26 Şubat 2013 Salı

Mississippi State Insect

Mississippi State Insect

European Honeybee (common name)
Apis mellifera 
(scientific name)

Overview

Honeybees are one of the most common insects in the world. They are extremely important in agriculture for their ability to pollinate plants and also contribute to the economy in terms of honey and beeswax. The European honeybee was named the state insect of Kansas (in 1976), Louisiana (1977), North Carolina (1973), Maine (1975), Missouri (1985), Nebraska (1975), New Jersey (1974), Utah (1983), Mississippi (1980), Georgia (1975), South Dakota (1978), and Wisconsin (1977).

Close-up

STATUS
Official
PHYSICAL DETAILS
Honeybees have compound eyes comprised of hundreds of smaller eyes called ommatidia. Worker bees are 0.37-0.62 inches (9–18 mm) in length and have a pollen basket on their hind legs, four pairs of beeswax-secreting glands on their abdomen, and an extra stomach for storing nectar and honey. Only females have stingers that they use when threatened. Worker stingers can be used only once, unlike those of queen bees. Worker bees are golden brown and black in color with a black head and patches of pale orange. Their abdomens and wings are covered with yellow bands and their entire bodies are covered with tiny hairs. Queen bees are much larger (0.75 inches or 20mm) than other bees and have a longer abdomen.

Larvae: Eggs hatch after three days into a white larva. After another six days they become pupae.
LIFESPAN
The queen bee lives as long as five years. Drones live for eight weeks. Worker bees born in summer live for around 6 weeks, and those born during the fall live until the next spring.
HABITAT
Range: Honeybees are found all over the world except Antarctica.
Flight period: Most active during spring and summer.
Conservation status: Least concern
BEHAVIOR
Honeybees are very social in nature and exist in a very structured social system that has three specialized groups: the queens, the drones, and the workers. Each of these "castes" has their own function. The queen’s main function is to lay eggs, and she can lay more than 1,500 eggs per day. Drones exist only to mate with the queen bee and either die or are driven away at the end of the season. Worker bees take care of building and maintaining the hive and honey comb and also take care of the queen and defend the hive.
Older workers, also known as field bees, gather nectar, water, pollen and plant resins that are used to build hives. Once the bee colony gets a new queen, it subdivides in a process known as "swarming," during which the old queen moves out with half of the bees to build a new colony. Honeybees are not usually aggressive, but they react when their hive is under attack. Eggs have to be incubated at 94 degrees Fahrenheit (34 degrees Celsius), and the bees maintain this temperature by depositing water and fanning the hive with their wings during hot weather. In winter, they cluster close together to generate heat.  
DIET
Adults: Flower nectar and pollen form the main diet for honeybees.
Larvae: Young queen bees are fed a special jelly that is made using glands in the heads of the worker bees. Only bees that are fed this special "royal jelly" develop into queens.
TRIVIA
  • The size of honeybees depends on the size of their colonies. Smaller colonies have just one large queen and tiny other bees, but as the summer ends, bigger honeybees are produced due to larger colonies.
  • Only one queen reigns over a hive. The other weaker queens are stung to death by the reigning queen bee or by the workers. Unfertilized eggs become drones.
  • Hive activity is regulated by a scent produced by the queen bee.

Click to enlarge an image
State Insect
Honeybee Harvesting Nectar
State Insect
Crowded Beehive
State Insect
Frontal View of Honeybee
State Insect
Honeybee Depositing Nectar in Honeycomb
State Insect
Honeybee with Tongue Extended
State Insect
Beekeeper Checks His Hive

CLASSIFICATION
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Arthropoda
Class:Insecta
Order:Hymenoptera
Family:Apidae
Genus:Apis
Species:A. mellifera
Author: World Trade Press


Mississippi State Butterfly

Spicebush Swallowtail (common name)
Papilio troilus 
(scientific name)

Overview

The spicebush swallowtail is a black butterfly with a long tail on its hind wings. It was declared the state butterfly of Mississippi in 1991. It gets its name from the spicebush, which, along with the sassafras, is one of the most commonly used host plants for the butterfly’s caterpillar. Swallowtails are one of the largest and common butterflies with some 600 species worldwide and more than 30 species in North America alone. The hind wings are bright green in males and an iridescent blue in females.

Close-up

PHYSICAL DETAILS
Wingspan: 3–4 in (7.6–10 cm).
Larvae:
 Young swallowtail caterpillars resemble bird droppings. They molt into a light green or brown color with two prominent "eye spots." When the larvae enters the pupa stage it wraps itself in a brown or green chrysalis that looks like a leaf or branch. The cocoon is held upright via a silken thread around the middle called a "girdle." Swallowtails overwinter as a chrysalis, emerging as an adult butterfly in the spring.
LIFESPAN
Two to 14 days
HABITAT
Deciduous forests, pine barrens, woody swamps, woodland edges, and gardens near the woods.
Range: Eastern North America from southern Ontario to Cuba. From Manitoba to central Texas in the western part of the range.
Flight period: Early May to early October
Conservation status: Least Concern
BEHAVIOR
Flies low and fast through shaded areas. Between April and October male swallowtails breed daily, patrolling to locate females. Females search out plants on which to lay their eggs by sight and smell. Once a suitable one is located, they land on a leaf and beat it with their forelegs to taste it and confirm it is the correct type of plant. Spicebush swallowtail eggs (round and whitish green in color) are laid one at a time on the undersides of leaves.
DIET
Adults: Flower nectar (honeysuckle, clover, bee balm, thistle, jewelweed, milkweed, azalea, dogbane, mimosa, and sweet pepperbush).
Larvae: Leaves of the spicebush, sassafras, camphor tree, and red bay.
TRIVIA
  • When frightened, the spicebush swallowtail caterpillar thrusts out a reddish-orange forked gland behind its head called the "osmeterium," which releases a foul odor that deters predators.

Click to enlarge an image
State Insect
Spicebush Swallowtail Butterfly
State Insect
Side View of Spicebush Swallowtail

CLASSIFICATION
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Arthropoda
Class:Insecta
Order:Lepidoptera
Family:Papilionidae
Subfamily:Papilionidae
Tribe:Papilionini
Genus:Papilio
Species:P. troilus
Author: World Trade Press

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