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Membranipora

Membranipora is a genus of bryozoans in the family Membraniporidae. A typical example is the widely distributed species Membranipora membranacea that commonly encrusts seaweeds, particularly fronds of the kelps Laminaria digitata, L. hyperborea, and Saccorhiza polyschides.

Colonies of M. membranacea show different forms of polyphenism as spines, tower zooids, chimneys and stolons.

Reproduction
The eggs of M. membranipora develop into planktonic cyphonautes larvae which is strongly triangular in outline and about 850μm x 600μm big.

Species
Species:

 * Membranipora aborescens
 * Membranipora aculeata (d'Orbigny, 1852)
 * Membranipora acuminata Levinsen, 1925
 * Membranipora acuum Brydone, 1929
 * Membranipora aedificata Brydone, 1913
 * Membranipora aequalis (d'Orbigny, 1852)
 * Membranipora aftonensis Brydone, 1929
 * Membranipora aftonia Brydone, 1929
 * Membranipora albensis Brydone, 1929
 * Membranipora albida Brydone, 1929
 * Membranipora allita (d'Orbigny, 1852)
 * Membranipora almerai Canu, 1913
 * Membranipora alveolus Brydone, 1929
 * Membranipora ambigua Allegre, 1939
 * Membranipora ameghinoi Canu, 1908
 * Membranipora americana (d'Orbigny, 1853)
 * Membranipora ampla (Uttley, 1951)
 * Membranipora ancarteri Brown, 1958
 * Membranipora angulosa d'Orbigny, 1853
 * Membranipora aperta Busk, 1859
 * Membranipora aperta Levinsen, 1925
 * Membranipora arborea Canu, 1911
 * Membranipora arcana Brydone, 1929
 * Membranipora arcana Canu & Bassler, 1920
 * Membranipora arcifera Canu & Bassler, 1929
 * Membranipora arctica (d'Orbigny, 1853)
 * Membranipora arenulata (Lamarck, 1816)
 * Membranipora areolata Canu & Bassler, 1935
 * Membranipora argus (d'Orbigny, 1852)
 * Membranipora artini Canu, 1904
 * Membranipora atabekjani Voigt, 1967
 * Membranipora aviculifera Maplestone, 1901
 * Membranipora baccata Canu & Bassler, 1923
 * Membranipora baculina (d'Orbigny, 1852)
 * Membranipora bellis Maplestone, 1901
 * Membranipora bemensis Brydone, 1929
 * Membranipora benjamini (Canu & Bassler, 1917)
 * Membranipora berthelseni Jürgensen, 1968
 * Membranipora biarritziana Canu, 1912
 * Membranipora bifoliata Ulrich & Bassler, 1904
 * Membranipora bioculata Canu, 1904
 * Membranipora bipunctata Schafhautl, 1863
 * Membranipora bispinosa Levinsen, 1907
 * Membranipora boulei Canu, 1900
 * Membranipora bramensis Brydone, 1929
 * Membranipora branscombensis Brydone, 1929
 * Membranipora bruennichi Voigt, 1930
 * Membranipora brunnea Hutton, 1873
 * Membranipora bueltenensis Voigt, 1930
 * Membranipora bulbillifera Canu, 1908
 * Membranipora californica Gabb & Horn, 1862
 * Membranipora calveti Canu, 1911
 * Membranipora camillae Neviani, 1895
 * Membranipora caminosa Ulrich & Bassler, 1904
 * Membranipora canalifera Canu & Bassler, 1920
 * Membranipora canui Dartevelle, 1933
 * Membranipora canui Lecointre, 1912
 * Membranipora capillimargo Canu, 1911
 * Membranipora cauveri Guha & Nathan, 1996
 * Membranipora cavernifera Voigt, 1962
 * Membranipora celsospinata Voigt, 1930
 * Membranipora cenomana (d'Orbigny, 1852)
 * Membranipora cervicornis Brydone, 1913
 * Membranipora chyngtonensis Brydone, 1929
 * Membranipora cingulata Levinsen, 1925
 * Membranipora claudata Canu, 1911
 * Membranipora clavicella Voigt, 1930
 * Membranipora claviformis Canu & Bassler, 1920
 * Membranipora clio d'Orbigny, 1853
 * Membranipora cochlearis MacGillivray, 1895
 * Membranipora combesi Canu, 1907
 * Membranipora commixta Voigt, 1930
 * Membranipora complanata (d'Orbigny, 1853)
 * Membranipora composita Koschinsky, 1885
 * Membranipora conficiens Brydone, 1929
 * Membranipora contexta Canu, 1911
 * Membranipora contracta Voigt, 1930
 * Membranipora convexa (d'Orbigny, 1852)
 * Membranipora coronata Levinsen, 1925
 * Membranipora crassimargo Canu & Bassler, 1926
