Fireflies, Family Lampyridae

Who hasn’t chased a blinking firefly on a warm summer night? As children, we captured their luminescence in glass jars to make insect lanterns. Unfortunately, these beacons of childhood seem to be disappearing due to habitat loss and the interference of manmade lights. Fireflies, or lightning bugs as some call them, belong to the family Lampyridae. Description: Fireflies are usually black or brown, with elongate bodies. If you handle one, youll notice they feel somewhat soft, unlike many other kinds of beetles. Hold it gently, as its quite easy to squish. When viewed from above, the Lampyrids seem to conceal their heads with a large shield. This feature, an extended pronotum, characterizes the firefly family. If you examine the underside of a firefly, you should find the first abdominal segment is complete (undivided by the hind legs, unlike in ground beetles). In most, but not all fireflies, the last two or three abdominal segments look quite different from the others. These segments are modified as light-producing organs. Firefly larvae live in moist, dark places – in the soil, under tree bark, and even in swampy areas. Like their adult counterparts, larvae glow. In fact, fireflies produce light in all stages of their life cycles. Classification: Kingdom – AnimaliaPhylum - ArthropodaClass – InsectaOrder – ColeopteraFamily – Lampyridae Diet: Most adult fireflies do not feed at all. Firefly larvae live in the soil, preying on snails, grubs, cutworms, and other soil-dwellers. They inject their prey with digestive enzymes that paralyze and break down the bodies, and then consume the liquefied remains. Some fireflies eat mites or even pollen. Life Cycle: Fireflies typically lay their eggs in damp soil. Eggs hatch within weeks, and larvae overwinter. Fireflies may remain in the larval stage for several years before pupating in the spring. In ten days to a few weeks, adults emerge from the pupal cases. Adults live just long enough to reproduce. Special Adaptations and Defenses: Fireflies are best known for their coolest adaptation – they produce light. Male fireflies flash their abdomens in species-specific patterns, hoping to attract the attention of a female hiding in the grass. An interested female will return the pattern, helping guide the male to her in the darkness. Some females use this behavior for more sinister means. A female of one species will purposefully mimic the flash patterns of another species, luring a male of another kind to her. When he arrives, she eats him. Male fireflies are rich with defensive chemicals, which she consumes and uses to protect her eggs. Most females dont practice cannibalism, though. In fact, since females live just a few days spent waiting in the grass for a mate, some dont even bother to develop wings. Firefly females may look just like larvae, but with compound eyes. Many fireflies use foul-tasting defensive compounds to deter predators, like jumping spiders or even birds. These steroids, called lucibufagins, cause the predator to vomit, an experience it wont soon forget when it next encounters a firefly. Range and Distribution: Fireflies live in both temperate and tropical climates throughout the world. About 2,000 species of Lampyrids are known globally.

Alice Walker s Everyday Use - 1924 Words

Family, is a word that is familiar to everyone, but may have different meanings for each individual. It is most commonly seen as a group consisting of parents and children. Family can be defined not just through blood but through love and commitment as well. In our readings this semester, one of the frequent themes has been about family. The unconditional love found in a family does not prevent them from experiencing difficult dilemmas. Families can have powerful influences on an individual being either positive, negative, or even both. The influences brought on by families can give a sense to someone as more of a positive feeling such as, attachment, love, and thrill, or a sense more negative such as pain, anger, and guilt, or, can even†¦show more content†¦In Theodore Roethke’s poem, â€Å"My Papas Waltz†, the dance between the father and son can be viewed from a loving perspective or a fearful one. The reader can perceive the dance more through a loving scen e from the boy with him saying, â€Å"But I hung on like death† (p. 264). This illustrates the son persisted on the attachment to his father as they danced along. The family times spent with his father meant a lot to him, even if it may have been rough. The same attachment toward someone can be seen in Anne Tyler’s book, Saint Maybe. After Ian found an abandoned cat outside, he had a thought come to him and pictured Agatha, Thomas, and Daphne abandoned on the side of the rode bunched together. He pictured them as the cat with having fear in their eyes, while in the distance he was disappearing (p. 190). Ian couldn’t see his self not being without the kids as he describes, â€Å"But then immediately afterward, he felt such a deep sense of loss that it made his breath catch† (p. 190). The attachment he has for Agatha, Thomas, and Daphne he couldn’t let go of, because of the influencing feeling they gave, completing his family. In addition to having a sense of attachment, love can change someone’s outlook toward their family, giving a heartening feeling. Expressing love towards someone is a great impact on a person’s family. The feeling of love Mama described toward Maggie saying, â€Å"When I looked at her like

Aviation Benchmarks Essay Research Paper Aviation BenchmarksThousands free essay sample

