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pygmy date (plant)
...on slender stalks; they keep well even in fairly dark places. Similar in appearance is the areca palm (Chrysalidocarpus) with slender yellowish stems carrying feathery fronds in clusters. The pygmy date (Phoenix roebelenii), a compact palm with gracefully arching, dark-green leaves, is an excellent houseplant if kept warm and....
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pygmy flowerpecker (bird)
...China to Indonesia is the scarlet-backed flowerpecker (Dicaeum cruentatum); 9 cm (3.5 inches) long, it is red, black, and white. The pygmy flowerpecker (D. pygmeum) of the Philippines is only about 6 cm long. The largest flowerpeckers are only about 23 cm in total length. ...
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pygmy glider (marsupial)
small marsupial mammal, a species of glider....
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pygmy goby (fish)
...(Crystallogobius nilssoni) of Europe, are transparent. Most adult gobiids are 10 centimetres (4 inches) long or less; the Philippine Pandaka pygmaea, one of the smallest living vertebrates, grows no longer than about 13 millimetres (38 inch)....
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pygmy goose (bird)
...(Anser caerulescens), it is long and heavy enough to dig for roots and tubers. The massive digging bill reaches maximum development in the magpie goose. The little pygmy geese (Nettapus species) are so called for their gooselike bills, but they actually feed on lotus seeds and water vegetation and neither graze nor root for food. The European widgeon (Anas.....
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pygmy grasshopper (insect)
any of about 1,400 species of insects (order Orthoptera) that are small (about 15 mm [0.6 inch] long), brown, gray, or moss-green, and related to true grasshoppers. However, the pygmy grasshopper has the forewings either reduced to small pads or absent. In addition, when not in flight, its folded membranous hindwings are protected by a pointed elongation of the thoracic shield. The pygmy grasshopp...
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pygmy hippopotamus (mammal)
The rare pygmy hippopotamus (Hexaprotodon liberiensis), the other living species of the family Hippopotamidae, is about the size of a domestic pig. The pygmy hippo is less aquatic than its larger relative, although when pursued it hides in water. Less gregarious, it is seen alone or with one or two others in the lowland tropical forests of Liberia, Côte......
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pygmy marmoset (monkey)
...whereas marmosets with relatively long lower canines (long-tusked) are known as tamarins (genera Saguinus and Leontopithecus). The pygmy marmoset (C. pygmaea) is the smallest “true” marmoset and lives in the rainforests of the Amazon River’s upper tributaries. The length of the head and.....
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pygmy mole cricket (insect)
any member of the orthopteran family Tridactylidae of about 60 species that often inhabits moist sandy surfaces near a lake or stream. Tridactylidae have forelegs, modified for digging, that resemble those of a mole. Adult pygmy sand crickets are up to 10 mm (about 0.4 inch) long and are active jumpers. The males do not sing...
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pygmy mouse (rodent)
...of peninsular India, weighing about 18 grams (0.6 ounce), with a body 10 to 12 cm (4 to 4.7 inches) long and a shorter tail (7 to 8 cm [2.8 to 3.1 inches]). The smallest is probably the pygmy mouse (M. minutoides) of sub-Saharan Africa, weighing 3 to 12 grams (0.11 to 0.42 ounce), with a body 6 to 8 cm (2.3 to 3.1 inches) long and a short tail of 3 to 6......
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pygmy nuthatch (bird)
...of peninsular India, weighing about 18 grams (0.6 ounce), with a body 10 to 12 cm (4 to 4.7 inches) long and a shorter tail (7 to 8 cm [2.8 to 3.1 inches]). The smallest is probably the pygmy mouse (M. minutoides) of sub-Saharan Africa, weighing 3 to 12 grams (0.11 to 0.42 ounce), with a body 6 to 8 cm (2.3 to 3.1 inches) long and a short tail of 3 to 6.........
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pygmy owl (bird genus)
any of about 12 species of small owls in the family Strigidae. They are distributed through parts of North and South America and include several African and Southeast Asian species called owlets. Pygmy owls are only about 20 cm (8 inches) long. Often active during the day, these owls hunt in the evening hours, taking insects...
