psy: Flea

Evidence: 100 • authority: 72

Flea, the common name for the order Siphonaptera, includes 2,500 species of small flightless insects that live as external parasites of mammals and birds. Fleas live by ingesting the blood of their hosts. Adult fleas grow to about 3 millimetres (1⁄8 inch) long, are usually dark in color, and have bodies that are "flattened" sideways or narrow, enabling them to move through their hosts' fur or feathers. They lack wings; their hind legs are extremely well adapted for jumping. Their claws keep them from being dislodged, and their mouthparts are adapted for piercing skin and sucking blood. Some species can leap 50 times their body length, a feat second only to jumps made by another group of ins…

Evidence: 30 • authority: 72

Ticks are parasitic arachnids of the order Ixodida. They are part of the mite superorder Parasitiformes. Adult ticks are approximately 3 to 5 mm in length depending on age, sex, and species, but can become larger when engorged. Ticks are external parasites, living by feeding on the blood of mammals, birds, and sometimes reptiles and amphibians. The timing of the origin of ticks is uncertain, though the oldest known tick fossils are around 100 million years old, and come from the Cretaceous period. Ticks are widely distributed around the world, especially in warm, humid climates. Ticks belong to two major families: the Ixodidae, or hard ticks, and the Argasidae, or soft ticks. Nuttalliella,…

Evidence: 30 • authority: 92

Influence of Variation in Hind Leg Structure of Auchenorrhyncha on Their Jumping Performance.. Four species representing four different families of the hemipteran insect suborder Auchenorrhyncha, Lepyronia coleoptrata (Aphrophoridae), Euricania ocellus (Ricaniidae), Kolla sp. (Cicadellidae) and Tricentrus sp. (Membracidae) were investigated using high-speed photography and scanning electron microscopy to identify hind leg structures that may influence jumping performance. The coxa-trochanteral joint, femur and tibia were found to have distinct structural adaptations that vary among these jumping insects. Froghoppers and planthoppers possess a coxal protrusion which is absent in leafhoppers…

Evidence: 27 • authority: 72

Terrestrial locomotion is the method of movement of an organism on land. It is of great interest in the study of evolution, which determines that aquatic organisms adapted to terrestrial environments. Animal locomotion on land experiences buoyancy to a lesser extent, and gravity to a greater extent. Evolutionary taxonomy establishes three basic forms of terrestrial locomotion: legged – moving by using appendages. limbless locomotion – moving without legs, primarily using the body itself as a propulsive structure. rolling – rotating the body over a substrate On land, diverse terrains demand different locomotive styles. A sliding component to locomotion only becomes possible on slippery surfa…

Evidence: 27 • authority: 72

Jumping spiders are spiders in the family Salticidae, with almost 700 genera and around 7,000 described species, making it the largest family of spiders – comprising 13% of spider species. Jumping spiders have some of the best vision among arthropods — being capable of stereoptic color vision — and use sight in courtship, hunting, and navigation. Although they normally move unobtrusively and fairly slowly, most species are capable of very agile jumps, notably when hunting, but sometimes in response to sudden threats or crossing long gaps. Both their book lungs and tracheal system are well-developed, and they use both systems (bimodal breathing). Jumping spiders are generally recognized by t…

Evidence: 24 • authority: 72

In ethology, animal locomotion is any of a variety of methods that animals use to move from one place to another. Some modes of locomotion are (initially) self-propelled, e.g., running, swimming, jumping, flying, hopping, soaring and gliding. Many animal species depend on their environment for transportation, a type of mobility called passive locomotion, e.g., sailing (some jellyfish), kiting (spiders), rolling (some beetles and spiders) or riding other animals (phoresis). Animals move for a variety of reasons, such as to find food, a mate, a suitable microhabitat, or to escape predators. For many animals, the ability to move is essential for survival and, as a result, natural selection has…