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A |
anthropogenic |
Originating from the activity of humans.
Example 1: The most serious historic anthropogenic stress on robber fly (Asilidae) populations has been the destruction of grassland habitat.' Robert A. Cannings Analysis of trends in species occurrence and abundance.
Example 2: 'Musca domestica has an anthropogenic distribution', meaning it has a distibution that is mainly determined by the spreading of the species by man. |
apex |
Plural: apices. The end of something 'protruding from' or 'attached to' the (imaginary) center of the body or the end removed from the center of the body. For example, the end of the wing (apex of the wing), the abdomen (apex of the abdomen), the tibia (apex of the tibia), etc. |
apical |
The adjective of apex. Example: 'Arista commonly bare on apical half' means that the second half of the arista (starting from the third antennal segment) is bare. Opposite of basal. |
apple maggot |
Vernacular name for the pest Rhagoletis pomonella of the Tephritidae (fruit flies).
Links: http://en.wikiped...ple_maggot.
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apterous |
Without wings, wingless. See aptery. |
aptery |
A condition where a specimen has no wings. A distinction should be made between the shedding of wings (e.g., some louse flies [Hippoboscidae] when they have found a suitable host) and the non-development of wings.
Aptery is often found in species that have a parasitic, terrestrial or even subterranean life style or that are found in other circumstances where wings are of little uses (e.g., boreal conditions or locations without natural enemies like some oceanic islands).
Within certain species apterous individuals may occur next to brachypterous individuals and/or fully winged individuals. |
apud |
With, in the work of; eg. Villa quinquefasciata Wied. apud Meig. indicates that Wiedemann's description of quinquefasciata was published in a paper on his own name but in Meigen (1820). |
arbovirus |
Shortened form of arthropod-borne virus. Arboviruses can cause minor human illnesses such as slight fevers and rashes or they can cause potentially fatal human illnesses such as encephalitis (inflammation of the brain). They are also responsible for diseases of cattleand horses. Diptera are the most usual vectors and much dipterological research is devoted to them. |
arista |
Hair-like appendage of the third antennal segment (first flagellomere) in most calyptrate and acalyptrate flies.
Image courtesy of Japan Drosophila Database |
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Aschiza |
Section of Brachycera. There are two large families in this group, Syrphidae and Phoridae, and a number of smaller ones. They do not possess a ptilinum, and therefore lack the prominent ptilinal suture on the face as in other muscoid (Muscomorpha) flies.
They do still have a puparium with a circular emergence opening, but it is not as precisely ellipsoid in shape as is typical for other muscoids. |
Asian tiger mosquito |
Vernacular name used for the medically important mosquito species Aedes (Stegomyia) albopictus (Skuse, 1894) which is now present in Albania, Italy, Sardinia, France and (doubtfully) Belgium.
Links: http://en.wikiped...r_mosquito. |
atemontose |
The opposite of tomentose, i.e., not tomentose (usually glossy); a little-used term. |
attic flies |
cluster flies (synonym) |
auct. |
auctorum (synonym) |
auctorum |
Latin, meaning 'of authors'. Usually used in conjunction with 'sensu', 'nec' or 'non' to indicate a misapplied name.
Fannia lucidula (Zetterstedt, 1860) = F. glaucescens auct. nec (Zetterstedt, 1845): This indicates that various authors have previously misapplied the name glaucescens of Zetterstedt to the taxon described by Zetterstedt under the name lucidula. |
author |
1. In taxonomy: The person who first published a name in such a way as to satisfy the criteria of availability in zoological nomenclature. For example: Sphaerocera vaporariorum Haliday, 1836. Haliday is the author of the name vaporariorum in the combination with the genus name Sphaerocera. Haliday remains the author, even though the species by now is transferred to the genus Ischioplepta.
2. In general: The person to whom a published work is attributed |
av |
anteroventral (synonym) |
Av |
anteroventral (synonym) |
B |
basal |
The adjective base. Example: 'Arista commonly plumose on basal half' means that the half of the arista which arises from the third antennal segment is plumose. Opposite of apical. |
base |
The part nearest to the point of attachment or the attached part of something relative to the (imaginary) center of the body. For example, the start of the wing (base of the wing), the abdomen (base of the abdomen), the tibia (base of the tibia), etc.
For some structures, the use of this term can cause considerable confusion. Since the thorax will generally be considered the (imaginary) center of the body, the anterior margin (near the head) could be considered the base. Yet, in some (little used) interpretations the transition between thorax and abdomen is considered the (imaginary) center of the body, and in that case the part of the thorax that is joined with the abdomen should be considered the base. So, for the thorax it is recommended to avoid the use of this term. |