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pygmy parrot (bird)
The pygmy parrots of the subfamily Micropsittinae all belong to the genus Micropsitta. The six species are endemic to New Guinea and nearby islands. These are the smallest members of the family. They live in forests, where they eat insects and fungi....
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pygmy pine (plant)
...trees may reach full maturity at under 0.2 metre (7.9 inches) in height, while individuals of the same species on richer, deeper soils can grow to more than 30 metres. Other conifers, such as the pygmy pine (Lepidothamnus laxifolius) of New Zealand, the smallest conifer, are always shrubby and may mature as shorter plants (less......
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pygmy rabbit (mammal)
...move about on the tips of the digits in a fashion known as digitigrade locomotion. Full-bodied and egg-shaped, wild rabbits are rather uniform in body proportions and stance. The smallest is the pygmy rabbit (Brachylagus idahoensis), at only 20 cm in length and 0.4 kg (0.9 pound) in weight, while the largest grow to 50 cm and more than 2 kg. The fur is generally......
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pygmy rattler (snake)
...The other three species belong to a more primitive genus, Sistrurus, which includes the North American massasauga (S. catenatus) and pygmy rattler (S. miliarius). These rattlesnakes have nine large scales on the upper surface of their heads....
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pygmy rice rat (rodent)
...rats, including arboreal rice rats (Oecomys), dark rice rats (Melanomys), small rice rats (Microryzomys), and pygmy rice rats (Oligoryzomys), among others. All belong to the subfamily Sigmodontinae of the “true” mouse and rat family Muridae within the order Rodentia....
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pygmy right whale (mammal)
...whale, fin whale, sei whale, and lesser rorqual, or minke. The pygmy right whale is endemic to Antarctic and subantarctic waters. The killer whale, one of the most intelligent of marine animals, hunts in......
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pygmy sand cricket (insect)
any member of the orthopteran family Tridactylidae of about 60 species that often inhabits moist sandy surfaces near a lake or stream. Tridactylidae have forelegs, modified for digging, that resemble those of a mole. Adult pygmy sand crickets are up to 10 mm (about 0.4 inch) long and are active jumpers. The males do not sing...
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pygmy seedsnipe (bird)
...Falkland Islands to southern Argentina and Ecuador. The smallest (15 centimetres or 6 inches) and most widely distributed species is the least, pygmy, or Patagonian seedsnipe (Thinocorus rumicivorus). It covers its eggs with sand when it leaves the nest. The largest (about 30 cm, or 12 in.)......
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pygmy sperm whale (mammal)
Physeter is Greek for “blower,” an allusion to the sperm whale’s breathing. The pygmy and dwarf sperm whales (Kogia breviceps and K. simus) are the only other members of the family Physeteridae. These little-known dolphinlike whales are gray above and white below, and they are quite small—about 2.5...
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pygmy spotted skunk (mammal)
...of interrupted stripes running down the back and sides. These are about the size of a tree squirrel and are the smallest skunks except for the pygmy spotted skunk (S. pygmaea), which can fit in a person’s hand....
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pygmy sunfish
...Pacific, and Indian oceans. Suborder Elassomatoidei Family Elassomatidae (pygmy sunfishes)Once classified in the Centrarchidae; recent studies shed doubt on the close relationships of pygmy sunfishes to that family. Freshwat...
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pygmy tit (bird)
...caudatus) of Eurasia. It is pinkish and black, with white head, and its tail makes up half of its 14-centimetre (6-inch) total length. One of the world’s tiniest birds is the pygmy tit (Psaltria exilis) of Java, with head and body length of 7 cm....
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pygmy tree shrew (mammal)
...tana) of Sumatra, Borneo, and adjacent islands is one of the larger species, with a body 19 to 22 cm (7.5 to 8.7 inches) long and a tail nearly as long. Among the smaller species is the pygmy tree shrew (T. minor) of Malaysia, with a body 11 to 14 cm long and a longer tail (13 to 16 cm). Their dense fur is soft or slightly harsh. The upperparts of most species are....
