Definition: Mouthparts modified into long or short, sclerotized piercing devices that are used to penetrate the host/prey/substrate to gain access to food, and liquids are transported through the food canal with the aid of a pressure gradient created by a sucking pump.
Definition: A forest biome is a terrestrial biome which includes, across its entire spatial extent, densely packed vegetation which strongly limits light penetration to the forest floor.
Definition: A woodland biome is a terrestrial biome which includes, across its entire spatial extent, woody plants spaced sufficiently far apart to allow light penetration to support communities of herbaceous plants or shrubs living closer to the woodland floor.
Definition: A group of hydrous aluminium phyllosilicate (phyllosilicates being a subgroup of silicate minerals) minerals (see clay minerals), that are typically less than 2micrometres in diameter. Clay consists of a variety of phyllosilicate minerals rich in silicon and aluminium oxides and hydroxides which include variable amounts of structural water.