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dobsonfly

(Encyclopedia)dobsonfly, common name for a group of insects of the order Megaloptera, found throughout E North America. The adults may be 5 in. (12.7 cm) long; the male has mandibles half as long as the body. They ...

pressure-treated wood

(Encyclopedia)pressure-treated wood, wood that has had a liquid preservative forced into it in order to protect against deterioration due to rot or insect attack. The most commonly used preservatives are chromated ...

pheromones

(Encyclopedia)pheromones, any of a variety of substances, secreted by many animal species, that alter the behavior of individuals of the same species. Sex attractant pheromones, secreted by a male or female to attr...

wren

(Encyclopedia)wren, small, plump perching songbird of the family Troglodytidae. There are about 60 wren species, and all except one are restricted to the New World. The plumage is usually brown or reddish above and...

silverfish

(Encyclopedia)silverfish, common name for primitive, wingless insects of the family Lepismatidae. The silverfish, which has two long antennae and three long tail bristles, is named for its covering of tiny, silvery...

butterfly

(Encyclopedia)butterfly, any of a large group of insects found throughout most of the world; with the moths, they comprise the order Lepidoptera. There are about 12 families of butterflies. Most adult moths and but...

grain, in agriculture

(Encyclopedia)grain, in agriculture, term referring to the caryopsis, or dry fruit, of a cereal grass. The term is also applied to the seedlike fruits of buckwheat and of certain other plants and is used collective...

pear

(Encyclopedia)pear, name for a fruit tree of the genus Pyrus of the family Rosaceae (rose family) and for its fruit, a pome. The common pear (P. communis) is one of the earliest cultivated of fruit trees, both in i...

hives

(Encyclopedia)hives (urticaria), rash consisting of blotches or localized swellings (wheals) of the skin, caused by an allergic reaction (see allergy). The swelling is caused by distention of the skin capillaries a...

Nematomorpha

(Encyclopedia)Nematomorpha nĕmˌətəmôrˈfə [key], small (about 230 species) phylum of pseudocoelomates; the horsehair worms. Most are very slender, elongated creatures found in ponds and streams, whose larvae ...