text:
Help identify this mite?
I saw a decimal-sized dot walking on my hand. I wanted to know what this is, so I got it onto some paper and sandwiched below a piece of clear tape so I could keep it in place and photograph it. However it's so small that even with my camera lens almost touching the specimen, I can't get a great photo. It's small, about 0.8mm long, beige or gray or brown with a pattern on the back. It's a little smooshed from the tape so it's hard to tell if it has 6 or 8 legs and is an insect or an arachnid. But hopefully based on the shape, size, and pattern it can be identified.
Location is southern California.

Update: I now believe this to be a rat mite or bird mite. I'll include some additional photos that were better quality (photos were taken with a close-focus camera, mites were on printer paper underneath Scotch tape, back-lit by an LED light):

@theforestecologist I updated it again with a few more photos.

Related: Bug Identification: Tiny Bugs, Tiny white very hard cell bug! Please help to identify!

This appears to be a bird mite (or possibly rat mite) in the genus Ornithonyssus of the parasitic family Macronyssidae.

 Credit: user Aewills on bugguide.com
Distinguishing between species is difficult.
In fact, according to idtools.org, identification of Mesostigmata to family or lower can usually only be accomplished if the specimen is an adult female.
Blaine Mathison mentions the following features useful for identifying these mites to lower taxonomic levels under magnification [source: bugguide.com]:

chelicerae shape
dorsal plate breadth and degree of dorsal coverage
spiracle present between legs
genitoventral plate width
sternal plate shape and presence of setae

You can find existing answers to posts about bird mites on Biology.Stackexchange below:

Bug Identification: Tiny Bugs
Tiny white very hard cell bug! Please help to identify!

It could be a tick nymph. Difficult to tell as you can't see the beak and the front legs very well. Check out this tick identification site:
http://www.tickencounter.org/tick_identification/tick_species
Looks most like the dog tick maybe?

Thanks. Actually it turned out to probably be a mite, probably a rat mite. I found many more which appeared to be coming from the attic where we have had rats, and when I took more macros they did appear to look like rat or bird mites. I just never got around to updating this with the new info and photos.


text:
Help identifying leaf-like bone
I found two of these objects near a creek in Missouri. They feel like they are made out of bone but they do not look like any bone I have seen before. They also appear as though the could be some sort of plant part. I am having a very difficult time identifying them and any help would be appreciated.

Those are isolated turtle bones:

Specifically, they are part of the carapace, or upper shell. The projections would articulate with the backbone. The "toothlike" structure at the other end projects down toward the margin of the shell.
Based on the size, and the fact that you are in Missouri, I'm guessing they are snapping turtle bones. Here's a photo of the inside of a snapping turtle shell:

They are a little hard to make out, but you can faintly see the marginal projections.

These are, as stated in @kmm's well-received answer from 2 years ago, osseous components of a turtle's carapace, or upper shell.  More specifically, these bones are called pleurals and consist of the turtle's ribs surrounded by "fused dermal tissue" [Wikipedia]. From Wyneken (2001):

Each rib head is aligned with the junction of two vertebral bodies (Fig. 91). Fusions of vertebrae and ribs with dermal bone result in unique carapacial bones...pleurals are formed by the ribs and their dermal expansions...(Figs 92...)

 Fig 92b (left/top) and Fig 91 (right/bottom) from Wyneken (2001) showing pleural bones and rib heads articulating with vertebrae. (Illustrated by Dawn Witherington)
The projections you see sticking upward off the table in your final photo are the rib heads that would articulate with the turtle's vertebrae.

Fun facts:

Obviously, the fact that their ribs are fused in this way to form the skeletal component of their shell means their ribs do not move during ventilation as seen during "costal ventilation" in many other vertebrates. Never worry; they use a unique ventilatory apparatus involving hypaxial muscles to achieve ventilation instead. See Lyson et al. (2014) for more.

So what is the benefit of having broadened ribs? Protection, right? Well, maybe not... Lyson et al (2016) believe that fossils of early turtle ancestors suggest that ribs first broadened to provide an "intrinsically stable base on which to operate a powerful forelimb digging mechanism" to allow early turtle ancestors to live underground.

Citations
Lyson, T.R., Schachner, E.R., Botha-Brink, J., Scheyer, T.M., Lambertz, M., Bever, G.S., Rubidge, B.S. and De Queiroz, K., 2014. Origin of the unique ventilatory apparatus of turtles. Nature communications, 5(1), pp.1-11.
Lyson, T.R., Rubidge, B.S., Scheyer, T.M., de Queiroz, K., Schachner, E.R., Smith, R.M., Botha-Brink, J. and Bever, G.S., 2016. Fossorial origin of the turtle shell. Current Biology, 26(14), pp.1887-1894.
Wyneken, J. 2001. The Anatomy of Sea Turtles. U.S. Department of Commerce NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-SEFSC-470, 1-172 pp.

@Downvoter, why the down vote? Please let me know if you see something that I need to edit. Thanks.

source: Stack Exchange

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

all_licenses: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

sort: votes


text:
Help Needed Identifying Corvids
I'd appreciate some help identifying these three corvids I photographed in Austria during the Summer:

I know identifying corvids can be difficult and I'm not an ornithologist -- just an amateur bird watcher. After looking through many images of various crow species and their hybrids, I've tentatively identified these as:

Carrion crow (Corvus corone)
Carrion crow × Hooded crow (Corvus corone × Corvus cornix)
Carrion crow × Hooded crow (Corvus corone × Corvus cornix)
I initially believed this to be a Hooded crow (Corvus cornix), but the broken coloration on the wings made me think it might actually be a hybrid as well.

Can someone here either confirm my identification or provide a more informed identification?

Have you solved this yet?

1. Carrion crow (Corvus corone)

The plumage of carrion crow is black with a green or purple sheen, much greener than the gloss of the rook. The bill, legs and feet are also black. It can be distinguished from the common raven by its size (48–52 cm or 19 to 20 inches in length as compared to an average of 63 centimetres (25 inches) for ravens) and from the hooded crow by its black plumage

3. Hooded crow (Corvus cornix)

ashy grey bird with black head, throat, wings, tail, and thigh feathers, as well as a black bill, eyes, and feet.

2. This one is a bit more difficult, but I think it is also a hooded crow or possibly a hybrid  Carrion crow × Hooded crow (Corvus corone × Corvus cornix).

 Hybrid
At first glance, #2 looked somewhat like a Western jackdaw (Corvus monedula) because the grey feathers travel fairly high up on its neck and because the bird appears to be somewhat smaller.

Measuring 34–39 centimetres (13–15 in) in length, the western jackdaw is the second smallest member of the genus Corvus...The cheeks, nape and neck are light grey to greyish-silver, and the underparts are slate-grey. The legs are black, as is the short stout bill.

However, C. monedula has fairly conspicuous grey eyes and its feathers travel up the neck/head almost as far superiorly/anteriorly as the eyes. Neither appear to be the case in your specimen.

All three species are common in Europe.

The first 2 are correct.
The third one is actually a hooded crow. The different color of the wing depends on the generation of feathers. Feathers of different generations (changed during different time) are abraded (used) in a different way. The wing feathers of this guy are older than the rest.
Cheers and good luck birding :)

Thanks, can you show some images of hooded crows at different generations (or perhaps just their feathers) for comparison?

all_licenses: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/


text:
Is this a plant or a fungus?

It was soft and covered in flies. My guess is fungi.
Location: South Florida.

Can tell us your geographical location?

It looks beautiful, nonetheless :)

Identified Species: Clathrus ruber

Scientific classification
Kingdom:  Fungi
Division: Basidiomycota
Class:    Agaricomycetes
Order:    Phallales
Family:   Phallaceae
Genus:    Clathrus
Species:  C. ruber

Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clathrus_ruber

Clathrus ruber, Red Cage (older name Latticework Fungus). A striking and unusual fungus, which can occur all the year round, although reaching a peak in October. This fungus is southern in origin, and only reaches the south west corners of mainland Britain, but is quite common in the Channel Islands. I feel it will become more common as the use of wood-chip as a mulch persists, as it loves to colonise this habitat. The organism is first seen as a dirty white "egg" which appears half buried in the soil, and can be nearly the size of a tennis ball. Just before it cracks open hexagonal lines can be seen along which the skin splits. The bright orange net-like spherical body emerges, and the inside of this is lined with a slimy dark brown substance called gleba. This has a most revolting smell, which will attract flies. When the flies remove this layer they take the spores with them to spread the fungus. It can be found in gardens, parks, hotel grounds etc. as well as banks of shady lanes.

any source to add?

This doesn't seem to add anything to the existing answer, which is already well sourced.


text:
What bug is this

Found in Mojave county Az. It was in my home. I have a cat.  Real small about 1/8 inch

Three questions: 1) Did/does it have relatively long antennae not visible in picture? 2) Did you only find one? 3) Can you provide a top-down photo?

I can't tell if it has an antenna. I have found in past. Sorry this is the only pic

If viewed from above, does this insect appear to be very narrow (somewhat flat) from side to side, or does it look about as thick as a "normal" bug?

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/


text:
What is the cell matrix?
What is the matrix in the cell, and how does it connect cells together?
I read about this in my textbook. I know that a matrix is the material (or tissue) that connects other cells together. My book says:

In biology, matrix (plural: matrices) is the material (or tissue) in animal or plant cells, in which more specialized structures are embedded, and a specific part of the mitochondrion that is the site of oxidation of organic molecules.

This wording feels very complex, and I'm having trouble picturing what it's trying to describe.

Where is the quote from?

Maybe the full sentence would help. Anyways, the quote seems to refer to organells and not to the extracellular matrix

Maybe the OP is referring to the matrix of mitochondria

The text passage you quote refers to the mitochondrial matrix (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitochondrial_matrix). The thought you describe before is about the extracellular matrix (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extracellular_matrix). Besides being called "matrix" the two don't have much in common. Be aware that "matrix" also describes very different things, e.g. an embedding matrix used to prepare samples for SIMS (secondary ion mass spectrometry).

Cell matrix is the matrix of the cell

The quote (which you more likely got from Wikipedia) discusses multiple types of matrices.
Let's break down the quoted definition:
The general definition of a matrix would be "an environment or material in which something develops; a surrounding medium or structure." In biology, we think of a matrix as a material, tissue or area in which more specialized structures (molecules, cells, organisms, etc.) are embedded.

