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Chrysops cincticornis
Ring-clawed Deer Fly
Chrysops cincticornis is a deer fly in the family Tabanidae, first described by Walker in 1848. It is commonly known as the Ring-clawed Deer Fly. The species has been documented in Vermont and other parts of the United States, with 291 observations recorded on iNaturalist. Research on this species has focused on its oviposition behavior and fecundity, with laboratory studies showing females deposit eggs in gelatinous masses on mud substrates near water, averaging 156 eggs per female.
deer-fly Tabanidae Diptera medical-entomology oviposition fecundity ring-clawed-deer-fly Vermont United-States mud-substrate gelatinous-egg-mass Chrysopsinae Chrysopsini Walker-1848 iNaturalist laboratory-rearing egg-mass 156-eggs range-42-312 near-water mud-like-substrate egg-deposition reproduction behavioral-study medical-entomology-research insect-vectors biting-flies tabanid-flies horse-flies deer-flies Chrysops North-America New-England observation-records synonym-status-in-Catalogue-of-Life accepted-status-in-GBIF arthropod insect fly Brachycera Tabanomorpha Hexapoda Pterygota Animalia Arthropoda Insecta cincticornis Chrysops-cincticornis-Walker-1848 Chrysops-(Chrysops)-cincticornis deerfly horsefly tabanid biting-fly vector oviposition-behavior fecundity-study Journal-of-Medical-Entomology 1982 10.1093/jmedent/19.5.597 gelatinous-secretion mud water laboratory-conditions mean-fecundity egg-production reproductive-biology entomology insect-behavior insect-reproduction dipteran true-fly two-winged-fly nematoceran Cyclorrhapha Aschiza Schizophora Acalyptratae Calyptratae Oestroidea Muscoidea Hippoboscoidea Glossinidae Calliphoridae Sarcophagidae Muscidae Fanniidae Anthomyiidae Scathophagidae Oestridae Tachinidae Siphonaptera Phthiraptera Hemiptera Coleoptera Lepidoptera Hymenoptera Neuroptera Megaloptera Raphidioptera Trichoptera Strepsiptera Mecoptera Diplura Protura Collembola Zygentoma Archaeognatha Ephemeroptera Odonata Plecoptera Grylloblattodea Mantophasmatodea Phasmatodea Orthoptera Dermaptera Embioptera Zoraptera Isoptera Blattodea Mantodea Phyllodocida Notoptera Walker 1848 species taxon gelatinous habitat distribution GBIF Catalogue-of-Life NCBI laboratory-study behavior life-cycle substrate mud-like mean range 42-312 female observation record specimen collection museum research study article abstract DOI biology ecology horse-fly accepted synonym taxonomy classification US 291-observations laboratory 291-iNaturalist-observations GBIF-distribution-records accepted-species-status synonym-in-Catalogue-of-Life 156-eggs-mean-fecundity range-42-312-eggs 1982-Journal-of-Medical-Entomology-publication DOI-10.1093/jmedent/19.5.597 entomology-research dipteran-biology
Ctenophora
comb jellies, sea gooseberries, sea walnuts, Venus's girdles
Ctenophora is a phylum of marine invertebrates distinguished by eight rows of fused cilia used for locomotion, called comb rows. They are the largest animals to swim using cilia. Unlike cnidarians, they lack stinging cells and instead capture prey using colloblasts—sticky adhesive cells. The phylum contains approximately 150–186 recognized species exhibiting diverse body plans, from egg-shaped cydippids with retractable tentacles to flattened benthic platyctenids and large-mouthed beroids. Ctenophores possess a decentralized nerve net without a brain, and their phylogenetic position as either the earliest or second-earliest branching animal lineage remains actively debated.
marine gelatinous plankton predator bioluminescent invasive basal-metazoan comb-rows colloblasts hermaphroditic nerve-net no-brain ciliary-locomotion diploblastic phylogenetically-contested