 * Membranipora crespinae Brown, 1958
 * Membranipora cristallina Canu, 1908
 * Membranipora cubitalis Brydone, 1916
 * Membranipora cuckmerensis Brydone, 1929
 * Membranipora cuculligera Brydone, 1914
 * Membranipora cyclopora (d'Orbigny, 1852)
 * Membranipora cyclostoma MacGillivray, 1895
 * Membranipora deborahae Brown, 1952
 * Membranipora declivis Marsson, 1887
 * Membranipora dennanti Maplestone, 1900
 * Membranipora dimorphocella Canu, 1919
 * Membranipora disjuncta Gregory, 1894
 * Membranipora distefanoi Cipolla, 1932
 * Membranipora dolina Brydone, 1929
 * Membranipora dorbignyana Canu, 1900
 * Membranipora dubia Busk, 1859
 * Membranipora dugossonei Pergens, 1892
 * Membranipora dutertrei Duvergier, 1924
 * Membranipora duvergieriae Vigneaux, 1949
 * Membranipora eastonensis Brydone, 1929
 * Membranipora ebeidii Abbas & El-Senoussi, 1979
 * Membranipora echinata d'Orbigny, 1842
 * Membranipora eleanorae Brydone, 1936
 * Membranipora elizabethiensis Waters, 1898
 * Membranipora elliptica von Hagenow, 1839
 * Membranipora endozooecialis Voigt, 1930
 * Membranipora eocena (Busk, 1866)
 * Membranipora evanescens Voigt, 1967
 * Membranipora excavata Canu, 1904
 * Membranipora falloti Canu, 1908
 * Membranipora famelica Brydone, 1929
 * Membranipora fannia Brydone, 1916
 * Membranipora fascelis Brydone, 1916
 * Membranipora fastigii Brydone, 1929
 * Membranipora faustina Brydone, 1916
 * Membranipora faviola Brydone, 1929
 * Membranipora fecampensis Brydone, 1929
 * Membranipora fenestralis Brydone, 1929
 * Membranipora fenestrella (d'Orbigny, 1852)
 * Membranipora fissura Seguenza, 1880
 * Membranipora fistula Ulrich & Bassler, 1904
 * Membranipora flabellata (d'Orbigny, 1852)
 * Membranipora flabellata Canu, 1904
 * Membranipora flicki Canu, 1904
 * Membranipora fluonia Brydone, 1916
 * Membranipora fonteia Brydone, 1916
 * Membranipora fornicina (Lamarck, 1816)
 * Membranipora fossata Levinsen, 1907
 * Membranipora fossulifera Ulrich & Bassler, 1904
 * Membranipora frontalis Levinsen, 1925
 * Membranipora fulcra Brydone, 1929
 * Membranipora galeria Brydone, 1929
 * Membranipora galvia Brydone, 1929
 * Membranipora gardiana Canu, 1911
 * Membranipora gentili Canu, 1903
 * Membranipora gerana Brydone, 1929
 * Membranipora germana Ulrich & Bassler, 1904
 * Membranipora gharanensis El Safori & El-Sorogy, 1999
 * Membranipora gigantea Levinsen, 1925
 * Membranipora gigantissima Lecointre, 1912
 * Membranipora girondina (d'Orbigny, 1852)
 * Membranipora globulosa Maplestone, 1901
 * Membranipora granti (von Hagenow, 1851)
 * Membranipora gravensis Brydone, 1913
 * Membranipora harmeri Canu, 1907
 * Membranipora hastingi Marc.
 * Membranipora hebens Brydone, 1929
 * Membranipora hennei (Nyst, 1843)
 * Membranipora heterospinosa Kluge, 1908
 * Membranipora hexagona
 * Membranipora hursleiensis Brydone, 1929
 * Membranipora hyadesi Jullien, 1888
 * Membranipora impolita Mokrinskij, 1916
 * Membranipora impressa Levinsen, 1925
 * Membranipora impressata Canu, 1911
 * Membranipora inaequalis (d'Orbigny, 1852)
 * Membranipora incurvata Maplestone, 1900
 * Membranipora inornata Hincks, 1881
 * Membranipora insultans Brydone, 1929
 * Membranipora intricata (Lonsdale, 1850)
 * Membranipora irregularis (d'Orbigny, 1853)
 * Membranipora isabelleana (d'Orbigny, 1842)
 * Membranipora kayeum Guha & Nathan, 1996
 * Membranipora kiowana Scott, 1970
 * Membranipora kischenewensis (Pheophanova, 1953)
 * Membranipora krimskojensis Voigt, 1962
 * Membranipora lacrymopora (d'Orbigny, 1852)
 * Membranipora laevigata Canu, 1904
 * Membranipora laevissima Maplestone, 1911
 * Membranipora lata Canu & Bassler, 1929
 * Membranipora leo (Pheophanova, 1953)
 * Membranipora ligeriensis (d'Orbigny, 1852)
 * Membranipora ligulata Maplestone, 1901
 * Membranipora limbata (d'Orbigny, 1852)
 * Membranipora limburgensis Voigt, 1930