Aviation Benchmarks Essay, Research Paper Aviation Benchmarks Thousands of people have contributed to Aviation. Dreams by the Wright Bothers made flight possible for all of us. Others like Emelia Earhardt, and Charles Linburg stretched the bounds to carry through what had neer been done earlier. Many have even given their life to be in the air. I will discourse some of the paramount events and people that helped exceed Aviation. The most appropriate topographic point to get down is on the Seventeenth of December in 1903, the brothers Orville and Wilber Wright flew the first powered aircraft a sum of 120 pess in 12 seconds. Wilber the eldest, and younger brother Orville ever were fascinated by flight. During their childhood, sailplanes and balloons were being used. Painstaking attempts were made by them subsequently in life to make an expeditiously powered trade. They had used aeromechanicss tabular arraies set Forth by Langley to prove their ain sailplanes. We will write a custom essay sample on Aviation Benchmarks Essay Research Paper Aviation BenchmarksThousands or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page They found that the tabular arraies didn # 8217 ; t supply adequate lift to acquire barely anything off the land. So they set out to hammer their ain tabular arraies by expereimenting with two-hundred different flying designs in a home-made air current tunnel. They invalidated Langley # 8217 ; s aeromechanicss tabular arraies. From there with the aid of mechanic Charles Taylor, they were able to plan an engine visible radiation and yet powerful plenty to propell a little trade. The powerplant on the # 8220 ; Flyer 1 # 8243 ; weighed 170 pound. and operated with 12hp at 1200rpm. With this design they made air power history as described above. Subsequently on that twenty-four hours though, Wilber soloed a flight of 152 pess in 59 seconds. After 100s of successful flights and small attending, the military took an involvement in their advancement. They designed the first plane that could turn, bank, and do calculate 8s for one-half an hr. They named thier creative activity the Flyer III. The Wright # 8217 ; s winging machine recieved a patent on March 22nd, 1906. One twelvemonth after that in 1907, the foundation of the Aeronautical Experimental Association ( FEA, now the FAA ) was founded. I feel its lone proper to honour the persons that tested themselves and thier trade in order to learn us about aircraft design, processs, and human bounds in the air. The first individual to decease in an aeroplane clang was Lt. Thomas E. Selfridge. He was winging with Orville in 1908. No admiration Orville was the 4th individual in history to acquire a pilot certification: the 3rd was Lousis Paulhan, 2nd was Frank Lham, and the first was Glen Curtiss. The first pilot to be killed was Eug ne Lef bvre in France, on Sept 7, 1909. Calbreth Perry Rodgers bought the first Wright aeroplane. Rodgers recieved 90 proceedingss of flight direction from Wilber. After his ample flight school, Rodgers accepted the challeng of winging across the United States for a award of $ 50,000 ( if he could make it in 30 yearss ) offered by a publishing house. He got a soft drink shaper to sponser him, and therefore the flight of Vin Fiz ( name of the sodium carbonate ) got off the land. He started in New York, and shortly ran into a batch of problem. He crashed someplace between 20 and 36 times. His patron fixed him up though. It took the persistant and invariably bandaged Rodgers 49 yearss to acquire to Pasadena ; funny merely 82 hours and 4 proceedingss were spent in the air. Luckly Rodger # 8217 ; s 51mph clangs didn # 8217 ; t kill him. Amelia Aerhart is another noteworthy individual that sacrificed herself for the promotion of air transit. She was the first adult female to traverse the Atlantic-from Newfoundland to North Ireland, 2,026 stat mis. She did it in 1932. But this wasn # 8217 ; t adequate. In 1937 she wanted to circle the Earth at the equator. Unfortunately she missed the bantam Howeland Island in the Pacific and was neer seen once more. Other indispensable people in air power include Glen Curtiss, Charles Lindbergh, and Ilray Jeppeson. Glen Curtiss flew from Albany to New York in 1910, which crushed the old distance record of 24 stat mis. His flight amounted to 143 entire stat mis. Curtiss was besides a innovator in early engines. Charles Lindbergh is credited for the first flight across the Atlantic from New York to Paris. His flight on the 20th of May, 1927 took him an astonishing 33 hours and 20 proceedingss. His plane # 8220 ; The Spirit of Saint Louis # 8221 ; traveled 3,610 stat mis. Lindbergh thrilled everyone in the provinces and positive people that aeroplanes