Delicate
Wings
Butterflies adorn the world's
ecosystems with an apparently fragile beauty that
originates in the grace of their flight and the colorful
designs of their wings, which are sometimes truly
amazing.
Under biological classifications,
butterflies belong to the order of 'lepidoptera',
which they share with their cousins, the moths. There
are an estimated 20,000 butterfly species and some
150,000 moth species.
Butterflies capture the imagination
both for their appearance and for their life cycle.
They are the result of a transformational process
known as "metamorphosis", which involves the passage
through four different stages: the egg, the caterpillar,
the chrysalis and, finally, the winged insect.
The lifespans of butterfly species
range from a few days to several months. The fastest
can fly up to 50 km per hour.
The world of butterflies has
many admirers, which is evident in the number of Internet
sites, portals,
directories,
museums
and photo
galleries dedicated to this insect. There are
even commercial sites that explain how to set up a
butterfly nursery
The
Butterfly Site
Butterflies
North and South
Lepidoptera.net
Directory:
Butterfly Website
Butterfly
Photo Gallery
Raising
Butterflies
Edinburgh
Butterfly World
Butterflies
2000
Flowing
Grandeur
The Amazon River seems to captivate
everyone who enters the realm of knowledge surrounding
it: so much freshwater, such a long route, so much
life in and around it. And this grandeur has numbers:
it covers more than 6,000 km and empties 200,000 cubic
meters of water into the Atlantic Ocean per second.
This river and its tributaries,
which are quite marvelous themselves, flow through
an immense basin also known as Amazonia, which is
shared by nine Latin American countries.
The first written records about
the existence of the Amazon date back to the 16th
century, when it was seen for the first time by awestruck
Europeans. The name evokes the mythology of Greek
women warriors, and was used to describe the region
after the explorers reportedly came across villages
dominated by women - a discovery that today remains
shrouded in mystery.
The Amazon River has summoned
many to explore its mysteries, some of whom sought
to discover its source.
The most recent data locates the river's origins in
the Peruvian Andes at more than 5,000 meters above
sea level.
Source of legends and adventures,
the Amazon is the star of quite a few Internet sites.
Some are educational,
and attempt to explain the dimensions of this vital
ecosystem. Others focus on travel,
suggesting eco-tourism
challenges, or simply provide a guide for the electronic
navigation of the river and its surroundings through
the flow of information about this natural wonder.
PBS:
Journey into Amazonia
Encyclopedia
Britannica: Amazon River
BBC:
Source of the Amazon River
Exploratorium
on the Amazon
About:
Internet Guide on the Amazon River
WWF:
Saving the Amazon
Amazon
NASA:
Amazon as seen from space
National
Geographic: Size of the Amazon
Plants.com
Botany is a science that encompasses
an immense area: it is the study of the plant world,
flora - life in its most diverse manifestation.
The study of plants is as old
as the existence of human society. Knowledge of plants
has vital motives as they are the source of food,
serve as the raw material for innumerable products
and are an essential part of the Earth's biological
cycle.
Botany involves biologists, but
the potential of the plant world also captures the
interest of other professionals, for example those
who study pharmacy, agronomy, ecology and forestry…
The number of organisms included
in the study of botany is so vast that since the early
days of this science researchers have had to set up
categories to organize their knowledge.
It means putting an enormous
amount of information in order. In present times,
even though we may think that nearly all of nature
has been discovered and charted, scientists catalog
approximately 2,000 new plant or flower species every
year.
The plant world has found its
way onto the Internet too. To begin, there are a number
of websites dedicated to botanical
education, and there are many aimed at guiding
children
in their plant explorations.
There are also many
sites that specialize in flora of certain regions
of the world, serve as a place where experts can exchange
information, disseminate studies and journal articles,
or post the latest activities of plant and flower
clubs and societies.
In the nooks and crannies of
the Internet, you can also find the fantastic world
of carnivorous
plants, and the secrets of botanical
gardens.
Directory:
Botany on the Internet
Andean
Botanical Information System
Carnivorous
Plants: FAQ
Yahoo!:
Botanical Gardens
Yahoo!:
Plant Search
Kew
Royal Botanic Gardens
Smithsonian:
Botany
For
Kids: The Great Plant Escape!
Education:
Plants and the environment
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