 * Membranipora longifissa Voigt, 1930
 * Membranipora longipes Maplestone, 1901
 * Membranipora maastrichtensis Voigt, 1924
 * Membranipora magnispina Levinsen, 1925
 * Membranipora malaccensis d'Orbigny, 1853
 * Membranipora mamillaris (d'Orbigny, 1852)
 * Membranipora mamillifera Voigt, 1962
 * Membranipora maplestonei Canu, 1911
 * Membranipora margaritifera Voigt, 1967
 * Membranipora marssoni Canu, 1900
 * Membranipora marssoniana Voigt, 1924
 * Membranipora maxima Levinsen, 1925
 * Membranipora meandrina (d'Orbigny, 1852)
 * Membranipora megapora d'Orbigny, 1850
 * Membranipora membranacea (Linnaeus, 1767)
 * Membranipora meunieri Canu, 1900
 * Membranipora meunieri Canu, 1909
 * Membranipora minuscula Canu, 1911
 * Membranipora morningtoniensis Maplestone, 1900
 * Membranipora munda (Marsson, 1887)
 * Membranipora nanula Brydone, 1929
 * Membranipora nellioides Canu & Bassler, 1933
 * Membranipora nellioides Voigt, 1930
 * Membranipora nicklesi Lecointre, 1912
 * Membranipora nitidula Ulrich & Bassler, 1904
 * Membranipora nobilis Reuss, 1848
 * Membranipora nordgaardiana Canu, 1911
 * Membranipora operculata Hincks, 1886
 * Membranipora orbavicularia Voigt, 1930
 * Membranipora orlowi Voigt, 1967
 * Membranipora ornata (Busk, 1854)
 * Membranipora osburni Canu & Bassler, 1923
 * Membranipora ossuaria Brydone, 1929
 * Membranipora ovalis (d'Orbigny, 1852)
 * Membranipora ovata (Canu & Lecointre, 1925)
 * Membranipora ovifera Maplestone, 1911
 * Membranipora ovigera Levinsen, 1925
 * Membranipora pachundakii Canu, 1912
 * Membranipora pachytheca Osburn, 1950
 * Membranipora pallaryi Canu, 1900
 * Membranipora palpebra Brydone, 1929
 * Membranipora papyracea MacGillivray, 1895
 * Membranipora parvicella Canu, 1919
 * Membranipora parvula (von Hagenow, 1839)
 * Membranipora patellaris Reuss, 1872
 * Membranipora paucispinata Voigt, 1930
 * Membranipora pegma Brown, 1958
 * Membranipora pererrans Brydone, 1929
 * Membranipora perincerta Brydone, 1936
 * Membranipora perspicata Brydone, 1929
 * Membranipora pertenera Brydone, 1929
 * Membranipora pervinquierei Canu, 1903
 * Membranipora philostracites Michelin, 1845
 * Membranipora plebicola Brydone, 1929
 * Membranipora plicatella Brydone, 1913
 * Membranipora plicatelloides Berthelsen, 1962
 * Membranipora pollex Brydone, 1929
 * Membranipora polystachys Kluge, 1914
 * Membranipora pontpourqueyensis Vigneaux, 1949
 * Membranipora portus Brydone, 1929
 * Membranipora praetermissa Brydone, 1929
 * Membranipora pratensis Neviani, 1901
 * Membranipora princeps Hincks, 1880
 * Membranipora proboscinoides Voigt, 1967
 * Membranipora procurrens Brydone, 1929
 * Membranipora pseudelea Voigt, 1930
 * Membranipora pseudonormaniana Chiplonkar, 1939
 * Membranipora pudica Brydone, 1929
 * Membranipora pulchella (Canu & Bassler, 1930)
 * Membranipora pygmaea (d'Orbigny, 1852)
 * Membranipora pyriformis Canu, 1908
 * Membranipora pyropersiata Lecointre, 1912
 * Membranipora quadrata Canu, 1904
 * Membranipora quadrata Voigt, 1930
 * Membranipora quadrifascialis Canu, 1912
 * Membranipora ravni Voigt, 1930
 * Membranipora raymondi Hayami, 1975
 * Membranipora regularis Namias, 1891
 * Membranipora reticularis (Lamarck, 1816)
 * Membranipora reyti Canu, 1909
 * Membranipora rimulata Ulrich, 1901
 * Membranipora roemeri (Lonsdale, 1850)
 * Membranipora rotundicella Canu, 1904
 * Membranipora royana (d'Orbigny, 1852)
 * Membranipora rupensis Brydone, 1929
 * Membranipora rustica Florence, Hayward & Gibbons, 2007
 * Membranipora sandalina Brydone, 1918
 * Membranipora santonensis (d'Orbigny, 1853)
 * Membranipora scanica Voigt, 1930
 * Membranipora scotneiensis Brydone, 1929
 * Membranipora seafordensis Brydone, 1918
 * Membranipora securigera Levinsen, 1925
 * Membranipora selandica Berthelsen, 1962
 * Membranipora semilunaris Levinsen, 1925

