Snapping Turtle — The Snapping Turtle (Chelydra serpentina), more formally referred to as the Common Snapping Turtle when properly distinguished from its larger cousin the Alligator Snapping Turtle, is a large freshwater turtle of the family Chelydridae, and ranges from southeastern Canada south, west to the Rocky Mountains (and beyond, where introduced), throughout Mexico, and as far south as Ecuador. …

Termite — Termites, sometimes known as white ants, are a group of social insects usually classified at the taxonomic rank of order Isoptera. Termites usually prefer to feed on dead plant material, generally in the form of wood, leaf litter, or soil, and about 10% of the 4,000 odd species (about 2,600 taxonomically known) are economically significant as pests that …

Mosquito — The mosquitos are insects which make up the family Culicidae. They have a pair of scaled wings, a pair of halteres, a slender body, and long legs. The females of most mosquito species suck blood (hematophagy) from other animals, which has made them one of the most deadly disease vectors known to man, killing millions of people over …

Glowworm — Glowworm (or glow-worm) is the common name for various different groups of insect larvae and adult larviform females which glow through bioluminescence. They may sometimes resemble worms, but all are insects (Arachnocampa being a fly and all the others being beetles). The major families are: Lampyridae (fireflies), found around the world. The wingless adult female is the glowworm …

Beetle — Beetles are a group of insects which have the largest number of species. They are placed in the order Coleoptera, means “sheathed wing”, and contains more described species than in any other order in the animal kingdom and constitute about twenty-five percent of all known life-forms. Forty percent of all described insect species are beetles (about 350,000 species), …

Karl Benz — The first automobile was built by Karl Benz (1886; Germany). A one-cylinder internal-combustion engine propelled this three-wheeler at 13 km/h (8 mph). Karl Friedrich Benz, for whom an alternate French spelling of Carl is used occasionally, (November 25, 1844, Karlsruhe, Germany – April 4, 1929, Ladenburg, Germany) was a German engine designer and mechanical engineer, generally regarded …

Citroen — The Citroen 4-door sedan (1934; France) was one of the last cars built by Andre Gustave Citroen who died in 1935. His production and marketing techniques made him known as the “French Henry Ford”. Impact on the world The Traction Avant, designed by André Lefèbvre and Flaminio Bertoni in late 1933 / early 1934, was the first front …

Allosaurus — Allosaurus is a genus of large theropod dinosaur that lived 155 to 145 million years ago, in the late Jurassic period. The first remains that can definitely be ascribed to this genus were described in 1877 by Othniel Charles Marsh. As one of the first well-known theropod dinosaurs, it has long attracted attention outside of paleontological circles, and …

SPAD S.XIII — The SPAD S.XIII was a French biplane fighter aircraft of World War I, developed by Societe Pour L’Aviation et ses Derives (SPAD) from the earlier highly successful SPAD S.VII. It was one of the most capable fighters of the war, and one of the most-produced, with 8,472 built and orders for around 10,000 more cancelled at the …

Helicopter — A helicopter (informally known as a “chopper”) is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally. These attributes allow helicopters to be used in congested or isolated areas where fixed …