneven resource consumption is wasteful and contributes to the maldistribution of basic resources in developing countries. Studies show that high income earning countries constitute a smaller number of the population, but consume nature’s resources much faster than developing countries; this adds to the inequality of the world and compromises the stability of our ecosystems to support population growth (Kemp, 2004). The global population is expanding and human resource consumption rates are increasing adding to the environmental problems we face today. During the last century alone, global population in the world has grown from 1.65 billion to 7 billion (World population). In the gap between when my parents were born and I was born the population has roughly doubled from 2.25 billion in the late 1940’s to 4.5 billion in the early...
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...Mirella Villa Professor Potratz English 100 10/2/2013 Sinking Lifeboat Garrett Hardin was an American Ecologist who wrote the article “Lifeboat Ethics” in Psychology Today in 1974. Garrett Hardin is a neoconservative with a Doctorate in Biology from Stanford University and has written about how human life is sustained on our planet. By using metaphors, statistics, and cause and effect, Hardin attempts to sway the audience opinion on the world food bank but fails to do so. Hardin uses metaphors such as a lifeboat and a spaceship to represent the U.S. and planet earth. A lifeboat can only hold so many people and before it exceeds the capacity and a spaceship does not exclude anyone but limits the resources for everybody. In the lifeboat are many of the rich nations such as the U.S. and the United Nations and outside in the water are many of the poor countries like Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, and Pakistan. Since the U.S. is considered one of the rich nations they are considered the rich passengers among the boat which will be able to stay, the poorer countries will remain outside and only allowed if there is any room in the lifeboat. If the boat has enough space for fifty passengers then only fifty passengers will be allowed but if our “conscience stricken” side comes out then we possibly may allow more passengers. Suppose we allow ten more passengers we have now lost the safety factor on the lifeboat just as if we allow the country to overpopulate then we can lose the safety...
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