title: Membranipora


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Kadesh (Syria)

Kadesh, or Qadesh, was an ancient city of the Levant on or near the headwaters or a ford of the Orontes River. It was of some importance during the Late Bronze Age and is mentioned in the Amarna letters. It was the site of the Battle of Kadesh between the Hittite and Egyptian empires in the 13th century BC.

Name and location
The name is from the West Semitic (Canaanite) root Q-D-Š "holy". It is rendered Qdšw in Egyptian and Kadeš in Hittite. Akkadian spelling variants include Kinza, Kidša, Gizza.

Kadesh is identified with the ruins at Tell Nebi Mend, about 24 km southwest of Homs near al-Qusayr and adjacent to the modern-day Syrian village of Tell al-Nabi Mando. The text of the Kadesh inscriptions locates Kadesh as being near Tunip in the land of the Amurru, itself assumed to have been near the Orontes River (perhaps at Tell Salhab).

Some scholars also identify Kadesh with the city of Kadytis (Καδύτις in Greek) mentioned by Herodotus (2.159, an alternative identification for Kadytis being Gaza.

Early Bronze
In the late Early Bronze, the site is known for White-on-Blackweel Ware. This ware appeared in the transitional EB III/IV (Phase O), flourished and was trade in the Orontes Valley up to the Plains of Antioch and to eastern North Syria in EB IVA (Phase N). In EB IVB (Phase M), the ware continued features from the previous phase, but is easily distinguishable. It disappeares in the transitional EB IV/MB I (Phase L). Comparison should be made with Hama J7-5 (EB IVA) and J4-2 (EB IVB).

Middle Bronze Age
Map of Syria in the second millennium BC, showing the location of Kadesh (Qadesh) The city first entered historical records when it was mentioned in the archive of Mari in the 18th century BC as the headquarter of king Ishi-Addu of Qatna who took up residence there to oversee the quelling of a rebellion in the south of the city.

