Word: genus
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...spend a good deal of time trying to define their terms. The results, says Standen, are "ludicrous." They dare not even try to define "life." They define " 'stimulus' and 'response' ... in terms of one another. No biologist can define a species. And as for a genus - all attempts come down to this: 'A genus is a grouping of species that some recognized taxonomic specialist has called a genus...
...hatchet and scurried out again. Then, while popeyed passers-by looked on, the bridegroom began hacking at a telephone pole on one of Charleston's main business streets. A few minutes later, he triumphantly rejoined his waiting and bewildered bride, with a fine specimen of a soldier termite (genus Kalotermes) in his hand...
...Police. For 250 years quinine was the only police agent used to control malaria. Swamp drainage and screening of buildings have been added to the force since 1898, when it was shown that malaria parasites (tiny protozoa of the genus Plasmodium) spend part of their life cycle in female Anopheles mosquitoes. The mosquito picks up the parasites from infected humans, nurtures them and injects them into fresh victims. The parasites run through the bloodstream of their victim, causing periodic fevers at the peak of their reproductive cycle; many lodge in the spleen, causing local pain...
...genus Harpagomyia preys on ants. The mosquito alights in front of an ant and holds it tightly with its forelegs. After a while the ant opens its mouth. The mosquito inserts its proboscis and sucks up food which the ant squeezes from its stomach. Both parties seem to enjoy this interchange. The mosquito vibrates its wings with pleasure; the shmoo-like ant caresses the mosquito's proboscis with its palpi...
Today the Charles River cannot be advertised as a competitor for Poland Springs. Newton's municipal sewage has all been diverted, malarial mosquitoes of the genus anapholes have all been removed, and the Brighton abbatoir makes mucilage out of the hoofs. The only attraction left to the natator and nature student are colonies of algae and orange peels...