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earwig

(Encyclopedia)earwig, common name for any of the smooth, elongated insects of the order Dermaptera. Earwigs are small, with pairs of horny, forcepslike abdominal appendages, larger in the male than in the female, a...

aster

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Cross section of a sunflower, a member of the aster family aster [Gr.,=star], common name for the Asteraceae (Compositae), the aster family, in North America, name for plants of the genus Aste...

Ctenophora

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Pleurobrachia, representative of the phylum Ctenophora Ctenophora tĭnŏfˈərə [key], a small phylum of exclusively marine, invertebrate animals, commonly known as comb jellies. Because they...

porcupine, in zoology

(Encyclopedia)porcupine, member of either of two rodent families, characterized by having some of its hairs modified as bristles, spines, or quills. The quills are loosely attached to the porcupines' skin and pull ...

fluke

(Encyclopedia)fluke, parasitic flatworm of the trematoda class, related to the tapeworm. Instead of the cilia, external sense organs, and epidermis of the free-living flatworms, adult flukes have sucking disks with...

lily of the valley

(Encyclopedia)lily of the valley, common name for either of the two species of Convallaria, spring-blooming perennials of the family Liliaceae (lily family). C. majalis, the species usually in cultivation, is nativ...

limpet

(Encyclopedia)limpet, marine gastropod mollusk with a simple, flattened, conical shell, found in cooler waters of the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans. Certain species creep over rocks, feeding on algae during high ...

arrowhead

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Broad-leaved arrowhead, Sagittaria latifolia arrowhead, any plant of the genus Sagittaria, widely distributed marsh or aquatic herbs of the primitive family Alismataceae (water-plantain family...

larkspur, in botany

(Encyclopedia)larkspur, any north temperate, Old World annual of the genus Consolida of the buttercup family. Consolida species were formerly classified in the genus Delphinium, which includes similar annual, bienn...

redbud

(Encyclopedia)redbud or Judas tree, name for trees and shrubs of the genus Cercis, handsome plants of the family Leguminosae (pulse family), covered along the branches in the early spring with deep rose or (rarely)...