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Pygocephalomorpha (crustacean)
...shortened, attached anteriorly to thorax, or lacking; eggs develop in ventral thoracic brood pouch and hatch as miniature adults.†Order PygocephalomorphaCarboniferous to Permian; carapace large, unridged, covering thorax; ventral plates of thorax widening behind; walking legs 6-segmented; abdomen 6-segmented;......
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Pygopodidae (reptile)
any of approximately 40 species of lizards that make up the seven genera of the family Pygopodidae. Confined to Australia and southern New Guinea, these lizards have elongated bodies and tails, a transparent scale (or spectacle) over the eye similar to those of snakes,...
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Pygoscelis adeliae
...of the order Sphenisciformes, symbolize this polar region, though they live on seacoasts throughout the Southern Hemisphere. Of the 18 living species (of which two may be only subspecies), only the Adélie and emperor live along the Antarctic coastline. The habitats of five other polar species—king, chinstrap, gentoo, rockhopper, and macaroni—extend only as far south as the....
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Pygoscelis papua (bird)
...spring or summer. King penguins are on a 14- to 18-month cycle, and the timing of an individual pair depends on the success or failure of the previous breeding attempt. Some populations of the gentoo penguin (Pygoscelis papua) also breed in winter. The breeding of the emperor penguin begins in autumn, apparently timed so that......
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pygostyle (anatomy)
...thoracic vertebrae is a series of 10 to 23 fused vertebrae, the synsacrum, to which the pelvic girdle is fused. Posterior to the synsacrum is a series of free tail (caudal) vertebrae and finally the pygostyle, which consists of several fused caudal vertebrae and supports the tail feathers....
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Pyinmana (Myanmar)
...The English name of the capital, Rangoon, also was dropped in 1989 in favour of the common Burmese name, Yangon. In 2005 the government began to shift its administrative centre, first to the city of Pyinmana (some 200 miles [320 km] north of Yangon) and then to Naypyidaw, a newly constructed city near Pyinmana; Naypyidaw was proclaimed the capital of Myanmar in 2006....
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Pyithu Hluttaw (legislative organization, Myanmar)
Under the 1974 constitution, supreme power rested with the unicameral People’s Assembly (Pyithu Hluttaw), a 485-member popularly elected body that exercised legislative, executive, and judicial authority. The Council of State, which consisted of 29 members (one representative elected from each of the country’s 14 states and divisions, 14 members elected by the People’s Assembl...
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pyjamas (clothing)
loose, lightweight trousers first worn in the East, or a loose two-piece suit consisting of trousers and a shirt, made of silk, cotton, or synthetic material and worn for sleeping or lounging....
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pyknic type (morphology)
...were more common among people of specific physical types. Kretschmer posited three chief constitutional groups: the tall, thin asthenic type, the more muscular athletic type, and the rotund pyknic type. He suggested that the lanky asthenics, and to a lesser degree the athletic types, were more prone to schizophrenia, while the pyknic types were more likely to develop manic-depressive......
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Pyle, Cash and Carry (American sports promoter)
...its popularity, there was a need for professionals to coach and to organize, but, unlike real tennis, there were no competitions in which professionals could play. This changed in 1926 when Charles C. (“Cash and Carry”) Pyle, a successful sports promoter in the United States, offered Suzanne Lenglen $50,000 to go on a professional tour of America playing Mary K. Browne, who......
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Pyle, Charles C. (American sports promoter)
...its popularity, there was a need for professionals to coach and to organize, but, unlike real tennis, there were no competitions in which professionals could play. This changed in 1926 when Charles C. (“Cash and Carry”) Pyle, a successful sports promoter in the United States, offered Suzanne Lenglen $50,000 to go on a professional tour of America playing Mary K. Browne, who......
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Pyle, Ernest Taylor (American journalist)
American journalist who was one of the most famous war correspondents of World War II....
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Pyle, Ernie (American journalist)
American journalist who was one of the most famous war correspondents of World War II....
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Pyle, Howard (American writer and illustrator)
American illustrator, painter, and author, best known for the children’s books that he wrote and illustrated....
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Pyle, James T. (American aviator)
American aviator who was considered the father of modern air traffic control systems (b. Nov. 8, 1913, New York, N.Y.--d. April 1, 1998, Oyster Bay, N.Y.)....
