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Welcome to Wikispecies The free species directory that anyone can edit. It covers Animalia, Plantae, Fungi, Bacteria, Archaea, Protista and all other forms of life. So far we have 491,277 articles Wikispecies is free, because life is in the public domain! You can also check us out on Twitter: @Wikispecies

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Haloquadratum walsbyi	Sitta europaea caesia	Boletus calopus	♂Aphyocharax anisitsi	♀Brachypelma smithi	Hippopotamus amphibius	Euphorbia leuconeura

Explore Wikispecies HELP Section – Detailed information on creating pages. Taxonomy – Information on the Linnaean classification of species. Village Pump – Discuss the project. Done and To Do – See references to very detailed areas and defined future targets Wikispecies FAQ – Check replies to common concerns. Image Guidelines – Our recommendation on where to upload illustrations Wikispecies PR – Help us by spreading the word of Wikispecies Collaboration with ZooKeys A collaboration between Wikispecies and ZooKeys has been announced. PhytoKeys also joined the collaboration in November 2010. Images of species from ZooKeys and PhytoKeys will be uploaded to Wikimedia Commons and used in Wikispecies. Distinguished author Mary Agnes Chase 1869–1963. Standard IPNI form: Chase Mary Agnes Chase, née Merrill, was an American botanist who worked at the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Smithsonian Institution. She is considered one of the world's outstanding agrostologists and is known for her work on the study of grasses, and also for her work as a suffragist. Chase was born in Iroquois County, Illinois and held no formal education beyond grammar school. That aside, she made significant contributions to the field of botany, authored over 70 scientific publications, and was conferred with an honorary doctorate in science from the University of Illinois. She specialized in the study of grasses and conducted extensive field work in North- as well as and South America. Her Smithsonian Field Books collection from 1897 to 1959 is archived in the Smithsonian Institution Archives. In 1901, Chase became a botanical assistant at the Field Museum of Natural History under Charles Frederick Millspaugh, where her work was featured in two museum publications: Plantae Utowanae (1900) and Plantae Yucatanae (1904). Two years later, Chase joined the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) as a botanical illustrator and eventually became a scientific assistant in systematic agrostology (1907), assistant botanist (1923), and associate botanist (1925), all under Albert Spear Hitchcock. Chase worked with Hitchcock for almost twenty years, collaborating closely and also publishing, for instance The North American Species of Panicum (1910). Following Hitchcock's death in 1936, Chase succeeded him to become senior botanist in charge of systematic agrostology and custodian of the Section of Grasses, Division of Plants at the United States National Museum (USNM). Chase retired from the USDA in 1939, but continued her work as custodian of the USNM grass herbarium until her death in 1963. She was an Honorary Fellow of the Smithsonian Institution (1959) and Fellow of the Linnean Society of London (1961). Agnesia is named in her honour (a monotypic genus of herbaceous South American bamboo in the grass family). Chase experienced discrimination based on her gender in the scientific field, for example, being excluded from expeditions to Panama in 1911 and 1912 because the expedition's benefactors feared the presence of women researchers would distract men. During World War I, Chase marched with Alice Paul and was jailed several times for her activities. In 1918, she was arrested at the Silent Sentinels rally picketing the White House; she refused bail and was held for 10 days, where she instigated a hunger-strike and was force-fed. The USDA accused her of "conduct unbecoming a government employee," but Hitchcock helped her keep her job. Chase was also an active member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). See also: Distinguished authors of previous months.

Species of the month Black Crazy Ant Paratrechina longicornis Some facts on this ant: Length: 2.5–3 mm. Distribution: Of African or Oriental origin; spread around the world. Diet: Omnivorous-feeding on live and dead insects, seeds, honeydew, fruits, plant exudes, and household foods. Antennae: 12-segmented, with no club. Color: Grayish black. First described: By the French entomologist Pierre André Latreille in 1802 as Formica longicornis. Paratrechina longicornis is no slow walker. This ant's name "crazy" stems from its erratic and rapid movement. It has the ability to successfully survive in highly disturbed and artificial areas, including ships at sea. Since it can live indoors with humans, it can exist at any latitude. This ant has been reported from as far north as Sweden and Estonia, and as far south as New Zealand (where it is not, however, established). It is considered a pest, nesting in apartments and other buildings, as well among others in trash, refuse, plant and tree cavities, and rotten wood. In houses nests are built in walls, narrow spaces, house plants, and empty containers. Colonies tend to be small to moderately sized, including as many as 2,000 workers and 40 queens. The colonies are highly mobile and relocate when conditions become unfavorable to these insects. See also: Species of previous months

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