what are the distinguishing characteristics of the family Acrididae, genus Melanoplus bivittatus?
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The two-striped grasshopper, Melanoplus bivittatus is exhaustively described in the link below. It belongs to the family Acrididae - the short-horned grasshoppers. There are 548 species of acridids in North America, 209 of them belong to the genus Melanoplus.\n\nHere's 7 characteristics for this species:\n(1) Compound eye brown with many light tan spots and no dark bands.\n(2) Front of head tan or green with dark spots; line of dark spots on carinae (ridges) of frontal costa.\n(3) Pronotum with light, horizontal stripe at top of lateral lobe; above the stripe a fuscous or brown band at the edge of pronotal disk.\n(4) Gena colored tan or green and spotted, without light crescent below compound eye.\n(5) Hind femur with black stripe entire, not interrupted by pale band. Stripe fills upper medial area of hind femur except at proximal end and encroaches slightly on the lower medial area.\n(6) Hind tibia green or buff with spines or tips of spines black. Front (anterior edge) of tibia fuscous.\n(7) General color green or tan.
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Ironclad beetle\n\nThe armored tank of the beetle world.\n\nhttp://insects.tamu.edu/fieldguide/bimg170.html\n\nhttp://www.texasento.net/Ironclad.html\n\nhttp://bugguide.net/node/view/5779/bgpage\n\nhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zopherinae
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You could have looked this up... here are some sites, but I recommend the book Invertebrates by Brusca & Brusca; it has excellent and clear illustrations.\n\nhttp://bugs.bio.usyd.edu.au/Entomology/ExternalMorphology/imagePages/mouth_butterfly.html\nhttp://www.enchantedlearning.com/bgifs/Bflyhead.GIF
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ATLANTIC DEVIL RAY\nOrder - Myliobatiformes\nFamily - Mobulidae\nGenus - Mobula\nSpecies - hypostoma\n(i think this is the one u were asking about)\n\n I didnt know which animal u were exactly asking for. so check out the sites below
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Classification\n\n Phylum: Arthropoda\n Class: Insecta\n Order: Lepidoptera\n Family: Nymphalidae\n Genus: Limenitis
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Domain: Eukaryote\nKingdom: Animalia\nPhylum: Chordata\nClass: Mammalia\nOrder: Carnivora\nFamily: Ursidae\nGenus: Ailuropoda\nMilne-Edwards, 1870\nSpecies: A. melanoleuca\nBinomial name\nAiluropoda melanoleuca
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Taxonomy\nOrder: Squamata\nFamily: Chamaeleonidae\nGenus/species: Chamaeleo calyptratus\n\nDescription\nVeiled chameleons are one of about 80 species of Old World chameleons, also called true chameleons. They are aggressive and brightly colored. They have a casque, a helmet-like ridge, on top of their heads, which is a tiny swelling as a hatchling, but grows to two inches (5 cm) in height as the animal matures. As hatchlings, they are usually a pastel green, but as they mature they acquire bold bands of bright gold, green, and blue, mixed with yellow, orange, or black, that circle their body. The males are usually more strikingly colored than the females, which are usually shades of green mottled with shades of tan, orange, white, and sometimes yellow. \n\nThere is marked sexual dimorphism. Males have a larger body and casque when mature than females. Male body length can reach between 17 and 24 inches (43 to 61 cm) from head to the tip of the tail and they are usually thin in appearance. Females reach between 10 and 14 inches (25 to 35.5 cm) in length. The female's casque is smaller than the males, and they are more heavy-bodied. \n\nA Specialized Lizard\nChameleons are specialized tree-living lizards that catching insect prey. Their bodies are flattened from side to side, and more or less leaf-shaped. They remain still and concealed for long periods of time and wait for their prey to come near. When they move, they do so slowly, and rock their bodies from side to side like a leaf in the wind. \n\nEyes\nThey have eyes that can move independently and look in two directions at once, as well as swivel nearly 180 degrees. They are therefore able to look in any direction, and even follow moving objects, without turning their heads or shifting body position. When a prey animal is spotted, both eyes will focus on the insect in order to perceive depth. \n\nHands and Tail\nChameleons are highly arboreal (tree-living). They have grasping hands that work much like human hands. Three fingers are fused together and face toward the inside. They also have a prehensile tail that they use as a fifth appendage. \n\nColor Changes\nChameleons are famous for their ability to change color. The color change serves only partly for camouflage. Although chameleons at rest tend to assume colors similar to their surroundings, color change is most often used to signify emotional state. Many chameleons are some shade of green or brown at rest, but can become far more brightly colored when frightened, courting, or defending a territory against another chameleon. Veiled chameleons when startled or threatened may darken in color and "play possum."\n\nInteraction with Mates\nThey are primarily solitary and males are very territorial. Males and females tolerate each other only during breeding.\n\nDistribution and Habitat\nVeiled chameleons are native to Yemen and southern Saudi Arabia, and reside in an amazing variety of different habitats. They can be found in the dry plateaus, mountains, and river valleys. They are arboreal, preferring to live in trees, bushes, or shrubs. They prefer temperatures of 75° to 95°F (24° to 35°C) and can be found in elevations up to 3,000 feet (914 m). \n\nDiet in the Wild\nThe veiled chameleon is an insectivore. It may also eat leaves as a source of water during the dry seasons. \n\nZoo Diet\nThey are fed crickets daily.\n\nReproduction\nThey reach sexual maturity within four to five months, at 8 to 12 inches long. Breeding may occur up to three times a year. Females change colors within 18 hours of a successful mating. Egg laying occurs between 20 and 30 days after mating, with clutch sizes ranging from 35 to 85 eggs. The white, oval, tough-skinned eggs are buried in warm sand. \n\nLife Span\nThe lifespan of a veiled chameleon may be up to five years for females and up to eight years for males. \n\nStatus\nThey are not listed on CITES or the IUCN Red List. The veiled chameleon is the most commonly bred and ava
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More imformation would deffinently help. It is pretty much impossible to tell from the info you gave. What do you mean octagon spider? Does that refer to the web? Some helpful info would be the color, size, and shape of the spider, the shape, size, and location of the web, and where you found the spider (state, country, ect.). Any other information would also help. \n\nAnother thing to consider is that all spiders (other than a small, rare family) have venom. It is unlikely that they are very harmful, but again, I would need more information to say that for sure. Try a field guide (library is a good place to look) and see if you can find what kind it is, then research that one. If you want, post some more info here, and I will try to find it.
