Insects (from Latin insectum) are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes and one pair of antennae. Their blood is not totally contained in vessels; some circulates in an open cavity known as the haemocoel. Insects are the most diverse group of animals; they include more than a million described species and represent more than half of all known living organisms. The total number of extant species is estimated at between six and ten million; potentially over 90% of the animal life forms on Earth are insects. Insects may be found in nearly all environments, although only a small number of species reside in the oceans, which are dominated by another arthropod group, crustaceans, which recent research has indicated insects are nested within.
Nearly all insects hatch from eggs. Insect growth is constrained by the inelastic exoskeleton and development involves a series of molts. The immature stages often differ from the adults in structure, habit and habitat, and can include a usually immobile pupal stage in those groups that undergo four-stage metamorphosis. Insects that undergo three-stage metamorphosis lack a pupal stage and adults develop through a series of nymphal stages. The higher level relationship of the insects is unclear. Fossilized insects of enormous size have been found from the Paleozoic Era, including giant dragonflies with wingspans of . The most diverse insect groups appear to have coevolved with flowering plants.
Adult insects typically move about by walking, flying, or sometimes swimming. As it allows for rapid yet stable movement, many insects adopt a tripedal gait in which they walk with their legs touching the ground in alternating triangles, composed of the front and rear on one side with the middle on the other side. Insects are the only invertebrate group with members able to achieve sustained powered flight, and all flying insects derive from one common ancestor.
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The course will deliver basic knowledge on the principles of food fermentation and enzyme technology. The course will also present benefits that food biotechnology can bring in terms of Nutrition & He
Students will learn essentials of cell and developmental biology, with an emphasis on animal model systems and quantitative approaches.
The presentation of tree growth and formation of wood anatomical structures, linked to the description of specific physical and mechanical properties, makes it possible to understand the different for
Spiders (order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species diversity among all orders of organisms. Spiders are found worldwide on every continent except for Antarctica, and have become established in nearly every land habitat. , 50,356 spider species in 132 families have been recorded by taxonomists.
Bombardier beetles are ground beetles (Carabidae) in the tribes Brachinini, Paussini, Ozaenini, or Metriini—more than 500 species altogether—which are most notable for the defense mechanism that gives them their name: when disturbed, they eject a hot noxious chemical spray from the tip of the abdomen with a popping sound. The spray is produced from a reaction between two hypergolic chemical compounds, hydroquinone and hydrogen peroxide, which are stored in two reservoirs in the beetle's abdomen.
An insectivore is a carnivorous animal or plant that eats insects. An alternative term is entomophage, which can also refer to the human practice of eating insects. The first vertebrate insectivores were amphibians. When they evolved 400 million years ago, the first amphibians were piscivores, with numerous sharp conical teeth, much like a modern crocodile. The same tooth arrangement is however also suited for eating animals with exoskeletons, thus the ability to eat insects is an extension of piscivory.
Ce cours décrit les mécanismes fondamentaux du système immunitaire. Ses connaissances seront ensuite utilisées pour mieux comprendre les bases immunologiques de la vaccination, de la transplantation,
Ce cours décrit les mécanismes fondamentaux du système immunitaire pour mieux comprendre les bases immunologiques dela vaccination, de la transplantation, de l’immunothérapie, de l'allergie et des mal
Explores neurobiological signal processing, covering spike modeling, signal classification, and data characterization using principal component analysis.
Explores a community health project's impact on living conditions and community participation.
Explores division of labor in natural systems, multi-robot coordination, and the challenges of uncertainty in market-based algorithms.
Understanding how neural circuits remodel and adapt to animal behavior is a central theme in the field of Neuroscience. One strategy to reach this goal is to repeatedly record the same animal's neural
EPFL2022
Many insect species are associated with endosymbiotic bacteria which have the particularity of living within host tissues. Endosymbionts benefit from this stable and nutritious environment, while prov
EPFL2018
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Insects are frequently infected by bacterial symbionts that greatly affect their physiology and ecology. Most of these endosymbionts are, however, barely tractable outside their native host, rendering