Late Bronze Age
Kadesh was coming under the influence of the growing Hittite Empire between 1500 and 1285 BC. It was the target of military campaigns by most of the pharaohs of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt.

Between 1504 and 1492 BC Thutmosis I campaigned north into Syria against the Mitanni, a vassal of the Hittites and, along with Aram, an ally of Kadesh. In the time of Hatshepsut there were no campaigns against Kadesh as she was focused on developing trade across the Red Sea and southward.

Kadesh is first noted as one of two Canaanite cities (the other being Megiddo) that led a coalition of city-states opposing the conquest of the Levant by Thutmose III. In mounting this opposition, the king of Kadesh was probably guided by the ruler of Mittani, Egypt's primary foreign rival in control of the Levant. Defeat in the subsequent Battle of Megiddo ultimately led to the extension of Egyptian hegemony over the city, as well as the rest of southern Syria.

Although Amenophis II campaigned in the Djadi from then on until the reign of Horemheb (1319–1307) for a century and a half Canaan was independent of Egyptian rule.

Amarna letters
Correspondence between the ruler of Kadesh and the pharaoh Akhenaten is preserved amongst the Amarna letters. Kadesh is known as Qidshu in these Akkadian language letters.

The names of three kings of Kadesh survive from contemporary sources: Suttarna (or Sutatarra; fl. c. 1350 BC); Etakkama (c. 1340s) and his son Ari-Teshub (fl. c. 1330–1325).

Seti I campaign
The city was captured by the great pharaoh Seti I in 1306 BC, during his campaign to Syria. Kadesh had been lost to Egypt since the time of Akhenaten. Tutankhamun and Horemheb had both failed to recapture the city from the Hittites. Seti I was successful here and defeated a Hittite army that tried to defend it. He triumphantly entered the city together with his son Ramesses II and erected a victory stela at the site.

His success was only temporary. As soon as Seti I returned to Egypt, the Hittite king, Mursilis II, marched south to take Kadesh and made it a stronghold of the Hittite defenses in Syria. The Hittites ruled through a viceroy in Carchemish.

Battle of Kadesh
The city is best known as the location of one of the best documented battles of the ancient world, the Battle of Kadesh, staged between the superpowers of the 13th century BC: the Egyptian and Hittite Empires. An Egyptian vassal for approximately 150 years, Kadesh eventually defected to Hittite suzerainty, thereby placing the city on the contested frontier between the two rival empires.

In response to this Hittite ascendancy and expansion southwards, the Egyptian pharaoh Ramesses II prepared an aggressive military response and captured the coastal state of Amurru.

In 1274 BC, the fifth year of Ramesses' reign, he led a large force of chariots and infantry 1000 mi to retake the walled city. In the Battle of Kadesh, the two forces clashed, in what is widely regarded as the largest chariot versus chariot battle (5,000–6,000 between both sides) in history, on the plain south of the city and west of the Orontes River.

The next year, the Hittites moved south to recover Amurru, while the Egyptians moved north to continue their expansion into Syria. The inhabitants of the city of Kadesh had cut a channel from the river to a stream south of the town, which had turned the town into a virtual island.

The subsequent battle, fought at Kadesh, saw the Egyptians turning a near defeat into victory, routing the enemy forces. After Hittite spies convinced the Egyptians that the Hittites were further away than they were, the Hittites surprised the Egyptians in their own camp. The Egyptian army was only saved by the arrival of a supporting force from coastal Amurru. Ramesses II was able to recover the initiative, and the two armies withdrew in stalemate, both claiming victory.

Aftermath
Kadesh, however, remained under Hittite overlordship, Amurru returned to the Hittite fold, and the Hittite army continued its conquests southward as far as Upi, the territory around Damascus.

The subsequent impasse between Egypt and Hatti ultimately led to what is now recognised as one of the earliest surviving international peace treaties, concluded several decades later between Ramesses II and his Hittite counterpart, Hattusili III.