In animals or plants, the matrix is often describing a material or tissue.

The nail matrix is the layer of cells that your fingernail or toenail sits on that actually produces the nail.
The extracellular matrix (or ECM) consists of a collection of extracellular molecules secreted by cells that provides structural and biochemical support to the surrounding [more specialized] cells. One very familiar example of "matrix" tissue is connective tissue.

Here's a video from Khan  Academy's Youtube channel to walk you through this a bit.  And here's a more graphical walk-through explaining extra-cellular matrices.

The cytoplasmic matrix (aka cytosol) is the liquid found within cells in which organelles reside. It constitutes most of the intracellular fluid (ICF)

The mitochondrial matrix, a type of cytoplasmic matrix, is the fluid within the inner membrane of a cell's mitochondria that splits it into numerous compartments. This viscous "space" contains the mitochondria's DNA, ribosomes, soluble enzymes, small organic molecules, nucleotide cofactors, and inorganic ions; it is also the site in which oxidation of organic molecules occurs.

So whats this look like under a microscope? Here's an image of a mitochondria and surrounding cellular cytosol under an electron microscope:

In ecology, a matrix is the general area in which your population, community, or habitat "patch" exists within. In other words, Matrix is the "background ecological system" of a landscape with a high degree of connectivity.

Is this how actually the matrix and cells look like when we put our skin on a microscope?

@OkamaKsakas I've added an image of these cellular matrices as seen under an electron microscope.


text:
What type of subsoil root structure provides better plant anchorage?
Which type of root is better for good anchorage for small plants: tap roots or fibrous roots?. How about for trees:  tap root or a fibrous system?

This is partially dependent on soil texture/types


text:
Worm type bug inside of stick? What is it?
This bug was found on the wall of my closet in Seattle, Washington. It has been around 40-50°F lately, and it is winter. It looks like a tiny, brown, fuzzy stick/twig, but there is a hole through the middle of it. A tongue kind of thing comes out of the hole. The tongue thing is clear/tan and has a brown tip. The tongue is how it moves around and it looks like the tip sticks to the ground, and then it pulls the rest of its body/the stick part forward from there. It doesn’t seem to like it when light is shined on it (like from a phone flashlight) and goes back into the twig part when light gets shined on it. The twig part doesn’t seem to move on its own. The twig when the tongue is inside is about 0.5 cm.

It looks to me like the larva of a case-bearing moth. Despite the common name, the case is made by the larva, as seen here. What you are watching is the larva creeping out, then moving forward, bringing its case with it. Larvae of other moths make cases out of various kinds of hard materials, such as pieces of stick or grains of sand. Have a look at the possible duplicate noted above, which has helpful info.

Hey, welcome to the site!  If the question is a duplicate, rather than taking the time to answer, you can just flag as a duplicate and move on.  Thanks!


text:
Identification of a purple flower

What is this purple flower? Picture taken from a garden in India.

It closely looks like Tibouchina urvilleana* or any other Tibouchina species. You can have a look here.

[Source:Wikimedia common]

Tibouchina urvilleana is a species of flowering plant in the family Melastomataceae, native to Brazil. Growing to 3–6 m (10–20 ft) tall by 2–3 m (7–10 ft) wide, it is a sprawling evergreen shrub with longitudinally veined, dark green hairy leaves. Clusters of brilliant purple flowers up to 10 cm (4 in) in diameter, with black stamens, are borne throughout summer and autumn.[Source]

*Credits to @RHA for suggesting the right species.

Thnx. It looks like that


text:
Terminology for parts of the leg
Going out on a limb here (pun intended)...I'm writing a paper in which I need to refer to various sections of the human leg from upper thigh to knee to calf and ankle. However, "calf" covers a fairly large area. Without having to go into specific leg muscle identification (semitendinosus, biceps femoris, etc.) which could be confusing as they overlap and can be found with Google.
Is there a (standard) anatomical way to describe (cylindrical) sections of the leg from top to bottom?

This should be what you need, http://johnhawks.net/explainer/laboratory/anatomical-directions/

The lower leg is anatomically called the crus1 and you can refer to the area above the knee as the thigh.

Sural refers to the calf region of the crus, while Peroneal refers to the side of the leg2.
The front (anterior) side of the crus is called the shin.

Patellar and Popliteal refer to areas associated with the front and back of the knee, respectively2.
You can see a summary of regional leg and other body terms here. (Below is a chart from the site):

Alternatively, you can refer to the regions of the leg using relative anatomical directional terms:

 Sources:
 1. Wikipedia;
 2. Rutgers

@fredsbend I was just giving some examples in my post, but you're certainly right. Thanks.

Yes, there are ways to refer specifically to regions of the lower limb.

Lower limb: everything from the hip to the toes. "Leg" has a different, specific meaning. Lower limb includes all the sections below.
Hip: the area comprising the proximal femur and attachments to the pelvis.
Thigh: Femur and associated musculature from the hip to the knee.
Leg: From the knee to the ankle. "Calf" is often used colloquially to refer to the posterior leg.
Foot: Ankle to the digits

From your description, you would use thigh and leg. "Leg" (in the usual vernacular sense) is not correctly used to describe the entire lower limb.
This is drawn from 20 years of anatomy teaching. A reference with more references is here.


text:
What's this black, white and orange beetle?

Found in Toronto Canada.
Maybe 1-2 mm long but I'm not a good judge of measurements.
Should I be concerned it has friends? I've dealt with carpet beetle larvae in several homes over 7 years and an praying this isn't an adult.

Rulers are good judges of measurement ;)

Related, but no real duplicate (different species).

Yes this is an adult carpet beetle.
Specifically,  this is a Common carpet beetle (Anthrenus scrophulariae)

See here for more info.

2.5 to 3.8 mm in length.
Black head (mostly hidden by the prothorax) + black  thorax and elytra with distinct scale patterns.

The thorax is covered with white scales except for a large midline.
The elytra have orange to red scales down the midline with variable patches of white scales.

Note: in older individuals, some or all of the scales may be lost and the color pattern may look different.

This species is found worldwide.
Unlike the larvae,  the adults are primarily pollen grazers.


text:
What is difference between "Syngonium" & "Pothos"?
They both look the same to me, but they are different from each other.
Please help me in figure out the difference in both of these species.

Probably their genome, for one. Can you please provide more information? Syngonium and Pothos are not full "identifiers" of a species. They actually look more like Genera to me, potentially from the same family.

Pothos is a common name for Epipremnum aureum, which, like the genus Syngonium, is in the monocot family Araceae.
From Wikipedia:

E. aureum is an evergreen vine growing to 400 m (1,312 ft) tall, with stems up to 4 cm (2 in) in diameter, climbing by means of aerial roots which adhere to surfaces. The leaves are alternate, heart-shaped, entire on juvenile plants, but irregularly pinnatifid on mature plants, up to 100 cm (39 in) long and 45 cm (18 in) broad; juvenile leaves are much smaller, typically under 20 cm (8 in) long. The flowers are produced in a spathe up to 23 cm (9 in) long. This plant produces trailing stems when it climbs up trees and these take root when they reach the ground and grow along it. The leaves on these trailing stems grow up to 10 cm (4 in) long and are the ones normally seen on this plant when it is cultivated as a potted plant.

 Source: Wikipedia
Syngonium species, on the other hand, can have broader stems, stems that lose their chlorophyll, and different leaf shapes, to anme a few descriptions. From Wikipedia:

juvenile leaves, whole ovate or elliptical; mature bisector leaves up to 11-secant and fan-shaped

Wikipedia also mentions some unique traits of this group of plants:

The climbing stalks have elongated internodes and are elastic to some extent, however, after bending the stem's skin often breaks and peels off, turning brown or yellowish. The stem in section shows a distinct layer of the plant directly under the skin of the stem. The border between the colenchyma and stem stem is poorly scratched. In the parenchyma, starch grains are randomly distributed. The tissue of the stem also contains idioblasts with calcium oxalate crystals and drusen. The stem also contains secretory cells, containing tannins and milk juice, which solidifies in the air.


text:
At what temporal scales do forest structures change?
At which time scales do forest stand characteristics (i.e. stand density, species composition, & diameter distributions) change in a temperate European forest which is not managed?
Ideally, I'd like to conclude if a certain quantitative description (based on the variables I've mentioned above) of a forest stand is valid for e.g. 10 years or even 20 years.
A peer-reviewed reference would be ideal.

This question is too broad. What type of temperate forest?

The European Environment Agency recognized dozens of temperate forest types:
 Acidophilous oak and oak‑birch forest types
 Mesophytic deciduous forest types
 Beech forest types
 Mountainous beech forest types
 Broadleaved evergreen forest types
 Floodplain forest types
 Non‑riverine alder, birch or aspen forest types

Community types will experience different patterns and rates of change based on numerous properties including climate, edaphic conditions, stand density, species pools, specific species characteristics, land use history, etc.

See Wright & Fridley (2010)
-Rate at which woody species colonize and dominate old fields decreases significantly with latitude.

Rates of woody succession were highly correlated with both annual temperature...and measures of soil fertility

See Fridley & Wright (2012)

suggest that climate plays a relatively minor role in community dynamics at the onset of secondary succession, and that site edaphic conditions are a stronger determinant of the rate at which ecosystems develop to a woody-dominated state.

See Peet & Christensen (1980)

Examined thinning rates based on initial stand densities -- found rates to be higher in denser stands and later densities became similar regardless of initial density (after 40 years).

Further compounding all of this are issues such as invasive species, shifts in herbivore pressure, plant pathogens/pests, etc.
Also, it's hard to find European forests w/out some type of historical major human influence.

From Parviainen 2005:

Latest estimates show that there are about 0.3 million ha of virgin forest (0.4 % of the total forest area) left in strict forest reserves and other protection areas in the temperate zone of Europe.

So given all of that, it's hard to definitively nail down specifics to answer your question.

Each of these above characteristics/variables/issues will influence both individual growth rates (i.e., tree diameter and height) as well as population and community dynamics.

To answer your question a little more directly:

As shown in the paper linked above (Peet & Christensen 1980), stand density rates vary dramatically based on initial stand densities and succesional stage; high-density stands can see HUGE loss of stems/ha in < 40 years, while low-density sites might see very little change.