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Pyleva, Olga (Russian athlete)
...events but earned no Olympic medals. Michael Greis of Germany won three gold medals in biathlon events, but his success was overshadowed by the drug controversies in the Nordic skiing competition. Olga Pyleva, a Russian silver medalist in the biathlon, was disqualified after failing her drug test. Coach Walter Mayer, who had been banned for suspicion of blood doping, was discovered in the......
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Pylocheles (genus of crustacean)
...live in the tubes of plant stems. Semiterrestrial, tropical species of Coenobita inhabit sections of bamboo stems, broken coconut shells, and other articles, in addition to seashells. Pylocheles, a deepwater crab of the Indian Ocean, lives in bamboo sections; Xylopargus, found in ......
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pylon (architecture)
(Greek: “gateway”), in modern construction, any tower that gives support, such as the steel towers between which electrical wires are strung, the piers of a bridge, or the columns from which girders are hung in certain types of structural work. Originally, pylons were any monumental gateways or tower-like structures....
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Pylon (novel by Faulkner)
...took up flying in the early 1930s, bought a Waco cabin aircraft, and flew it in February 1934 to the dedication of Shushan Airport in New Orleans, gathering there much of the material for Pylon, the novel about racing and barnstorming pilots that he published in 1935. Having given the Waco to his youngest brother, Dean, and encouraged him to become a professional pilot, Faulkner......
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pyloric ceca (anatomy)
...The well-defined muscular stomach opens by a valve into the intestine. A series of fingerlike appendages opens off of the intestine immediately posterior to the stomach. These appendages, called pyloric ceca, secrete enzymes and provide additional digestive areas to the intestine. Among closely related species of the family Salmonidae, there is a tendency for the more predacious species to......
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pyloric disease
...The well-defined muscular stomach opens by a valve into the intestine. A series of fingerlike appendages opens off of the intestine immediately posterior to the stomach. These appendages, called pyloric ceca, secrete enzymes and provide additional digestive areas to the intestine. Among closely related species of the family Salmonidae, there is a tendency for the more predacious species to........
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pyloric gastric gland (anatomy)
...by location and type of secretion. The cardiac gastric glands are located at the very beginning of the stomach; the intermediate, or true, gastric glands in the central stomach areas; and the pyloric glands in the terminal stomach portion. Both the cardiac and pyloric glands secrete mucus, which coats the stomach and protects it from self-digestion by helping to dilute acids and enzymes....
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pyloric sphincter (anatomy)
...of the pylorus is covered with a mucous-membrane lining that secretes gastric juices. Beneath the lining, circular muscle tissue allows the pyloric sphincter to open or close, permitting food to pass or be retained. The sphincter remains in an open or relaxed state two-thirds of the time, permitting small quantities of food to pass into......
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pyloric stenosis (congenital disorder)
Pyloric stenosis is a spasmodic narrowing of the opening between the stomach and the duodenum. It is a relatively common cause of illness in newborns, occurring four times more often in males than in females and more frequently in whites than in blacks. The defect requires prompt surgical care....
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pyloric stomach (zoology)
...much of the posterior aspect of the head and the anterior thoracic body cavity. A constriction separates it from the smaller, more ventral, pyloric stomach that lies in the posterior part of the thorax. Lining the inside of the greatly folded and muscular stomach walls, especially the pyloric portion, are groups or rows of stiff......
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pylorus (anatomy)
cone-shaped constriction in the gastrointestinal tract that demarcates the end of the stomach and the beginning of the small intestine. The main functions of the pylorus are to prevent intestinal contents from reentering the stomach when the small intestine contracts and to limit the pass...
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Pýlos (ancient site, Greece)
any of three sites in Greece. The most important of them is identified with the modern Pylos, the capital of the eparkhía (“eparchy”) of Pylia in the nomós (department) of Messenia (Modern Greek: Messinía), Greece, on the southern headland of the Órmos (bay) Navarínou, a dee...
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Pylos (ancient site, Greece)
any of three sites in Greece. The most important of them is identified with the modern Pylos, the capital of the eparkhía (“eparchy”) of Pylia in the nomós (department) of Messenia (Modern Greek: Messinía), Greece, on the southern headland of the Órmos (bay) Navarínou, a dee...