End of Kadesh
Kadesh vanished from history after it was destroyed by the invading Sea Peoples in around 1178 BC. However, Hellenistic remains have been found in the upper levels of the tell (ruin-mound), and the summit is still occupied today. Continuous occupation throughout the Islamic period is likely, the mound having been named after a local Muslim saint or prophet, Nebi Mend. In Byzantine times, widespread occupation is evidenced by extensive remains at the foot of the tell, which is believed to represent the city of Laodicea ad Libanum.

Tell Nebi Mend
Tell Nebi Mend, consisting of an upper (450 x 200 meter) and lower tell, lies 10 kilometers southwest of the modern city of Homs and covers an area of about 10 hectares and rises to a height of about 30 meters over the plain. An enclosure wall around the site, thought to be Middle Bronze Age, encompasses about 40 hectares. It is located at the confluence of the Orontes River and Mukadiya river. It was occupied through the Neolithic (followed by a break in occupation), Bronze Age, Iron Age, and Hellenistic/Roman periods. The site was first excavated by a French team led by Maurice Pezard in 1922 and 1923, in the northeast quadrant of the upper mound. The excavator opened two trenches, one 60 meters by 25 meters, and 20 meters deep and the other 30 by 40 meters by 70 meters and shallow. Finds included an incomplete stele of Pharaoh Seti I (c. 1294/1290–1279 BC) in a out of context Iron Age level, some stone statuettes and Syro-Hittite cylinder seals, and a terracotta figurine. The site was then excavated between 1975 and 1995 by a team from the University College London Institute of Archaeology led by Peter Parr. Nine trenches were opened, all on the upper mound, with excavated levels ranging from Middle Bronze I to Late Bronze II. A number of charcoal samples were radiocarbon dated though there were apparently "technical problems" that limited their usefulness. Six cuneiform tablets were found at the site, one blank with sealing and the others in a Babylonian dialect of Akkadian. The tablets, from the late 14th century BC, mentioned the name of a ruler, Niqmadda, and provided confirmation of that name of the site as Qadesh.

The site has received damage in the Syrian Civil War.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Kadesh (Syria)


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Bee brood

In beekeeping, bee brood or brood refers to the eggs, larvae and pupae of honeybees. The brood of Western honey bees develops within a bee hive. In man-made, removable frame hives, such as Langstroth hives, each frame which is mainly occupied by brood is called a brood frame. Brood frames usually have some pollen and nectar or honey in the upper corners of the frame. The rest of the brood frame cells may be empty or occupied by brood in various developmental stages. During the brood raising season, the bees may reuse the cells from which brood has emerged for additional brood or convert it to honey or pollen storage. Bees show remarkable flexibility in adapting cells to a use best suited for the hive's survival.

Brood chamber development
In modern removable frame hives the nursery area is in the brood chamber, which beekeepers prefer to be in the bottom box. In the late winter and early spring as the brood cycle begins, the queen starts to lay eggs within the winter cluster in proximity to available honey stores. Honey bees tend to greatly expand the brood chamber as the season progresses. The relative location of the brood chamber within the beehive may also change as bee keepers add more boxes or as wild bees build fresh comb into available cavities. Some beekeepers ensure that the queen will not go into the upper boxes (called supers or honey supers) by placing a screen called a queen excluder between the boxes. The screen has precisely measured open spaces through which a worker bee can pass, but not a queen. Some beekeepers do not use excluders, but try to keep the queen within the intended brood area by keeping a honey barrier of capped honey, which the queen is reluctant to cross, above the brood. In feral hives the honey bees tend to put the brood at bottom center of the cavity, and honey to the sides and above the brood, so beekeepers are trying to follow the natural tendency of the bees.

In the mid to late spring, just before a bee hive would naturally split by swarming, beekeepers often remove frames of brood, with adhering bees, to make up new starter hives, called "nucs" or nucleus colonies. In areas where the climate is mild, one frame may be sufficient to start a new colony, with an added queen. But usually two to three frames are used, together with a frame that is predominantly honey. This ensures that there will be enough adult bees to provide the brood the adequate temperature and sufficient feed if there are a few rainy days when bees cannot gather nectar. If there are not enough adult bees to warm the combs, the brood may die from cold temperature overnight (aptly called "chilled brood").

Brood development
Bee brood frames are composed of brood at various stages of development - eggs, larvae, and pupae. In each cell of honeycomb, the queen lays an egg, gluing it to the bottom of the cell. The queen tends to lay brood in a circular or oval pattern. At the height of the brood laying season, the queen may lay so many eggs per day, that the brood on a particular frame may be virtually of the same age.