Diameter distributions can change drastically, but will likely take multiple decades to shift to the "late-succesisonal reverse j". However, this is strongly dependent on frequency and magnitude of disturbances -- large canopy-clearing disturbances such as major wind events will accelerate this shift in distribution.

Species composition can certainly shift fairly quickly (1 or 2 decades), but typically only in transitional stages of succession or due to major disturbance. Late-stage successional forests (i.e., "mature forests") will typically see very little change in species composition in this time frame, but again so many facotrs will influence that. Because of changing climates, mass introductions of invasive species (both competitors and pathogens), etc., forests appear to be changing more rapidly. [See Israel (2011)].

Overall, forests change continuously, with most processes occurring on the time-scale of decades. However, this depends on scope b/c understory plants can change from year to year, while canopy trees can live for centuries. Noticeable shifts in community composition and biomass are visible on decadal timescales, but only long-term evaluation will demonstrate the effects of past disturbances. The takeaway, then, is that forests chnage on multiple time scales and as a result of many variables; as a rsult, one can never consider a forest as a static community or as a climax type.

However, we have more long-term data sets available and numerous advances in sampling methods that are aiding our ability to understand forest change across time scales. So we are just now beginning to truly understand some of the phenomena on a deeper level.

I'd recommend you start with an overview of the topic:

van der Maarel & Franklin (2013) should provide a number of citations for you to follow:

covers the composition, structure, ecology, dynamics, diversity, biotic interactions and distribution of plant communities, with an emphasis on functional adaptations;
reviews modern developments in vegetation ecology in a historical perspective;
presents a coherent view on vegetation ecology while integrating population ecology, dispersal biology, soil biology,
ecosystem ecology and global change studies;

Citations
 - Fridley, Jason D., and Justin P. Wright. 2012. “Drivers of Secondary Succession Rates across Temperate Latitudes of the Eastern USA: Climate, Soils, and Species Pools.” Oecologia 168 (4): 1069–77. doi:10.1007/s00442-011-2152-4.
 - Israel, Kimberly A. 2011. Vegetation change in Duke Forest, 1977 – 2010. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Masters Thesis. 120 pp.
 - Parviainen, J. (2005). Virgin and natural forests in the temperate zone of Europe. Forest Snow and Landscape Research, 79(1-2), 9-18.
 - Peet, Robert K., and Norman L. Christensen. 1980. “Succession: A Population Process.” Vegetatio 43 (1): 131–40.
 - van der Maarel, E. & J. Franklin. 2013. Vegetation Ecology, 2nd Edition. Oxford University Press, New York, New York. Pages 28-70.
 - Wright, Justin P., and Jason D. Fridley. 2010. “Biogeographic Synthesis of Secondary Succession Rates in Eastern North America.” Journal of Biogeography 37 (8): 1584–96. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2699.2010.02298.x.

Thank you, this is definitely helpful! I know that the question is broad, but I searched in a more specific direction and did not find any literature, hence I tried for a broader approach.


text:
Is this silverfish? My apartment very dry
Can anyone please confirm whether insect below is a silverfish?  It looks a bit like the picture at our federal government pest control page.  It also moves with a wiggling motion, as described  at the Wikipedia Silverfish page.
I sprayed it with alcohol, and it seems to be dead.  I've seen this type of insect about once per month.  I don't know why they gravitate to my apartment, as the dehumidifier it set to maximum (35% relative humidity).
Sorry for the quality of the photo, but my iPhone SE does not have adjustable focus that I'm aware of. I can only tell the phone where the feature of interest lies within the picture.

Once per month is a healthy house. A biology teacher would tell you that they are pretty harmless human companions, with a cute name, and you probably won't see damage from them. I have them living under the linings of some old windows. I'm mostly bothered to disturb them. once a month is not worrisome.

Ick....!!!!  I could never....

you probably have a phobia of insects.

Now that you mention it, I can't think of a single insect that I would like to see inside the home.  Even ants, flies, lady bugs, bees, fruit flies.  They're fine outside (heck anything is fine outside), but if I see them inside, 9 floors up from the ground, I would immediately wonder how in they heck they got there.  I would naturally worry about an infestation.  So it's the circumstance that feeds the phobia.  Though I suspect that most people would react similarly.  Perhaps not those who study insects,though.

The reasons that the photo quality is poor are: it's a 0.1MP image, and you were too close. At 401x373 pixels (for the first image) it's obviously a cropped image (which is fine), since that camera is capable of 4032 x 3024 pixels (12 MP); you've cropped to 1/10th the size. Backing up a little will permit you to focus and you can still crop the image. Here is an example iPhone picture of a silverfish: http://sanxbile-blog.tumblr.com/post/44634480254/silverfish-are-cute-lookit-dat-little-eye-also - that was taken at low resolution setting, so you could improve on that.

Thanks for that suggestion, Rob!  I will try it the next time I need to photograph something very small.  Hopefully not for a while.

Remi is right that it's a silverfish, and here's some macrophotography of Lepisma Saccharina.

Thanks!  Up close, with the fur, they look almost cute.  (I said almost).

Yes if you compare that to a fly, I dunno why someone would be ickied about silverfish. flies are way worse. wheat and wool moths are worse. here's a guy that married a silverfish: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErBgOTBenIA  forest people can live with tarantulas and snakes, I'm sometimes ickied by centipedes, which are garden animals. silverfish are cute and mysterious, they scratch paper and hide, rodents are far worse.

You're making me feel guilty about having ended my silverfish.  At least they went out with an alcoholic bang.

nice pictures, but you hardly answer the question. You should provide support for your answer and not just make a statement. Save for your up close pics, this really is more of a comment. Please consider updating with more info

The pictures are very low quality, but yes I think that is a silverfish.
You dehumidifier might affect your throat but will will likely not have much impact on silverfish. The number one rule is to clean. Also, if you live in an appartment building, silverfish can quite easily invade an appartment from another one. So, it might make it harder to fight against silverfish. If needed there are also traps and pesticides.

Silverfish are suppose to prefer humidity, so they should be flocking to other people's apartment rather than mind.  Maybe I got the ones that strayed.  I will try harder to clean, but things are quite clean already.  At least, compared to other apartments I've seen.  Thanks!


text:
Species identification: 2.5mm (3/32" or 1.5/8") brownish ant in highrise apartment
Can anyone please identify this ant?
In case it helps, 3 attempts of using Ortho Ant Bgon Max gel and bait has not helped.  They 2 were administered 2 weeks apart.  Apparently, it's basically borax and sugar water.
A respondent at this DIY Stack Exchange page referred me to "Ant Identification Keys" section at this site.  It seems that it may be a 2-node Big-Headed Ant, but it's hard to be sure.
Photos:

Update:
Location: Ottawa, Ontario (Canada); latitude 45 degrees north. It's an urban centre, and my highrise is by a main city street, but also with a creek on one side. I first noticed the ants in the kitchen in July, at the height of our summer heat, or perhaps at the tail end of it. I'm rent a 1-bedroom apartment on the 9th floor, facing the creek side and the major street.
Of possible relevance: The neighbour on my kitchen side says that he has never seen an ant. My unit is quite clean, with the only exception that I generate so little garbage that I change it infrequently. I spray inside with alcohol several times a day so that I'm not ravishing the environment by changing bags frequently. Most of the content are fruit/veggy peels/cuttings (no meats/fats or starch), and mostly oranges, which ants apparently hate. I've recently sprayed and wiped down the garbage in order to not use it until I've solved my ant problem.
Since paying close attention, I notice the ants on the floor and upper cupboards, whereas I only saw them before when they crossed the counter. Back then, I thought the ants were attracted to water from a leak that I found under the kitchen sink, or the dampened particle board due to water seeping from the rim of the sink. The latter would suggest carpenter ants, which like sweet things, like the borax/sugar mix that my store-bought baits were apparently based on.  However, the 2.5mm size of my foraging ants are much smaller than the 6-25mm described by this local federal government site.  My ants' 3/32" is also much smaller than the 6/32"+ C. sayi carpenter ant described here.
The leak has been repaired for about 2 months, and I've taken care to wipe up around the sink. No apparent relief from the ants, and the bait is mostly untouched. I'm wondering if the ants may be coming from elsewhere.  Upon reflection, however, I do recall seeing what might bhe the calling card of carpenter ants for years -- fine wood chips under some of the bottom hinges of the cabinet and cupboard doors in the kitchen.  It literally took years for them to accumulate to the point of noticability.  Maybe carpenter ants been visiting for years, and only this summer decided to move in.

Hi. It seems your previous post was closed as homework because it showed little research effort on your part (see our homework policy to make sense of that). Two important parts of our policy require that the question not be trivial and that you demonstrate your own research effort. The question in your previous post was essentially is this an ant or a termite?. These two insects are quite different, and even a simple <1 min Google search would have demonstrated it was an ant and not a termite. As such, the community voted to close.

This new post is much improved. It's a much more focused post that provides much of the necessary info that [tag:species-identification] posts require, it asks a non-trivial question (ants are hard to ID to lower taxonomic levels!), and you've adequately demonstrated that you've done your own research and provided what seems like an educated guess. As such, I suspect this post will be much more positively received here. Good job, thanks for the effort, and I hope you get your answer!

According to the pest control expert, the ants are likely pharaoh ants.  It matches the description on the Wikipedia page in all respects:

Colour
Size
Pervasiveness in indoor environments throughout the world

He is treating the problem in my unit and a neighbour's unit using Maxforce Quantum.  It could take some time :( .
This is not conducive to a fitness regime of pushups, situps, leg lifts, and side planks (all on the ground, of course).  It doesn't help that my apartment largely has wall-to-wall carpeting coloured with a brown and white texture.  Spraying down the vicinity with vinegar is unlikely to help, as the ants have clearly demonstrated a lack of repulsion from vinegar droplets.


text:
Help identify these (two) fishes - Netherlands
Yesterday my kids caught these two fish. I tried to figure out what kind of fish (species and name, to tell my kids a bit more about them) they are but I was not successful. Today we made a trip to a nearby sea-life exhibition which exhibits native sea animals but I couldn't find similar fishes there :-)
They were caught in Callantsoog (north-western Netherlands) in salt water in shallow water next to a breakwater wall at low tide.
This is the first fish. To me it looks like some kind of catfish.

It is approx. 10 cm long.
This is the second fish. To me it looks like some kind of eel.

It is approx. 20 / 25cm long.