were # 8217 ; nt merely for barnstormin g shows. They could be used for the transit of mail, lading, and even people. This was all a reasonably new construct. Ilray Jeppeson was a innovator in the country of flight pilotage. In the 1920’s he was an air mail pilot who methodicly charted and mapped mention points and jeopardies. Soon his fellow employees wanted transcripts, and the concern was born. Later he provided pilotage charts and maps to about every major airdrome in the universe. Finally, I will advert a critical flight made by Louis Bleriot across the English Channel. Bleriot was a mechanical fiddler. Kind of like Bell’s male parent in Beauty and the Beast. Bleriot was in the headlamp concern but sought to construct an aeroplane. He accomplished this when he engineered the Model XI monoplane in 1909. With predictable drop the balling manner, he finished the 22 stat mi stretch across the channel by crashing his overheated trade near Dover Castle. He captured the imaginativenesss of all who heard about i t. I did program on traveling into great item about the developments in air foils and aeromechanicss. But I # 8217 ; ve decided its merely excessively complicated. I will travel over some cardinal improvemnets on aerofoils through the old ages. We all understand the construct of Bernouli # 8217 ; s Principle whre the air going over the top of the foil will be accellerated because its somewhat longer, and therefore force per unit area is decreased. The unchanged speed of the air going beneath the foil consists of a higher force per unit area that pushes the air foil up. This construct International Relations and Security Network # 8217 ; t wholly true. Research indicates that air that is seperated doesn # 8217 ; t meet at the draging border simotaneously like one time thought. So, basicly we truly wear # 8217 ; t cognize how it works, we merely discovered the aerofoil through test and mistake. And from there we tweaked it to acquire the coveted consequence. Newton helped us to see t he four forces moving on an aeroplane in flight: lift, push, weight, and retarding force. Therefore we have done much research refering how to diminish retarding force. In WWII the Germans came up with the swept wing design. So alternatively of the organic structure and wings coming together at near perpendicular angles, they are swept back like in the form of an pointer. This reduces, or more accurately delays retarding force. Thus higher velocities can be obtained. Last, another of import devolopment in earodynamics is the laminal air foil. A regular air foil will hold Eddies of air resiling off the surface of the wing. But a laminal air foil will maintain the air flow smooth over the top of the wing and hence a decrease in retarding force is accomplished. Now, I can depict a few of the countless alterations aviation powerplants have gone through. The male parent of aircraft engines is known as Glen Curtiss. He began by doing two cylinder engines for bikes, and in 1906 was looking to sell his engines for aircraft. From what I # 8217 ; ve read he wasn # 8217 ; t a savvy salesman. Once he put his engine in the # 8220 ; June Bug # 8221 ; and flew an amazing 1 kilometre, subsequently he worked with the Navy in planing sea planes. Some clip after the Curtis the Conquerer engines, the Clerget came into usage. It had 1200hp. In 1937, Daimler-Benz came out with their DB-601. It had twelve cylinders, was liquid cooled, and produced 1,475hp. During this epoch, Pratt and Whitney, Lycoming, and Wright Aeronautical wholly contributed to the advancemnet of the recipricating and radial engines. In the early 1940 # 8217 ; s the industry came out with fanjets, propjets, and the fanjet engine designs. Turbofans were of import to the industry, so we re coal-black engines. These two types of engines made ace sonic flight possible, and non to advert a fast, efficient, and safe manner to go. There are excessively many people and developments that contributed to aviation as we know it today. I tried in vain to capture the most of import events in the industry since it # 8217 ; s birth 97 old ages ago. Im certain I missed much. Aviation has become a portion of everyone # 8217 ; s lives. We depend on it for commercialism and enjoyment. The industry will go on to thrive, and better. Bibliography hypertext transfer protocol: //www.letsfindout.com/subjects/aviation/first-channel-crossing.html hypertext transfer protocol: //www.albanyairport.com/History.html hypertext transfer protocol: //www.aerofiles.com/chrono.html hypertext transfer protocol: //www.aviation-history.com/theory/lift.htm hypertext transfer protocol: //www.aviation-history.com/index-engine.htm Jeppesen Private Pilot Manual Copyright 1998,1999