As the egg hatches, worker bees add royal jelly - a secretion from glands on the heads of young bees. For three days the young larvae are fed royal jelly, then they are fed nectar or diluted honey and pollen. A few female larvae in special queen cups may be selected to become queens. Their special queen cups are flooded with royal jelly for six days. The extra royal jelly speeds up the queen larvae development. Only the queen will have fully developed ovaries, i.e. she will be sexually mature. Drone brood develops from unfertilized eggs. Drone brood cells are larger than the cells of female worker bees.

Young larvae eat their way through the royal jelly in a circular pattern until they become crowded, then they stretch out lengthwise in the cell. Soon they begin to spin a cocoon, and their older sisters cap the cell as they go into the pupa stage. These cells collectively are called "capped brood."

Rating brood
Hives that are rated for pollination purposes are generally evaluated in terms of the number of frames of brood.

As food
Bee brood is harvested by beekeepers in many countries. In particular, the pupae are the highest in protein when compared to the eggs and larvae, and have protein content equivalent to that of beef or poultry. Brood is rich in carbohydrates, dietary minerals, B vitamins, vitamin C, vitamin D, saturated fat, monounsaturated fatty acids and polyunsaturated fatty acids.

title: Bee brood


text:
Varsity letter

A varsity letter (or monogram) is an award earned in the United States for excellence in school activities. A varsity letter signifies that its recipient was a qualified varsity team member, awarded after a certain standard was met.

Description
The award letter is usually made in the colors and initials representing the school that the recipient attends. The letter patch is primarily constructed of chenille and felt materials. Standard sizes range from 4 in to 8 in. While 4 in and 5 in usually denote Junior Varsity achievements, 6 in to 8 in would denote full (Senior) Varsity. The stitching style used for creating the chenille look is called a moss stitch, while the outlining sew down is called a chain stitch.

Origins
With the advent of organized sports, there was a need for uniforms. There was an additional need for identifications which was satisfied by the use of emblems or letters.

In 1865, the Harvard baseball team added an Old English 'H'. The 'H' was embroidered on the gray flannel shirt. The football team started to use the 'H' in 1875. For 25 years following the introduction in 1865 of the letter, it was the practice for the team captain to allow certain players who played in the most important games (Yale or Princeton) to keep the 'H' jerseys as an award. If a player did not play in an important game, the player had to return the jersey at the end of the season. Awarding the 'H' jersey may have been the birth of the varsity letter as an award. The letterman sweater was first regularly used by the 1891 "Nine" (baseball) and was black with a small Crimson 'H' on the left breast.

Usage
It is not known when the letter sweater came to high schools. The earliest known example of a letter sweater in a high school is found in the 1911 yearbook of Phoenix Union High School, Arizona Territory. A student in a group photo is pictured, not in a football uniform, wearing a V-neck sweater with the letter 'P' on the left side.

The sweater seems to be the home of the award letter from the 1890s until the 1930s. Another award during the 1920s and 1930s was a stadium-style blanket given as an award. In the 1930s, the letter award started to appear on leather-sleeved, wool-bodied jackets. The jackets from the 1930s were different in design from today's modern jacket.

Variations and application
As a decorative clothing item, the varsity letter has a huge number of variations and no set standard is made to any school on how it should look.

Chenille letters come in many different forms and shapes. Some institutions use Old English or script style, two or three-letter monogram, 3D shading, chenille bordered or the traditional straight block style. Students generally receive only one actual letter but can win the distinction multiple times. These additional designations are shown by adding embroidered sport insignias, modeled metal insert pins, or bars that are attached to the letter. Some schools may embroider non-athletic letters with their award title, such as "Academics" or "Arts".

The chenille letter is traditionally placed on the left chest of the varsity jacket, which is also at times adorned with championship chenille patches showcasing the team or individual accomplishments. School mascot patches are also commonly used.