It's possible the first species is a juvenile cod. Check out this identification guide for fish in the Wadden Sea

"Identify these two fish"

The second fish looks like a rock gunnel (or Butterfish; Pholis gunnellus).

This is an eel-like fish found in the intertidal and subtidal zones of the North Atlantic.
Interestingly, the rock gunnel is capable of remaining above the waterline at low tide and breathing air.
According to Campbell (1984):

Fully grown adults can reach 30 cm in length. A long dorsal fin spans the body from just behind the head, supported by soft spiny rays. Its anal fin begins roughly midway along the body. The head is rather small with its lower jaw protruding and mouth turned upwards. Coloration is highly variable, ranging from hues of yellow-green to brown to crimson. A row of 9-13 dark spots, each surrounded by a pale ring, lines the dorsal fin

Sources:
1 Campbell, A.C. 1984. The Country Life Guide to the Seashore and Shallow Seas of Britain and Europe. Country Life Books. ISBN 0-600-34396-0


text:
Ink blue molds/fungi/dermatophytes
Which of the above has naturally ink blue hyphae? Are there any that make both Ochratoxin A and fumononis toxin and have hyphae that color?

Welcome to Bio.SE! What attempts to answer this question have you already taken? We ask that all question posters here attempt to search for an answer to their own question and explicitly indicate what research they've already done, what they learned, and what is still confusing or unknown to them. Our goal is not to simply be an answer site, but rather a site that promotes self-learning with some expert help along the way :). Please take a moment to edit your post with this additional detail, and it will likely be received more positively by our community. Thanks!

I have chased down all research articles thatI can find. I know know there are about 10 Aspergillus Niger subspecies, some used in industry that have this ability. I can’t find references to their specific names and no descriptions or images. Thus, I don’t know what they are named or what they look like. There also may be a remote chance that there are dermatophytes that do the same. I was hoping someone familiar with the specialized nature of these organisms might remember some obscure facts they might have stumbled on or someone who is researching these for possible industry use might know.


text:
Dragonish caterpillar from North Vietnam
I encountered this caterpillar in North Vietnam (Hanoi) and could not find any reliable web site for this kind of search. I am not an entomologist, so I don't even know how to describe it, except that it has hairy head stalks. I hope my pictures will help.
Thanks to anyone who can help me here.

Please provide approximate size of your specimen.

Subfamily Lymantriinae?

My comment above is actually likely wrong.
Instead, I think this is possibly the larva of the rose-myrtle lappet moth (Trabala vishnou) in the Lasiocampidae. (It may also be the larva of the closely-related roseapple caterpillar, Trabala pallida -- see here and here).
I don't know this group of moths at all, but a series of failed "Lymantriinae" searches and otherwise successful image searches led me to this genus and these species. Lack of reputable resources available in English online make differentiation between species in this genus very difficult for me. Below are some images of Trabala caterpillars:

 Images Source: Koh Chang Nature
You can see a very smilar image to the ones above on flickr.


text:
Fever vs Inflammation
What's the difference between inflammation and fever? And why is fever called an inflammatory response? Does the word inflammation have both a general and a specific meaning?

Inflammation includes accumulation of inflammatory cells, such as neutrophils or macrophags, in a tissue. The typical four local signs of inflammation include redness (Latin rubor), heat (calor), swelling (tumor), and pain (dolor) (Britannica).
Fever is a symptom, which may or may not be present in a certain inflammatory condition. For example, lung inflammation in pneumonia is usually accompanied with fever, while joint inflammation in rheumatoid arthritis is not.


text:
Dorsal vs Posterior and Ventral vs Anterior
From prior reading, I thought that Dorsal is the same as Posterior and Ventral is the same as Anterior. However, when I checked in google images for these anatomical terms for a horse (just to strengthen my concept), i found that Dorsal is not the same as Posterior and Ventral is not the same as Anterior.
How is this possible? I have checked many websites but all state that Dorsal is the same as Posterior and Ventral is the same as Anterior. Am I going wrong somewhere?

Clearly you've been reading the wrong web sites. Look where the dorsal fin is on a fish.

Yes you were wrong before. This image is correct.

 Short Answer
This page on wikipedia gives a good synopsis of these concepts.
The confusion lies in the fact that many websites on anatomy discuss/describe/define these terms in relation to humans. However, in quadrupeds and fish (and birds), Anterior/Posterior lies orthogonal to Ventral/Dorsal and are instead synonymous with Cranial(Rostral)/Caudal. Examining the etymologies of the 4 terms in question will demonstrate why there seems to be an inconsistency in their usage:
Ventral -> "belly" side
Dorsal -> "back" side
Anterior -> "before" or "toward the front"
Posterior -> "after" or coming after (opposite to) the anterior

Based on the body orientation of the organism (often associated with forms of locomotion), these terms can sometimes overlap (as in bipedal humans) but often lie perpendicular to each other (as in quadrupeds, fish and most birds).

A note about quadrupedalism (as summarized on Wikipedia [my emphasis added]):

Although the words quadruped and tetrapod are both derived from terms meaning "four-footed", they have distinct meanings. A tetrapod is any member of the taxonomic unit Tetrapoda (which is defined by descent from a specific four-limbed ancestor) whereas a quadruped actually uses four limbs for locomotion.

 Long Answer
Think of ventral (Latin venter = "belly") as being associated with the belly side (with belly referring to "swelling" or "inflating") -- or typically the side of the organism containing the digestive and respiratory organs. Dorsal (from Latin dorsum meaning "back") refers to the body region/"side" opposite that of ventral (and typically called the "back").
Anterior (from Latin ante meaning "before" or "in front of") refers to the "front" of the organism (i.e., the part of the organism you'd encounter 1st or before other body regions). Posterior (from Latin, comparative of posterus ("following") from post- meaning "after") is the opposite and refers to the part of the organism encountered "after" (or opposite) the anterior side.
Depending on the orientation of the organism, these terms may be synonymous in some instances but may be orthogonal in other instances).

Sometimes anterior/posterior would be synonymous with ventral/dorsal, as is the case in humans or other bipedal organisms.
In other instances (e.g., in quadrupeds, fish or birds), posterior/anterior lies relatively orthogonal to the dorsal/ventral orientation. In these cases, dorsal/ventral is instead synonymous with superior (from Latin superior, comparative of superus "that is above," from super "above") and inferior (from Latin inferus meaning "low" or "below").

Often in these cases, anterior/posterior are instead associated with caudal/cranial (common alternatives for cranial  include cephalic or rostral).  Caudal (from Latin cauda meaning "tail") refers to the tail side of the organism (i.e., the side associated with coccygeal vertebrae or sometimes simply the side of the organism where waste is excreted). Conversely, cranial (Greek kranion = "skull") or  cephalic (from Latin cephalicus, from Greek kephalikos, from kephalē meaning "head") refer to the side of the organism containing the head. Rostral (referring to rostrum from Latin meaning "beak") is another synonym for cranial and refers to being "situated or occurring near the front end of the body, especially in the region of the nose and mouth or (in an embryo) near the hypophyseal region."

Some notes:

This English.SE question addresses etymology of the suffix "-erior."

You can find a pretty good list of anatomical etymologies here, here, here, or by simply searching "[word of interest]  etymology" in Google.

Also, this Bio.SE post addresses anatomical terminology usage in plants and body organs.

More generally, a frontal plane always divides an organism into ventral/dorsal.

Although these terms differ between shapes/orientations of organisms, using such terms for more specific body parts (e.g., heads or feet) are not always as inconsistent.

For example, anatomical positional terminology for brains is consistent across organisms.

One final note:
This approach to anatomical positional terminology only works with bilaterally symmetrical organisms. See here for terminology usage for other organisms.


text:
Help identifying spider found in central Indiana US
I noticed this spider outside my garage tonight, and I'm curious if anyone can help identify what type it is.
A few details to help:
I live in central Indiana, United States.
I saw it for the first time at night.
It's body was roughly 3/4 inches (might be slightly bigger).
Each brick in the picture is about 2 1/8 inches.
It seems to have a black velvet like texture.
It was sitting on a gas pipe that leads into my house.
It was under a bush.
Sorry the pictures aren't great. Being under a bush and trying to use a flashlight made it a bit harder.

More photographs

This looks like a black lace-weaver, or Amaurobius ferox. Based on the size you described it seems as though this one is an adult female. These spiders avoid bright spaces and if they feel cornered they might bite you.
For pictures of it you can look here https://www.arkive.org/black-lace-weaver/amaurobius-ferox/ and for more information you can look here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amaurobius_ferox


text:
Insect identification - Is this a bedbug?
This bug was found on a couch in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. The couch, and the two beds in the room show no signs of other bugs. Is this a bed bug that I should worry about or something harmless? It was slightly larger than a common tick.

Having had bedbugs before, this definitely looks like one. You need to dig deep into all the cracks and crevices of the furniture; if the furniture is not sealed (e.g. material on the underside is only stapled on at intervals of 6-8 inches -- if you can slide a butter knife under the material, a bedbug can go there) they could very well be inside the furniture.

Also look for droppings. They'll look like little brown or black spots about the size of a grain of sand, in/around where the bedbugs nest. In a small infestation (one or two errant bugs) you might not see any, but if you have more than a few, you might be able to spot the droppings. See https://www.bed-bugs.com/images/bedbugs.com-blood-smears-on-mattress.jpg for a minor example, or Google image search for "bed bug droppings".

Unfortunately, you're the first I've seen on here actually to have a bed bug.
See  this picture  from University of Kentucky for comparison:

Here is one moving (more footage & info here):

Below is a picture from Bed-Bugs-Handbook.com demonstrating the relative size and appearance of 6 different life (molt) stages:

From Left to Right: Nymphs to adults both before (top row) and after (bottom row) feeding and becoming engorged with blood.

General Info:
Bed bugs are parasitic insects of the cimicid family that feed exclusively on blood. Cimex lectularius (or the common bed bug) is the most well known species as it is the one that feeds primarilly on human hosts and infests human dwellings. These insects often dwell in beds, couches or other upholstered furniture, and they are also known to live in cracks and crevices in walls, behind wallpaper and wood paneling, or under carpeting (Krueger 2000).
They usually feed nocturnally, and in the absence of allergic rashes from their bites, their presence can go unnoticed. The first signs of a bed bug infestation are often the bed bugs themselves or small dark stains bed bugs can leave behind.

