Symbiosis of Plants and Insects's Journal

On 6th October I had another lab session at Jeanne-Mance Park where we got to walk into the trees for fungi observations. One that caught my attention was the Trametes cubensis. It is a bracet fungus and belongs to the family Polyporaceae [reference: Global Biodiversity Information Facility, https://www.gbif.org/species/2548276]. Though it was found isolated and dried, getting a little rusty and probably in decay, its relatively huge size (about palm size) and hemispherical shape stood out from the rest. Recently, there is a still a debate as to whether this fungus is the species cubensis or lactinea, whether these are the same fungus, or whether one has been mis-identified. An accurate ID would still require further researches on its characteristics, mostly by compare and contrast with other fungi species.

"Parasola conopilus," a species of hygrophanous mushroom, was a species observed during Lab 5; its tissue can vary in colour depending on the moisture level. When moist, the cap presents as a lustrous, shiny reddish-brown colour; when drying, however, it goes through a two-tone colour stage, wherein the centre outwards whitens, and then the entire cap and stem thin out and become dull and greyish-brown. This fungus is native to several parts of Europe, but is also present in North America, such as the Jeanne-Mance location it was found at, in Montreal, Quebec. Moreover, this mushroom's genus was originally identified to be "Psathyrella," but has since been reclassified to "Parasola," a decision still being debated, but essentially due to it not growing in dense clusters, unlike all other "Psathyrella" species.

Following up on the field lab at Jeanne-Mance Park conducted on Sept 15, I have decided to work on the phylogenetic placement of Asian Lady Beetles and here are my identifications:
Kingdom Animalia, Phylum Anthropoda, Class Insecta, Order Coleoptera, Family Coccinellidae, Genus Harmonia and Species Harmonia axyridis.
A common adaption that I have noticed among my 10 observations is the presence of a pair of antennae. It consists of multiple kinds of receptors and helps them sense the environment to find food and detect enemies. This plays a significant role for their habitat fit in and increases their chance of survival (under natural selection). As for lady beetles, they have exceptionally bright colours and distinctive spots as a unique adaption. It makes them unappealing to predators and makes it easier to survive.

On September 15th, there was a BIOL111 Bioblitz event, during which we were tasked with finding 10 different organisms (each) that related to our topic of choice; seeing as how we chose to analyze how insects interact with plants in their environment, we selected these as the primary subjects of our observations. The Bombus impatiens, known as the Common Eastern Bumble Bee, has an adaptation uncommon to various other insects: hair. Seeing as these bees are native to North America, it was necessary for them to develop protection from the cold, harsh winters; their adaptation of hair around their bodies is well-suited for the climate.

Though many of the organisms observed differed from each other (arachnids vs. hymenopteras, etc), they all had a common adaptation: several legs/appendages. Their numerous appendages allow for an increased range of locomotion, as well as better balance when landing on differing surfaces.

Below is my phylogenetic placement for the Common Eastern Bumble Bees I observed at Jeanne-Mance Park, near Mont Royal:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Anthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Apidae
Genus: Bombus
Species: Bombus impatiens

In this post, I mainly focus on the phylogenetic placement of hornets. According to OneZoom, I find the hornet belongs to Animalia kingdom, Arthropoda Phylum, Insecta class, Hymenoptera order, Vespidae family, Vespinae subfamily, Vespa genus.
In terms of the common adaptation, one of the most obvious adaptations is that the colors of these species are close to the environment in which they live. For example, the color of Nosy Pill Woodlouses is white and brown. It is close to the color of the trunk, which is the place they live. We can extrapolate based on the knowledge of natural selection. There were nosy pill woodlouses with different colors living in this forest. Because the color of these brown woodlouses was close to the color of the trunk, they were less likely to be seen by their predators, so they were more likely to survive compared with woodlouses with different colors, which were more likely to be seen by predators. Therefore, more and more brown woodlouses survived and had generations. So, it ends up that the color of these nosy pill woodlouses is close to the color of their living environments. This is also working for all of the species in my observations.
But, there is one exception for the common adaptation I mentioned above, and I will take it as a unique adaptation of my observation. This is about the color pattern of ladybugs. Unlike other insects blending their colors to the environment, ladybugs show bright colors and polka dots. This color can warn predators away.