During the 1980s, and again in the 2010s, varsity jackets have been adopted into hip-hop fashion, with companies such as Avirex, Phat Farm and Rocawear making their own variations.

title: Varsity letter


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Membranipora membranacea

Membranipora membranacea is a very widely distributed species of marine bryozoan known from the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, usually in temperate zone environments. This bryozoan is a colonial organism characterized by a thin, mat-like encrustation, white to gray in color. It may be known colloquially as the coffin box, sea-mat or lacy crust bryozoan and is often abundantly found encrusting seaweeds, particularly kelps.

Distribution
Northeast Atlantic including the Baltic Sea, English Channel, Mediterranean Sea and North Sea. Also native to the North Pacific coastline of North America from Alaska to California. The species was first recorded on the Atlantic coastline of the U.S. in 1987 in the Gulf of Maine. In Canada's Atlantic coast, it was first observed in Nova Scotia during the early 1990s, and had reached Newfoundland and Labrador by 2002. It now commonly occurs along the Northwest Atlantic from Long Island Sound to northern Newfoundland, including coastal Quebec, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island.

Morphology and physiology
Membranipora membranacea colonies consist of individual organisms called zooids, each with a chitinous exoskeleton which is secreted by the epidermis. This exoskeleton, hardened with calcium carbonate, is known as the zooecium, which not only serves to protect the internal structures of the organism, but also keeps the individual permanently attached to the substrate and neighboring zooids. Zooids within a colony can communicate via pores in their interconnecting walls, through which coelomic fluid can be exchanged.

The internal, living portion of the zooid is known as the polypide, whose walls are formed by the outer epidermis and inner peritoneum. The lophophore, a ring of ciliated tentacles, protrudes from the polypide to feed. When not feeding, the lophophore retracts into the polypide through the tentacular sheath. The lophophore is controlled by the zooid's nervous system, which consists of a ganglion at the lophophore base. This ganglion is responsible for motor and sensory impulses to and from the lophophore, as well as the epithelium and digestive tract. The lophophore retractor is the muscle which controls the movement of the lophophore.

This species does not have the ovicells or avicularium seen in most other members of this phylum.

Life cycle
Membranipora membranacea begins its life cycle as a plankton-feeding larva, triangular in shape. After several weeks, the larva attach to a substrate and undergo metamorphosis. The larvae typically settle on their preferred substrates in May, and then the colony undergoes growth, stasis and reproduction, shrinkage, and senescence around September, except in regions where temperature allows them to persist further into the winter. The presence of conspecifics may cause a colony to stop growing and begin stasis and reproduction early. The presence of predators also reduces growth of a colony.

Reproduction
Colonies of M. membranacea are protandrous sequential hermaphrodites, where colonies transition from male to female reproductive stages, allowing fertilization to occur between colonies or within colonies. Fertilization takes places in the coelomic fluid of female colonies, and the eggs are released through an opening in the lophophore known as the coelomophore. Reproduction or growth of the colony can also take place by budding in a radial pattern from the first established zooid, the ancestrula.

Habitat
M. membranacea prefers shallow marine habitats between the mid intertidal to the shallow sublittoral. It may also be found in brackish water. It is typically found attached in colonies to seaweed, shells, or artificial substrates.

Feeding
M. membranacea can eat food particles such as bacteria, flagellates, diatoms, and other small, planktonic organisms by extracting them from the water with their lophophore. They can also supplement their diet with dissolved organic nutrients through the absorptive epidermis.

Predation
Nudibranchs or sea slugs are the primary predators of M. membranacea. To defend themselves against these predators, the M. membranacea produce chitinous spines which protrude from the corners of the zooid. These spines make it difficult for the nudibranchs to access the polypide of the zooid. However, the energy and resources needed to produce the spines may result in decreased growth and reproduction of the colony.

Ecological significance
M. membranacea has become an invasive species in many places, and is believed to have a potentially negative impact on marine ecosystems by limiting the ability of seaweeds to reproduce, specifically by interfering with spore release from the kelp blade. The colonies of this bryozoan are also known to interrupt nutrient uptake by seaweed.

M. membranacea also decreases density and size of kelp plants within kelp beds by increasing tissue loss and blade breakage. Additionally, M. membranacea also affects photosynthetic processes in kelp, since their encrustations may result in reduced concentrations of the primary and accessory pigments in the kelp blade tissue.

title: Membranipora membranacea