See this EPA page for more information about locating bed bugs in a potential infestation.

Description
From University of Florida:

The adult bed bug is a broadly flattened, ovoid insect with greatly reduced wings (Schuh and Slater 1995). The leathery, reduced fore wings (hemelytra) are broader than they are long, with a somewhat rectangular appearance. The sides of the pronotum are covered with short, stiff hairs (Furman and Catts 1970). Before feeding, bed bugs are usually brown in color and range from 6 to 9.5 mm in length. After feeding, the body is swollen and red in color (USDA 1976).

Nymphs and larvae are smaller than adults, with late-stage nymphs being about 4.5mm long. (see here for size ranges). However, only adult females can lay eggs (see here and here for sexing tips). Their small (~1/10") white eggs are laid in clusters in mattresses, furniture, or in cracks in the wall, baseboard, or floorboards. (See here for more egg info).
Do you have a problem?
From Wikipedia:

Certain signs and symptoms suggest the presence of bed bugs; finding the adult insects confirms the diagnosis.

However, other than being a nuisance (e.g., having a "gross" factor + some skin conditions such as rashes), bed bugs have not been known to transmit dangerous human diseases (e.g., see Dolling 1991 and Kolb et al. 2009)
What to do:
Below, are a number of reputable and useful resources for handling and ridding yourself of bed bug infestations:

Bed Bugs: Get Them Out and Keep Them Out (U.S. EPA)

How to Treat Bed Bug Bites and Find the Pest (U.S. pest control company Terminix)

Bed Bugs: How to Get Rid of Bedbugs (pest-control company Orkin)

Finally, a quick search for "bed bug" on this site as well as visiting this reddit page can provide info for a myriad of species that are often mistaken to be bed bugs (e.g., carpet beetle larvae, psocids, fleas, ticks, etc.). Again, unfortunately, you're the (un)lucky winner and do in fact have a definitive specimen.

Citations:

Dolling W.R. 1991. The Hemiptera. Oxford University Press, New York, New York.

Kolb, Adam, Glen R. Needham, Kimberly M. Neyman, & Whitney A. High. (2009). "Bedbugs". Dermatologic Therapy. 22 (4): 347–52. doi:10.1111/j.1529-8019.2009.01246.x. PMID 19580578.

Krueger L. 2000. Don't get bitten by the resurgence of bed bugs. Pest Control 68: 58-64.

Wow. This is a very good answer, also for latter bad bug identification searches. Thank you for putting this together!

Note that in extremely rare cases, this might be a variety that lives with swallows (martin bug, oeciacus hirundines) , so when you find them in a room with a window, where on the outside of the house there are swallow nests, you might want to check if they come from there.

Thank you for the assistance. This was identified at a VRBO rental and now many, many of the babies have been found crawling on just about everything. So on to another site to find an answer for how to avoid bringing them home.

@NickCriswell I had a lot of success using thermal treatment. I put in a drying cabinet at 60 C my luggage and (washed) clothes, and in the freezer what didn't take the heat.

It never ceases to surprise me how unfamiliar people are with what a bedbug is.


text:
Caterpillar(?) in Leaf Cocoon identification - Missouri
A small chunk of leaves fell off of a potted tomato plant. We noticed our cats taking an interest in it once it started moving. Then a little caterpillar poked its head out. What kind of bug is this and should we worry about our plant?

Can you describe its size or take a photo with something for scale?

I apologize, the bug moved shortly after I took the picture and now I can't find it. It was pretty small. The pictures above probably show about 1cm of its body poking out and the diameter of the bug is less than half a cm, I would say.

Larvae making these sort of cases out of found material is typical for Bagworm Moths (Psychidae), but I don't know what species you have in Missouri. But it's a start if you don't get an answer here.

This is the larvae (caterpillar) of a bagworm moth (family Psychidae).

 Source: Wikimedia Commons; Credit: Bernard DUPONT
From Wikipedia:

The caterpillar larvae of the Psychidae construct cases out of silk and environmental materials such as sand, soil, lichen, or plant materials.

There are about 240 genera, so I will leave IDing to lower taxonomic levels up to you. However, based on the striations of the caterpillar and your lcoation, the Evergreen Bagworm Moth doesn't seem like a bad guess...


text:
Is identifying the genus of a fungus (mushroom specifically) enough?
Does the genus of a mushroom have enough information about it, without the species?
Let's say I wanted to identify a mushroom (when picking) to see if I can safely pick and later eat it. Let's say I successfully identified the mushroom's genus (using an identification key guide book such as this one). Is this enough to determine whether or not the mushroom is edible? Is it enough to determine other general information about it? Furthermore, is it enough to determine whether it is good-to-eat (as in not bitter)? For example, I know that some edible mushrooms have other mushrooms very similar to them that are not edible or that are bitter and difficult to cook.
In other words, are there any genuses of mushrooms that generally are recognized as edible but in reality contain both edible and inedible species of mushrooms in them?

It almost looks like you are asking as to the truth of a book. You  have not published the claims of that book here. This is opinion based and should be put on hold until the question can be rephrased.

I asked specific questions. This is not opinion based. It is about knowing whether the mushroom is poisonous or not. It is not based on that book; it is based on scientific classification and fact. I will edit.

Understood. I'm a fan of mushroom soup and don't like to take too many chances - so I'll be paying close attention.

If the answer from @theforestecologist does not answer your question, then I don't know what answer you are looking for. In other words, I find your question unclear.

Again, I would say: no, genus is not enough.
Another example: boletes (specifically, genus Boletus).
According to Wilderness College:

One of the most common and well-known groups of edible wild mushrooms are the boletes or boletus species (Boletaceae) ...

But

Many species in this group are edible, with only a handful being poisonous. The poisonous boletus species have red or deep orange pores. Outside of the few toxic species, some species of boletus are bitter or inedible.

For example, see here for a list of edible boletus mushrooms (e.g., B. edulis), while some examples of Boletus species to avoid include: B. huronensis and B. satanas
An additional issue to classifying all species in a genus as "safe to eat," is that our classifications are not always reflective of real taxonomic associations. In other words, some groups are not monophyletic and their evolutionary (and therefore physiological/nutritional) characteristics should not be assumed to originate from the same common ancestor .
This is apparently true of the boletes. From Wikipedia:

Boletus has been found to be massively polyphyletic, with only a small percentage of the over 300 species that have been assigned to Boletus actually belonging there and necessitating the description and resurrection of many more genera

See for example: Nuhn et al. (2013)1

1: Nuhn, M.E., Binder, M., Taylor, A.F., Halling, R.E. and Hibbett, D.S., 2013. Phylogenetic overview of the Boletineae. Fungal Biology, 117(7-8), pp.479-511.

It seems like the simple version of your question is: can anyone come up with even one example of 2 fungi species in the same genus in which one is edible and the other is not?
Here's one example:
The genus Amanita.
This genus contains about 600 species and contains some very toxic species -- in fact, it's often considered one of the most deadly genera of mushrooms in the world. The reason? Two "species" alone account for a large majority of mushroom-related deaths world-wide each year: the death cap (A. phalloides) and numerous species each colloquially named destroying angels (e.g., A. virosa, A. bisporigera, A. ocreata and A. verna) in their own geographic regions.
However, A. caesarea, commonly called Caesar's mushroom, is edible despite it being in this "deadly" genus. From Wikipedia:

Amanita caesarea, commonly known as Caesar's mushroom, is a highly regarded edible mushroom in the genus Amanita, native to southern Europe and North Africa. This mushroom can also be found in La Esperanza, Honduras, where a festival is celebrated annually in its honor. While it was first described by Giovanni Antonio Scopoli in 1772, this mushroom was a known favorite of early rulers of the Roman Empire.[1]

See here for further discussion and details.

Thanks for the example. This is not exactly the answer I am looking for; I will clarify the question.

A small comment about A. caesarea and A. phalloides: I've been told that both species are easy to differentiate in Italy, but not so much in Switzerland. This has caused some cases of poisonings in Italian people in Switzerland.


text:
ID Sunbird in Oman - White, Dark Grey, Yellow
Some extensive web searching has not helped me find this bird I discovered in my travels. They were flitting too fast to get a decent picture, but here is the best description I can obtain from memory:
Dark Grey from their head to their back. Their wings looked black but, as I said, they were flying about. Throat and breast were pale, probably white. Belly and vent were bright yellow. Their beak was a similar shape to the Purple Sunbird. They were taking nectar from bushes bordering a house which had small white flowers.

You should add size description as far as it is possible. To which common bird can they be compared in size?

There are 4 species of Sunbirds in Oman.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_birds_of_Oman
Based on your description and how common are the different species I think they were most likely mainly Purple Sunbird (Cinnyris asiaticus) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purple_sunbird
At the moment, in fact, they are not purple at all. They are moulting their feathers and also the male have extensive yellow on breast and belly. Among the species of Oman's Sunbirds it is the only one that shows black wings (in males) contrasting with the brownish/grey upper parts precisely as you observed.
MOULTING MALE

FEMALE (left)

Is it possible for the purple sunbird to have much darker back plumage than this? The one I saw definitely wasn't this light. Also the distinction between the white/beige front and bright yellow bum was quite clear to me as it was a sunny day.
I had found that list of birds, but I was wondering if it was incomplete. It is wikipedia after all and ornithological discoveries tend to be much more advanced than what is available on the internet.

I checked the wiki list and compared with birds of middle east "Birds of the Middle East" By Richard Porter, Simon Aspinall and it is accurate. On the book https://books.google.de/books/about/Birds_of_the_Middle_East.html?id=5ctmHxc8dZcC&printsec=frontcover&source=kp_read_button&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=sunbird&f=false you can see the distribution of the different species. It may give further hints. And...yes if they are in a more or less advanced state of the moult the back will appear darker or lighter.


text:
Insect identification request
I live in France. I've just found several (8) of these in my living room, close to an oak cupboard and my Christmas tree, a cut Abies nordmanniana (supposedly grown in France).
Their body is around 5 mm (1/5 in) long. On the tissue they walk easily (1st picture), but on the glass of the jar they can't even stay upright and fall upside down (2nd picture).
(At first I was afraid they would be woodboring insects, which I've never seen, but WP taught me the latter are beetles, and these beasts aren't beetles, right?)

I found 6 more today. Hoping these aren't "pests"!