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Pretty much like an orchid. Probably green since they would need to utilise the sun as a source of energy, and having with hair that can absorb nutrients and water from the air.
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Spiders are Arachnids and not insects.\nArachnids are a class that includes spiders, ticks, mites and scorpians. They are chiefly terrestrial arthropods, some 65,000 to 73,000 species including the spiders, scorpions, harvestmen, ticks, and mites. The arachnids are easily distinguished from the insects by the fact that they have eight legs instead of six.\nInsects of course, have 6 legs and often have a 3 segment body and wings. Arachnids are further distinguished by the fact they have no antennae and no wings. They have a two-segment body, made up merely of the thorax and abdomen.\n\n\nPhylum: Arthorpoda\nSubPhylum: Chelicerata\nClass: Arachnida\nOrder: Araneae\nThen your genus and species of spider.
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The first was a large termite, perhaps a male, which are rare except during the mating time-they are white, very similar to ants, and have a much softer body.\nThe second was likely some species of dung beetle, which are common in that area, and can be quite colorful
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Here are two links. The first dscribes it's taxonomical charicteristics, the second link has pictures.\n\nGood Luck.
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Actually, there's a lot more than two species.\n\nThe family Gyrinidae, commonly known as whirligig beetles includes about 700 species world wide, all of which have their compound eyes split into four functional elements.  \n\nThe split eye system is quite useful for them as they live their lives scooting about on the water's surface like little motor-boats.  The upper pair of eyes is able to scan above for aerial and surface predators, such as birds or fishing spiders, while the the lower pair of eyes watches for fishies and dragonfly larvae.\n\nSince all this watching for predators doesn't leave them much to watch for prey with, they also use their antennae for sonar echolocation - detecting ripples in the water's surface.  Then they zoom over to anything that falls in the water and gig into it until it's dead.\n\nAnother beetle with four eyes is Tetraopes tetraophthalmus, the red milkweed beetle.  It is a Cerambycid (long-horned beetle) whose antennae have grown so large that they effectively cut their compound eye into two sections.  Like many critters that feed on milkweed (like monarch butterflies), Tetraopes are toxic, and their bright red colour is a warning to predators not to eat them cuz yuck.
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If it has no visible head (except darker mandibles) and no legs, it is a fly larva, most likely Brachycera, the most common sub order of flies (house flies, blow flies, etc.). It is difficult to determine the exact species, or even family for that matter without seeing it under a scope with a key. It is most likely some species of flesh fly or blow fly, their larvae tend to be very mobile, althought they typically dont travel very far, so the source of your maggot problem may be or possibly was not too long ago, just outside the area where they are coming in by. If they depleted their food resource, typically rotting flesh or dung, they will sometimescrawl away in search of more food....\n\nhope this helps!
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Here's a big picture of an Asilidae:\n\nhttp://www.insects.org/entophiles/diptera/dipt_en004.html\n\n\nAnd here's a bunch of info from "Featured Creatures":\n\nhttp://creatures.ifas.ufl.edu/beneficial/flies/robber_flies.htm
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Chameleon species are able to change their body color, which has made them one of the most famous lizard families. Contrary to popular belief, this change of color is not purely an adaptation to the surroundings (although the surroundings play a large part) but also an expression of the physical and physiological condition of the lizard. The skin color is changed under influence of mood, light, and temperature. The skin color also plays an important part in communication and rivalry fights.\n\nChameleons have specialized cells, collectively called chromatophores, that lie in layers under their transparent outer skin. The cells in the upper layer, called xanthophores and erythrophores, contain yellow and red pigments respectively. Below these is another layer of cells called iridophores (or guanophores), and they contain the colorless crystalline substance guanine. These reflect amongst others the blue part of incident light. If the upper layer of chromatophores appear mainly yellow, the reflected light becomes green (blue plus yellow). A layer of dark melanin containing melanophores is situated even deeper under the reflective iridophores. The melanophores influence the 'lightness' of the reflected light. All these different pigment cells can rapidly relocate their pigments, thereby influencing the color of the chameleon.
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It is in the order lepidoptera and the family nymphalidae.