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Pylos Bay (bay, Greece)
small, deep, and almost landlocked bay of the Ionian Sea (Modern Greek: Ióvio Pélagos) in the nomós (department) of Messenia (Messinía), in the southwestern Peloponnese (Pelopónnisos), Greece. Known also as Pylos (Pýlos) Bay after Homeric Pylos, ...
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Pylstaert (island, Tonga)
ʿEua and ʿAta islands, both volcanic, were sighted in 1643 by the Dutch navigator Abel Janszoon Tasman, who called them Middleburg and Pylstaert, respectively. ʿEua (33.7 square miles [87.4 square km]) is hilly, and its economy is based on agriculture, tourism, and forestry. The island also produces some copra. The smaller island of ʿAta, rising to an extinct volcanic p...
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Pym, Barbara Mary Crampton (English author)
English novelist, a recorder of post-World War II upper middle-class life, whose elegant and satiric comedies of manners are marked by poignant observation and psychological insight....
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Pym, Francis Leslie (British politician)
British politician who had a distinguished career as a moderate Conservative public servant, highlighted by appointments as defense secretary (1979–81) and as foreign minister (1982–83) under Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. He and Thatcher were not in accord on several issues, however, notably the Falkland Islands War (1982), which he sought to avert through diplomacy, and she remo...
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Pym, John (English statesman)
prominent member of the English Parliament (1621–43) and an architect of Parliament’s victory over King Charles I in the first phase (1642–46) of the English Civil Wars. Pym also was largely responsible for the system of taxation that survived in England until the 19th century and for the enduring close relations between the English govern...
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Pym of Sandy, Baron (British politician)
British politician who had a distinguished career as a moderate Conservative public servant, highlighted by appointments as defense secretary (1979–81) and as foreign minister (1982–83) under Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. He and Thatcher were not in accord on several issues, however, notably the Falkland Islands War (1982), which he sought to avert through diplomacy, and she remo...
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Pynchon, Thomas (American writer)
American novelist and short-story writer whose works combine black humour and fantasy to depict human alienation in the chaos of modern society....
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Pynson, Richard (English printer)
printer in London, a native of Normandy who introduced roman type into English printing (1518). His chief rival in London was Wynkyn de Worde. About 1490 Pynson took over the business of William de Machlinia, leading London publisher of law books. In a 40-year career he produced about 400 diverse titles, a...
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pyo (literature)
In the 15th century, four types of verse existed: (1) pyo (religious verse), which retold stories of Buddha’s birth and teaching and were taken from the Jatakas (a collection of folktales adapted to Buddhist purposes and incorporated into the Pali canon), to which were added imaginative details and a Burmese background; (2) linkar.....
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pyogenic osteomyelitis (pathology)
Osteomyelitis is commonly caused by pus-forming (pyogenic) microorganisms, usually Staphylococcus aureus or Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Pyogenic osteomyelitis occurs both by direct routes and by hematogenous spread from an infection of the skin, urogenital tract, lung, or upper respiratory......
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pyŏlgok (Korean verse form)
Korean poetic form that flourished during the Koryŏ period (935–1392). Of folk origin, the pyŏlgok was sung chiefly by women performers (kisaeng) and was intended for performance on festive occasions. The theme of most of these anonymous poems is love, and its joys and torments are expressed in frank and powerful language. The pyŏlgok is characteriz...
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P’yŏngsŏng (North Korea)
city, western North Korea, located about 20 miles (32 km) northeast of P’yŏngyang, the national capital. P’yŏngsŏng is a new city built near the old provincial capital of Sain-ni, at a place formerly called Sainjang, once only a stop on the P’yŏngyang-Yŏnghŭng r...
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P’yŏngyang (North Korea)
city, capital of North Korea. It is located in the west-central part of the country, on the Taedong River about 30 miles (48 km) inland from Korea Bay of the Yellow Sea. The city site occupies a level area on both sides of the river, and the built-up area spreads northward and eastward toward low mountains. P’y...