EDIT -- I think this is actually a black stem aphid (Cinara confinis) [see below]

I think these are Hemiptera, and I doubt they are pests. They probably came from the christmas tree (which usually brings hundreds of arthropods into your house). It is a bit hard to see from your pictures (blurry, no clear underside), but my initial guess would be a nymph from Hemiptera (True bug), for instance from the Coreidae family (look at a google picture search at nymphs for some examples). An alternative could be nymphs from Psocoptera), which can look a bit similar. A clear difference between them is in the mouthparts, where Hemiptera have a rostrum (a "straw", sucking mouthparts), which should be seen from the ventral side, while Psocoptera has biting mouthparts. Your second ventral picture seems to show a long rostrum along the underside, which would point directly at Hemiptera. I don't know of any indoor Hemiptera pests (except ones that might attack house plants), but I might be mistaken.
This is just shown as an example, and is not likely to be the correct species, but here are the nymph stages of the common Coreus marginatus, just for comparison:

(from http://www.ukwildlife.net/heteroptera/coreidae/coreus_marginatus.html)
Here is a picture clearly showing the rostrum (see arrow):

(from http://www.fao.org)
Another possibility could be that they are aphids. This is still within Hemiptera (but not Heteroptera), and they also have a rostrum. Aphids have a pair of "tubes" (cornicles) coming out of their backs where they can extrude defensive compounds, and your first picture shows something that might be cornicles (the pointy things towards the back). However, to me, they seem to lie towards the side and look like the type of spikes or thorny sides that many Heteroptera have (a suborder of Hemiptera). Your individual also seems to have flattened edges of the hind body, which e.g. many Coreidae have. Again, clearer pictures would separate these possibilities. It would also be useful to see the number of antennal segments clearly.

EDIT
That said, I looked at some pictures of aphids living on coniferous trees and they can be fairly similar to your specimen. I actually think Cinara confinis is very likely (or another species in the same genus). This species is circumpolar, found in France, and often lives on Abies:

(source: free.fr)

(Cinara confinis, both pictures from http://aesgsf.free.fr/V5/hemipteres-divers-de-picardie-hemiptera-cinara-confinis.html)

Many thanks! The pictures were the best I could do without a macro lens and relying on the camera autofocus. I'll try to look for a rostrum with a magnifying glass. From this I guess they are not final instars, so I'm not going to find tens of shield bugs flying around when I'm back home this evening, phew! :-) (written before your edit:) I searched WP and found the most familiar (to laymen) bugs are pentatomidae, maybe likely candidates?

@L.Levrel Yes, Pentatomidae are probably the most well-known by laymen (due to their size), but I think other subgroups of Hemiptera are more likely. Most Pentatomidae live on herbaceous plant (but some on trees though). On second though, the time of year might indicate that these are not nymphs but adults (most Heteroptera I know of have their nymph stages during spring/summer), and together with the number of individuals could point towards aphids (they are usually found a larger numbers).

@L.Levrel Somebody more knowledgeable in Hemiptera could probably give you a direct answer from your pictures though. They are not my speciality, and I only have a general familiarity (I've mostly looked at  Pentatomidae and Gerridae).

I've added a few more pictures I had in stock and they are most similar to your last two (Cinara confinis)! I learned much with your answer, thanks again! (I cannot award the bounty yet, but will do.)

@L.Levrel You new pictures also show the cornicles more clearly, and these definitely look like aphids. The Cinara genus seems very likely. I'm glad you found the answer useful.

This is what I have found...
Phylum: Animal (animal - obviously)
Subphylum: Hexapoda (wingless - six legs)
Class: Insecta (insects)
Subclass: Collembola (springtails)
Order: Symphypleona (more or less globular - long antenna - live in Northern Hemisphere)
Superfamily: Sminthuridoidea
Family: Sminthuridae (globular springtails - longer antenna than head - often has scale-like skin - roughly 3-5mm long)
The genus is Ptenothrix, but that may be incorrect. I found a photo of a species (Ptenothrix renateae) that looks similar to yours, but almost definitely not it (http://bugguide.net/node/view/610295/bgpage). In comparison it does have the same: ovular body, number of legs, thinness of legs, stripes on legs and antenna. However, the differences (and the reason that I believe this is not the same species as yours) are; though your insect has long anntena in comparison to its head it is not quite as long or thick as this species; the hind legs of your insect seems to be slightly longer; your insect is a different shade (which of course can happen amongst the same species).
Consequently, I believe that the Ptenothrix renateae species is located in a similar location to your insect; I am confident they are in the same order and probably family too, though I am not sure about genus.

Thanks for your effort. However fileunderwater clearly found the exact species and it's not a collembola.


text:
Never seen a spider with this pattern before
Found this spider at work in the Leicestershire area of the United Kingdom. Never seen one with this kind of pattern on its back before so was curious as to what it is. (Size: 2-2.5 inches)

Please update with approximate size of your specimen.

Appears to be some species of Araneus (orb weaver)

It was probaly around 2inches maybe 2 and a half

The depicted spider appears to be a European garden spider Araneus diadematus. The mottling pattern that forms a cross shape is probably one of the more distinctive features, giving these the nickname cross spiders. The distribution for your locale makes sense, based on data collected on these spp: http://srs.britishspiders.org.uk/portal.php/p/summary/s/Araneus+diadematus


text:
Is this a bed bug nymph?
hello ,
I want to know if this is a bed bug nymph or it's just an another insect? I got an issue with bed bugs few days ago in a hotel during a travel to Prague. Once home (in Germany), I washed all I had taken with me (a backpack with some clothes) under high temperature > 150 Fahrenheit. So I was confused when I found this bug on my arm today. I'll point out that I was under a tree and there were many tiny insects just a few minutes before I found this one.  This specimen was ~1 mm in length.
Thank you in advance for your help.

Please provide your location and an approximate size of your insect. Thanks

Thanks for your reponse. I'm actually in Germany and the insect size is about 1 mm.

It's hard to tell from this angle and the way the legs are positioned. Could be a bedbug nymph or a booklouse. The biggest visual difference is that a booklouse has a narrower neck; bedbugs have barely any neck. If you can get a look from a different angle and compare to some photos of booklice you'll be able to tell.


text:
Can anyone identify this grey spotted insect -- is it a tree bug species?

This insect was found in Pune, India near a Bauhinia variegata (orchid tree). I think it's a bug. What species is it?

It may  be a nymph of a bigger local bug.

Id say press it, see what it pees, if it isnt deadly and its a bit hot and bitter, then its probably a "CAFARD" NYMPH. cafard is french.dunno eng word sry.

This is one of the last instars of a bug nymph from the genus Erthesina (Family : Pentatomidae). There are two common species, but according to David Rider, the only species in India is  Erthesina acuminata (Source here, also for the image).

You can recognize it from other bug nymphs by its grayish colour and the distinctive orange patterns on its back. Also, the base of the last antennal segment (where it turns from grey to black) should be orange, but we cannot see it on the picture.
These bugs are phytophagous, and quite generalist. They are phloem-feeding insects that feed from leaves, stems and fruits of various species of trees.

Fore more proper classification and identification of Indian bugs, you can look at:

Ahmad, I., Memon, N., & Kamaluddin, S. (2004). A Revision of Hayline Stink Bug Genus Erthesina Spinola (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae: Pentatominae) and Their Clasdistics. Pak. J. Zool, 36, 285Ğ293.
Salini, S., & Viraktamath, C. A. (2015). Genera of Pentatomidae (Hemiptera: Pentatomoidea) from south India—an illustrated key to genera and checklist of species. Zootaxa, 3924(1), 1-76.

This is exactly the caliber answer that we want to see on this site -- great explanation, informative, reputable sources, easy-to-read formatting, clear picture, etc. Great job! Please keep up the good work! :)

Thank you for this very encouraging comment! I'll do my best ;-)


text:
What type of bird skull is this?
My aunt found this skull on the beach in Vancouver Canada. I believe it might be a type of bird, but I can’t place it.
It is about 5 inches (~13 cm) long and 2.5 inches (6.35 cm) wide.

Looks like a fish to me.

definitely a fish frontal/parietal. It is too long and rugose to be a bird skull part. If you change the title you might get a some fish experts, who can identify species.


text:
What is the name of this herb plant?
I found it outside in the City of South India in the month of May.

Another view:

That will be easier if you have pictures of the flowers and/or fruits. If you open the fruits, you may increase your chances even more.

@Rodrigo I think it is non-flowering & fruitless plant.

I think it is an ornamental plant.

By the shape of the leaf, it surely has flowers and fruits. In the picture above, to the left, it looks like a bunch of Piperaceae fruits.

@Dhanraj Kumar All monocots and dicots flower and set seed even if you don't notice them.

@Dhanraj Kumar What size are the leaves? Are the stems round or square in cross section?

No guarantee that my answer is the right one but my educated guess that your plant is a species of Acalypha. There are a number of species in this genus and I'm sorry I can't narrow it down further.
The shape of the leaves, the little 'pig-tail' shaped seed (or unopened flower) spike seen in the upper left corner of the first photo, the tinge of pink on some leaves and veins and even the twist or curl on the uppermost group of leaves leads me to think that.
I'm including some photos showing these points. Whether it's a plant in this genus is for you to decide. It would be helpful to know the size of the entire plant and he range of size in the leaves.
Acalypha wilkesiana

Another Acalypha wilkesiana with this one showing the 'pig-tail' flower spikes better.

The flower spikes are very evident in this Acalypha bamentacea here.

The twists and curls can be seen in this cultivar of Acalypha wilkesiana.

Source courtesy of Dave's Garden

It looks vaguely hibiscus-esque, but it looks like you either have a chimera or a disease going on that makes identification difficult.  The leaves in the center of both pictures do not look characteristic of the species when compared to the leaves on the edge of the photograph - the stems have lost their apical dominance and the leaves are curled and have lost their conformality.  That speckling may be purposefully bred for a horticultural variety, but if it's not, it may be a symptom of whatever is causing these other troubles.

Hello, could your support your answer with online references. Supporting answers with credible references is a best-practice on Stack Exchange.


text:
What is the name of this whorled-leaf tree in India?
Location: South India
Month: June
Season: Rainy

Branch Distribution:

Leaf of the tree:

The leaves look like those of a Pittosporum

Bucida molineti also called geometry tree


text:
What is the name of this plant with orange fruit clusters in india?
Location: South India.
Month: June
Season: Rainy Season.