Political Leadership in Africa (Do or Die Affair)

The do or die affair movie discusses political leadership in Africa. The setting is in Nigeria where the general election is about to take place. The current president is proposing the vice president as the most suited candidate for presidency. Moreover, one of the governors of the states in the country is expressing his interest to run for presidency.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Political Leadership in Africa (Do or Die Affair) specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The movie starts with the president outside the state house talking with one of the zonal leaders. This leader comes from an area with a high population density that can favor his chances of winning the presidency. The zonal leader pledges his loyalty to president by promising to support his preferred candidate, the vice president. The zonal leader is a polygamist who has married three wives. The youngest of the three wives works in the presidentâ€⠄¢s office as the president’s personal assistant in foreign affairs. This leader is a rich man and the other wives are involved in business. The governor expressing desire to run for presidency appears for the first time and is seen talking to his mother about his worries with regard to stiff competition in the presidential race. The mother is very encouraging and in the end, the governor is reassured of his chances of winning the presidency. However, he faces a tough opponent in the vice president. From the definition of leadership, the governor seems to be the ideal candidate for the presidency. There is talk on how the state developed during his stint as a governor. The governor is also seen talking to elders asking for their support. Most of the elders support his bid. Nevertheless, all is not well in the house of the governor. Rivalry between the governor’s three wives comes out very clearly when the second wife is openly jealous of the third wife. The second wife devices a conspiracy to ruin the relationship between her husband and the third wife. To achieve this, she basis her claims on the third wife’s job and the numerous trips she makes with the president as his personal assistant to assert that the wife has an affair with the president. The husband is enraged after discovering that the third wife has an illicit affair with the president. The shortcoming of polygamous marriages is evident. The governor comes out as a humorous, religious, and family minded person during a press conference. At the press conference, the governor intent is to inform the public of his aspirations to run for president in the next general elections. Moreover, the press conference helps reveal the role of the governor’s mother the son’s campaign and the entire political career. Both the governor and the vice president belong to the same political party.Advertising Looking for essay on art and design? Let's see if we can help you! Get y our first paper with 15% OFF Learn More This is a dilemma, which the vice president plans to solve by meeting the party leaders and securing their support for his candidature. The meeting with the party leaders takes place in the vice president’s office. The party leaders decline to give the vice president express nomination and insist that the presidential candidate for the party is only to be selected by the delegates conference to be held later. The vice president is infuriated by a decision taken by the party leaders and this reveals how most leaders want their decision to be followed without opposition. The vice presidents express his discontent with the stand of the party leaders and accuse them of supporting his opponent, the governor. When the attempt to remove the governor from the presidential election through the party nominations fails, the vice president decides to limit the governor’s chances. He uses the power vested in him to sabotage the busin esses of the governor specifically the governors airline. Through the ministry of transport, the airline is banned on grounds that the airplanes are under poor maintenance and they do not meet the standards stipulated by the government. This shows that political opponents can destroy political ambitions of each other. The governor takes the case to the president who remains adamant unless he drops his ambition to run for president. The president is arrogant towards the governor. The president employs blackmail to ensure the governor does not run for the presidency, but he is determined to go all the way, notwithstanding that the political tide is against him. The vice president seeks the service of a young ambitious journalist to release discriminatory information about his opponents. The journalist declines to take up the job at first but accepts when she is offered a bribery. The governor also meets the journalist as a result of an article she has written on the newspaper that sup ports the governor’s candidature for the presidency. The governor and the journalist meet at the governor’s office. The intention of the journalist, though not clear to the governor, is to steal information from the governor’s camp and sell it to the vice president’s side. The governor is attracted to the journalist and proposes to her that she be his mistress citing his willingness to spoil her. The wife of the governor, worried that the husband’s ambition is ruining the family, talks to her husband requesting him to quit his ambition of becoming president. The mother of the governor walks into the room.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Political Leadership in Africa (Do or Die Affair) specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More She is so annoyed by the wife’s request, and alleges that she has been paid to discourage her husband from running for office. The governor is worried abou t his financial situation and at some point contemplates quitting the race. His mother however, encourages him suggesting that he invest in a different country where the opponents cannot influence his business. The zonal leader is convinced that his wife is having an affair with the president. When the wife returns, she asks her to resign from the job. The relationship between the president and the zone leader is ruined. The zone leader switches his support to the governor’s camp, a move that costs him his life. The journalist acquires information about offshore accounts that the governor has. She avails the information to the vice president who, together with the president focus on ruining the reputation of the governor. They plan to charge him in court for corruption. The governor however with the help of his new friend, the zonal leader, wins the case in court. The vice president through his friend Igwe, hires a witch doctor to kill the governor while at his home. The witc h doctor goes to the governor’s home and kills the guard. Before he can get into the house, the witch doctor encounters the mother of the governor who also seems to posses magical powers. After a brief showdown, the witch doctor is arrested and the plot to kill the governor thwarted. The retired military personnel feel that one of them should be the one to hold the highest office in the land. They attribute this decision to the numerous many sacrifices they have made for the country while the politicians take all the credit. The plan they have in mind is for them to rule for the next 30 years. The military personnel meet with the president to inform him of their view and ask for his support. The president promises to consider the matter and provide his answer at a later date. While the president meets the retired military personnel, he misses a meeting with the vice president where he was to endorse his candidature. This reveals that politicians are sometimes untrustworthy. C onclusion The movie presents three main candidates each with their own traits. Of all the candidates, the governor is the most suited and the best example that African leaders should strive to emulate. The governor has a track record of development in his state. He consults with the people he led as seen when he meets the elders to inform them of his aspirations and ask for their guidance.Advertising Looking for essay on art and design? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The governor unlike the other leaders does not engage in abuse of office to ensure that personal goals are attained. The other leaders, especially the vice president are seen to use wealth and position in the government to ensure that the governor does not run for presidency. This is achieved by ruining his businesses, using witchcraft, and killing the zonal leader via the vice president’s security guards. This essay on Political Leadership in Africa (Do or Die Affair) was written and submitted by user Ana E. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.