Portal:Insects
Insects (from Latin insectum, a calque of Greek ἔντομον [éntomon], “cut into sections”) are a class within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (head, thorax, and abdomen), three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae. They are among the most diverse group of animals on the planet and include more than a million described species and represent more than half of all known living organisms. The number of extant species is estimated at between six and ten million, and potentially represent over 90% of the differing metazoan life forms on Earth. Insects may be found in nearly all environments, although only a small number of species occur in the oceans, a habitat dominated by another arthropod group, the crustaceans. Template:/box-footer
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Cochineal is the name of both a crimson or carmine dye and of the cochineal insect (Dactylopius coccus), a scale insect in the suborder Sternorrhyncha, from which the dye is derived. There are other species in the genus Dactylopius which can be used to produce cochineal extract, but they are difficult to distinguish from D. coccus. The primary biological distinctions between species are minor differences in host plant preferences, in addition to very different geographic distributions. D. coccus itself is native to tropical and subtropical South America and Mexico.This type of insect, a primarily sessile parasite, lives on cacti from the genus Opuntia, feeding on moisture and nutrients in the cacti. The insect produces carminic acid which deters predation by other insects. Carminic acid can be extracted from the insect's body and eggs to make the dye. Cochineal is primarily used as a food colouring and for cosmetics.
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- ... that the animals described in Carl Linnaeus' Centuria Insectorum include the crab Hepatus epheliticus, the rhinoceros beetle Dynastes tityus, the scale insect Conchaspis capensis and the butterfly Catopsilia scylla?
- ... that the scientific name of the peacock carpenter bee (Xylocopa bombylans) means "bumblebee-like wood-cutter"?
- ... that the mayfly Rhithrogena germanica can emerge from a river, moult and fly off in 30 seconds?
- ... that the first entomological article written by a New World native concerned the "Great Black Waſp"?
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Panorpa communis, the common scorpionfly (Mecoptera: Panorpidae), is a species of scorpionfly native to Western Europe.
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