I think it is some species of Duranta sp..

I didn't exhaustively check the species but if anongoodnurse's ID is right, D. erecta is toxic; its berries and leaves and it's only songbirds who are not affected by those (Source wiki).

The easiest way to find out the name of this tree is to realize that the flowers (and therefore the fruit) are in the form of a raceme.

Googling India bright orange fruit raceme in Images quickly brings up your specimen among others.

The name of that image leads to other sites discussing the plant.

Duranta erecta
  Scientific classification
  Kingdom:    Plantae
  (unranked):     Angiosperms
  (unranked):     Eudicots
  (unranked):     Asterids
  Order:  Lamiales
  Family:     Verbenaceae
  Genus:  Duranta
  Species:    D. erecta
  Binomial name
  Duranta erecta
Duranta erecta is a species of flowering shrub in the verbena family Verbenaceae, native from Mexico to South America and the Caribbean. It is widely cultivated as an ornamental plant in tropical and subtropical gardens throughout the world, and has become naturalized in many places. It is considered an invasive species in Australia, China, South Africa and on several Pacific Islands. Common names include golden dewdrop, pigeon berry, and skyflower.


text:
Is it possible to obtain single strands of DNA in solution?
Being that it is relatively simple to extract DNA from a variety of sources, what further technique can be used to separate the two complementary strands in solution?

Heating the solution? I doubt if you know about PCR...

There is usually a denaturation step in a typical PCR protocol, see e.g. here, which serves exactly this purpose: the strands are thermally divided (typically at 95 °C for a few seconds). As you can see, this is a very common process, but the strands only remain denatured if kept at high temperatures.
Room-temperature strand separation in regular buffer solutions will be very hard, because annealing (the opposite process, where two complementary strands pair up) is thermodynamically favourable.
More permanent separation might be obtained by dissolving DNA in particular solutions, as described here, where DMSO seems particularly effective.
This results in separated strands at room temperature, but both strands will clearly still be present. One might think about separating the two with various methods (e.g. HPLC), but I doubt these solutions are compatible with regular HPLC columns.

Are there nucleases that could recognize a sequence on the unwanted strand and cut it? That turn the long unwanted strand into 2 shorter strands. You could then separate them from the long desired strand by electrophoresis.

definitely yes! you can check here for a list of nucleases that cleave single stranded substrates. I think the problem would then be that even the shorter fragments (at least one if not both) would re-anneal...

I've added this answer because the comment on the accepted answer suggests that they are interested in isolating separated strands of a dsDNA.
Single stranded DNAs can be separated by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of denatured dsDNA.
End-labelling of dsDNA followed by strand separation was a key technique when sequencing DNA by the Maxam-Gilbert method (chemical sequencing). The figure below is taken from this paper.

For this experiment dsDNA fragments were end-labelled (radioactive label) then the strands were separated by heating to 65 °C in 10M urea. The sample was cooled rapidly and then loaded on to a polyacrylamide gel. (Because the two strands of dsDNA will usually have different base compositions they will be resolved during electrophoresis.) The DNA bands were then visualised by autoradiography. As explained in the paper the absence of a second band for the 165 bp fragment is an artefact of the labelling method (i.e. one strand was unlabelled and the visible band was ssDNA.). As you can see, except for the smallest fragment, individual strands were resolved by this method. Once separated these ssDNAs can be isolated from the gel slices.
However, I don't think this method would be useful for large DNAs because the gel wouldn't resolve them well enough.


text:
Why higher plants lack centrioles?
Why do plant cells not have centrioles?


text:
Help identify green insect with long antennae?
This was found in south Texas, USA.
It size was around 3 centimetres without considering the antennas or legs.

No, not dangerous. I think they mostly can hop and fly, so move fairly quickly if disturbed, which might startle your daughter.

Nice strategy! Good to know that google lens identified it as a Katydid (Tettigoniidae) but I think that is not exactly the Speckled bush-cricket because it body size range is 10-15 mm (wikipedia) and the one I saw was bigger.

The green, narrow body suggests this is indeed a katydid.
The red antennae, red eyes, and small, red-lined wings looks like the green form of a Paracyrtophyllus robustus (Central Texas leaf katydid) nymph.

 Credit: Mike Quinn ; Source: Bugguide.net

 Source: Austin Bug Collection


text:
What species is this insect?
I would be grateful for help identifying the insect depicted in the attached picture. It was found inside a residential building (ground floor) at the periphery of Valladolid, a city in Yucatán, Mexico. Unfortunately, I am unable to provide a precise size, but from my recollection, it was about 1-2 cm long. By my (highly uneducated) guess, it seems that it might be an early stage of a member of the Triatominae subfamily, but I would appreciate a more precise/informed identification.

it looks like a weevil

This is a weevil, a beetle in the superfamily Curculionoidea. Most weevils are easily identified by the usually-present elongated snout (or rostrum [Davis (2017)] )
There a number of common home-invading weeviles (e.g., see UMN Extension), including a number of nuisance grain weevils (see my previous Bio.SE post). However, your specimen does not look like any of these....
Your specimen reminds me quit a bit of one of the better known species, the boll weevile (Anthonomus grandis), which is native to Mexico but is typically found in/around cotton fields. (I don't suppose you live near or work with cotton?). Though, your specimen is also larger than the typical 0.3-1.0 cm size of the boll weevil.

Field guide to similar weevils available here1.

 Boll weevil. Source: Jones & Williams (2001)
Wikipedia states:

Because so many species exist in such diversity, the higher classification of weevils is in a state of flux.

As such (and since your specimen is not one of the common house pest species I'm used to seeing), I'm going to leave my post open ended unless you end up updating with additional details. I think the boll weevil is ultimately unlikely your specimen (though not impossible), but it should serve as a good example to demonstrate this group and a potential jumping-off point for further investigation.

Also, see Jones et al. (2019) for Emergent and Possible Invasive Pest Species of Weevils in Mexico

 1. Jones R. and M. R. Williams. 2001. A field guide to boll weevil identification. Technical Bulletin 228. Mississippi Agricultural & forestry Experiment Station.


text:
Do whales ever just hang out on the surface breathing?
You only ever hear of whales surfacing for a brief second to exhale/inhale before they dive back down. But do they ever just stay at surface level, laying there with their blow hole up in the air, continuously breathing for a while? One would think that might be a relaxing experience for them?

Whales often hang out on the surface for a while, for a number of reasons. Sometimes it is for curiosity, sometimes to socialize with other whales, and sometimes simply to rest.  The particular sort behavior that you are describing sounds like logging, where the whale basically rests, often for an extended period of time, with its back slightly out of the water, looking sort of like a floating log.

Cool, thanks alot!

From personal experience, I can attest to the fact that whales will hang out on the surface. Additionally, some species are more known among researchers/observers for this behavior. Kogia species (dwarf and pygmy sperm whales) are notorious for logging, for example. This study from Hawaii mentions that dwarf sperm whales spent a considerable amount of time in encounters either slow rolling at the surface or logging.


text:
What bug is this? I found several in my flat and I have no idea

what kind of insect  is this? is it a moth larvea or a carpet bug?

Hello and welcome to Bio.SE! Take the tour to learn about the site and earn yourself your first badge. Also, adding the time and location where you found the insect is fundamental for its recognition!

Size as well as location are almost always needed for identification.  A clear picture would also be useful.

Location is almost never needed for insects, because insects, especially larvae, cannot be identified except to family level, and most families are cosmopolitan.

Possible duplicate of Bug Identification: Is this small tubular, black bug a bed bug?

Possible duplicate of What kind of insect can this be? This appears to be just a shell after and insect went through a metamorphosis process

Related: What kind of insect can this be?..., Can anyone help confirm this tiny insect larvae?, Bug Identification: Is this small tubular, black bug...,
How to protect my mounted insect..., What is the name of the critter..., Varied Carpet Beetle Larvae, What small insect is this?

That is the larva of a carpet or skin beetle, family Dermestidae.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dermestidae
These eat dried flesh, skin, and other dried organic matter. They are the bane of entomologists because they eat insect collections. They are used by bone-collectors to clean skeletons, and are the last insects to arrive at a corpse.


text:
What kind of red and black insect is in the photo?
I was wondering what kind of insect this was that I found on a flower on my deck this morning?

The insect was in my flower pot on my deck. I took the picture from my cell phone and zoomed in for a clearer shot. The body of the insect (not counting the antennae) was about an inch.

Please provide your location, approx size of the insect, and any better photos if you have them. Thanks.

This is a nymph of some species of Hemiptera, or true bug.
Specifically, this appears to be the nymph stage of a wheel bug (Arilus cristatus) or some other species in the family Reduviidae.

 Source: David Larson

 Source: Debbie Roos 2005
Here is a picture of an adult (with name-sake dorsal wheel):

 Source: Donald W. Hall
You'll notice that the nymph is quite different looking:

Nymphs have been described in detail by Readio (1927). Smaller nymphs are bright red with black marks. The last instar nymphs are darker. Nymphs lack the "wheel" or crest. For a diagnostic key to identify nymphs of the family Reduviidae to genus (including Arilus), see Fracker and Usinger (1949). [Source].

If you're truly interested in accurately  IDing to genus/species, you might check out Fracker & Usinger 1949$^1$, Herring & Ashlock 1971$^2$, or papers that cite their work.

You can find more information about A. cristatus here.

Citations:

Fracker S.B. & Usinger, R.L. 1949. The generic identification of Nearctic reduviid nymphs (Hemiptera). Annals of the Entomological Society of America 42: 273-278.
Herring, J.L. & Ashlock, P.D. 1971. A Key to the Nymphs of the Families of Hemiptera (Heteroptera) of America North of Mexico. Florida Entomologist 54: 207-212.


text:
Can you identify this insect for me?
Does anyone know what this is? I have lived in this area of northern Utah, USA for over 30 years and played with insects, snakes and spiders growing up here. However, until this week, I have never seen this insect before, nor anyone else we have asked. Suddenly they are all over our porch, patio, trampoline and house. This one is about the size of a lady bug, but we have seen some about double that size.
At first we thought it might be a beetle, but their shells are not bifurcated. Looking underneath, they have a long thin tube that they fold into their body that appears to be their mouths. We thought a weird tick, but they only have 6 legs. Can't seem to find anything similar online either.
Does anyone know, what it is?

I don't know about species in Utah, but this looks like a shield bug (Pentatomoidea) nymph. So perhaps that could get you somewhere in your search!

Since the back isn't bifurcated, not a beetle and with its long proboscis folded underneath, it's  a plant bug nymph (as in true bugs in the order Hemiptera). Suddenly finding them all over the place means eggs have recently hatched. Metamorphosis doesn't happen with true bugs. Eggs hatch directly into nymphs which are usually, but not always, a small version of the adult and go through a number of moults till adult. But I still don't know what species, sorry.

I found a bunch of similarly looking hatchlings on a plant on my balcony a few days ago. Probably a different species, given that I'm in France. It must be hatching season in the northern hemisphere.

Definitely a nymph of some species of true bug (order Hemiptera), most likely in the suborder Heteroptera (i.e., the shield bugs, stink bugs, assassin bugs, etc.) and family Pentatomidae.
For example, see these photos of nymphs of similar species:

 From L->R: Podisus maculiventris, Troilus luridus, Glaucias amyoti, Cosmopepla lintneriana, Carpocoris purpureipennis, Murgantia histrionica
Using yet another species, Piezodorus lituratus, as an example, you can see how a Pentatomidae nymph typically develops to maturity:

 Source
As to your species...
This site lists Cosmopepla lintneriana, Chinavia hilaris, Podisus placidus, Chlorochroa rossiana, and Sehirus cinctus as species of Pentatomidae that live in Utah. None of their nymphs looks quite right, though your specimen reminds me most of a stripe-less Podisus. That might be a good jumping off place for further digging...

As you can see, there are many species with similar nymphs, and various instars within species even have fairly great variation.

I can't find a great match yet, but I can keep looking. I'll update if I find one.

Plus, what with the shift in climate, insect ranges are shifting too, sometimes drastically.


text:
Is this a bed bug? Looks like a skeleton
Is this a bed bug? Germany, the size of specimen is 0.6 mm.

Does this answer your question? Insect identification - Is this a bedbug?

Please provide your location and approximate size of the specimen if you want an ID.

Looks similar to the picture in your answer, but I don't know. I have a new picture uploaded.

The body shape, cerci, size, and in-home concern have me thinking this is a cockroach nymph.
It doesn't resemble the nymph of any of the really common global pest species (e.g., German, Oriental, brown banded; see here), and narrowing down otherwise is difficult. I don't know the exact species (as my internet keeps crapping out when I search for European-based websites). So I will -- for now -- show you imagery of a nymph of a common pest cockroach for comparison:

 Pest Off Solutions


text:
Is this a nymph of a Zelus renardii or Zelus luridus?
My mom found this insect on one of her plants, and she would like to know what it is and whether it is dangerous or harmful. I've done some research and I think it is a nymph of a Zelus renardii, but it could also be a nymph of a Zelus luridus, although the latter is usually found only in North America. Can anyone tell me which one it is, or at least whether it is indeed one of these two?

Some more info:

It was found in Milan, Italy, a few days ago
It was on a geranium, where it can find the larvae of a butterfly called geranium bronze (Cacyreus marshalli)
She's also found two more insects like this one on a Pittosporum
She has seen it by day
The body is mainly light-brown with some yellow and orange spots
The legs are also light-brown, with some darker spots that seen from very close are actually spikes (see the last picture)
The length of its body is around 1 cm, and it is arched upwards
I've uploaded some more pictures here. You can ignore the "Not sharp" folder. In the "Sharp" one (which are mostly not that sharp either, but it's the best I have) there's a cropped picture next to each of the full-size ones. Those that I have attached here are chosen among the cropped ones.

Great question -- thanks for the detail! :)

I agree this look like images I've seen of Zelus species nymphs, and I have no reason to immediately rule out Z. renardii. Though, nymphs of many of the Reduviidae look quite similar to me, and I feel like I've never seen a comprehensive guide to thoroughly/methodically distinguishing nymphs (especially from an internet photo). This is made more complicated given that Zelus is one of the most diverse genera in the Reduviidae family, so narrowing to species within the genus is difficult (i.e., time-consuming) for me. (I assume an expert specializing in these insects would know much more than me).
The purpose of my post is simply to point out that Zelus renardii has been found in Italy, while I can't find evidence that Z. luridus has.
Pinzari et al. (2018) provide a detailed recording of Z. renardii in Italy. They also note that (at least as of 2018), Z. renardii is the only member of this genus found in Europe:

The only species of the genus that has been so far re-corded  in  Europe,  is  Z.  renardii  that  has  been  found  in  Greece (Davranoglou 2011; Petrakis & Moulet 2011; Si-mov  et  al.  2017)  including  the  island  of  Crete  (van  der  Heyden 2015), Spain (Vivas 2012), Italy (Dioli 2013b), Turkey (Çerçi & Koçak 2016) and recently Albania (van der Heyden 2017). In Italy, Z. renardii was recorded only twice in the towns of Rome (Dioli 2013b) and Bari (Cor-nara et al. 2016), and never reported anymore. In this note, we add new records for this species in Italy.

As you can see above, Dioli (2013) first recorded Z. renardii in Italy in 2013.

A quick narrowed map search on inaturalist that focuses solely on the European continent suggests that, as of December 20, 2021, Z. renardii continues to be the only species recorded in Europe.

 Pinzari, M., Cianferoni, F., Martellos, S. and Dioli, P., 2018. Zelus renardii (Kolenati, 1856), a newly established alien species in Italy (Hemiptera: Reduviidae, Harpactorinae). Fragmenta entomologica, 50(1), pp.31-35.
 Dioli P. 2013b. Zelus renardii (Kolenati, 1856) (Insecta Heterop-tera Reduviidae). Quaderno di Studi e Notizie di Storia Natu-rale della Romagna, 38(133): 232–233.


text:
What does the number after Vitamin B signify?
Does the number after Vitamin B signify anything? For example what is the significance of 12 in Vitamin B12?

It appears to be fairly arbitrary, but they were originally numbered chronologically by discovery. However...
From Gizmodo:

These Bs are not necessarily designated in chronological order, as B12 (Cobalamins) was discovered in 1926, B5 (Pantothenic acid) and B7 (Biotin) in 1931, B6 (Pyridoxine) in 1934, B3 (Niacin) in 1936 and B9 (Folic acid) in 1941. The missing Bs are substances originally thought to be vitamins, but later reclassified.

Wikipedia explains that certain numbered B vitamins were originally classified as other vitamin letters when discovered and only later reassigned as a B vitamin.
In conclusion, B vitamins were numbered in order as they were assigned as a B vitamin.

missing numbers are due to specific vitamins being reclassified as either different letters or as non-vitamins.


text:
Public database of animal specifications
I'm a math teacher looking for data to help my students interested in biology complete a quantitatively flavored study of animals. (As a math person, I apologize if I'm not using discipline-appropriate vocabulary in my request here.)
I'd like to find a publicly available database that lists different animal species along with their average measurements of various biological variables (body mass, heart rate, body temperature, length, lung capacity, etc.). Can anyone point me to something?
I'm interested in having my students study the relationship between pairs of variables (i.e. body mass and heart rate), to model this relationship via an appropriate function, and to use their function to make predictions. To hone their models, students will need access to known data about these variables for a number of different animals. I could have them look up all of this data in separate places on the internet, but I'm hoping to find one location that has all (or most) of it.
Thanks in advance.

You might be interested in the PanTHERIA database for several thousand mammalian species.  It has up to 53 characteristics for each species (but many fields have no entry).  It is available as two plain text files, each with one line per species (plus header line) and fields separated by tabs.  The files and data descriptions are available at http://esapubs.org/archive/ecol/E090/184/

I'm not positive, but I assume you'll be hard-pressed to find a list that checks your boxes of needing both multiple metrics for multiple animals.
However...
Two sources that seem to prove me wrong:

Thayer Watkins's webpage (San José State Univ.) found here, which includes:

Blood pressure, height of head above heart, weight, avg heart rate, longevity, and life-span

for:

Humans, cats, dogs of various sizes, hamsters, chickens, monkeys, horses, cows, pigs, rabbits, elephants, giraffes, and whales. (also goats, turkeys, frogs and snakes -- not all metrics are represented for all organisms).

"Normal Physiological Values for Select Animals" from Texas A&M found here, which includes:

temperature, heart rate, and respiratory rate

for:

Cows, goats, horses, pigs, sheeps, rabbits, dogs, and cats.

Neither of these sources is quite consistent or complete (and I'm not sure of their credibility other than being on academic websites), but they should give you a start.

Also, if you don't know, you can add "site:.edu" to the end of any google search to narrow searches (e.g., heart rates of animals, average body temperature of animals, etc.) for similar lists.

Does it have to be those physical criteria that you mention, or are you just interested in datasets that include a lot of quantitative data about animals?
Because if you're interested in other quantitative data, then you may be interested in the dataset included here. This is a dataset that consists of various life-history variables of many species. Some of the variables included are, among other, the following: age of maturity, litter size, adult body mass, gestation length, weaning age, birth weight, and much more.
Here is a description (abstract):

Studying life-history traits within and across taxonomic classifications has revealed many interesting and important patterns, but this approach to life history requires access to large compilations of data containing many different life-history parameters. Currently, life-history data for amniotes (birds, mammals, and reptiles) is split among a variety of publicly available databases, data tables embedded in individual papers and books, and species-specific studies by experts. Using data from this wide range of sources is a challenge for conducting macroecological studies because of a lack of standardization in taxonomic classifications, parameter values, and even in which parameters are reported. In order to facilitate comparative analyses between amniote life-history data, we created a database compiled from peer-reviewed studies on individual species, macroecological studies of multiple species, existing life-history databases, and other aggregated sources as well as published books and other compilations. First, we extracted and aggregated the raw data from the aforementioned sources. Next, we resolved spelling errors and other formatting inconsistencies in species names through a number of computational and manual methods. Once this was completed, subspecies-level data and species-level data were shared via a data-sharing algorithm to accommodate the variety of species transformations (taxonomic promotions, demotions, merges, divergences, etc.) that have occurred over time. Finally, in species where multiple raw data points were identified for a given parameter, we report the median value. Here, we report a normalized and consolidated database of up to 29 life-history parameters, containing at least one life-history parameter for 21 322 species of birds, mammals, and reptiles.