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p’yŏn’gyŏng (musical instrument)
...level surfaces, these stones contain engravings of inscriptions and animal figures. A set of three Shang dynasty qing (called bianqing, “group of qing,” when referring to a set) also have been excavated, and the inscriptions thereon have been deciphered as......
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pyorrhea (dentistry)
The most prevalent periodontal disease is periodontitis, commonly called pyorrhea, an inflammatory condition usually produced by local irritants. Periodontitis, if untreated, destroys the periodontal tissues and is a major cause of the loss of teeth in adults....
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pyothorax (medicine)
presence of pus in the pleural cavity, between the membrane lining the thoracic cage and the membrane covering the lung. The most common cause is lung inflammation (pneumonia) resulting in the spread of infection from the lung to the bordering pleural membrane, but pyothorax may also result from a lung abcess or some forms ...
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Pyotr Alekseyevich (emperor of Russia)
emperor of Russia from 1727 to 1730. Grandson of Peter I the Great (ruled 1682–1725), Peter II was named heir to the Russian throne by Catherine I (ruled 1725–27) and was crowned at the age of 11 (May 18 [May 7, O.S.], 1727). ...
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Pyotr Alekseyevich (emperor of Russia)
tsar of Russia, who reigned jointly with his half-brother Ivan V (1682–96) and alone thereafter (1696–1725) and who in 1721 was proclaimed emperor (imperator). He was one of his country’s greatest statesmen, organizers, and reformers....
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Pyotr Fyodorovich (emperor of Russia)
emperor of Russia from Jan. 5, 1762 (Dec. 25, 1761, O.S.), to July 9 (June 28, O.S.), 1762....
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Pyotr Veliky (emperor of Russia)
tsar of Russia, who reigned jointly with his half-brother Ivan V (1682–96) and alone thereafter (1696–1725) and who in 1721 was proclaimed emperor (imperator). He was one of his country’s greatest statesmen, organizers, and reformers....
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Pyracantha (plant)
(Pyracantha), any of a genus of usually thorny evergreen shrubs, in the rose family (Rosaceae), native to southeastern Europe and Asia. Firethorns are planted as ornamentals for their showy, berrylike fruits; they are also used as hedges and are often espaliered (trained to grow flat against walls and fences). They have small oval leav...
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Pyracantha atalantioides (plant)
The European Pyracantha coccinea, up to 4.5 m (15 feet) tall, has provided many varieties of horticultural interest. Of similar height are P. atalantioides and P. fortuneana, from China, both of which bear clusters of scarlet fruits. P. koidzumii, from Taiwan, is densely branched, with red-purple young twigs and orange-scarlet fruit. The Himalyan P. crenulata,......
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Pyracantha coccinea (plant)
The European Pyracantha coccinea, up to 4.5 m (15 feet) tall, has provided many varieties of horticultural interest. Of similar height are P. atalantioides and P. fortuneana, from China, both of which bear clusters of scarlet fruits. P. koidzumii, from Taiwan, is densely branched, with......
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Pyracantha crenulata (plant)
...fortuneana, from China, both of which bear clusters of scarlet fruits. P. koidzumii, from Taiwan, is densely branched, with red-purple young twigs and orange-scarlet fruit. The Himalyan P. crenulata, up to 6 m (19 feet) high, can be trained as a small tree. ...
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Pyracantha fortuneana (plant)
The European Pyracantha coccinea, up to 4.5 m (15 feet) tall, has provided many varieties of horticultural interest. Of similar height are P. atalantioides and P. fortuneana, from China, both of which bear clusters of scarlet fruits. P. koidzumii, from Taiwan, is densely branched, with red-purple young twigs and orange-scarlet fruit. The Himalyan P. crenulata,......
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Pyracantha koidzumii (plant)
...feet) tall, has provided many varieties of horticultural interest. Of similar height are P. atalantioides and P. fortuneana, from China, both of which bear clusters of scarlet fruits. P. koidzumii, from Taiwan, is densely branched, with red-purple young twigs and orange-scarlet fruit. The Himalyan P. crenulata, up to 6 m (19 feet) high, can be trained as a small......
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pyralid moth (insect)
any of a group of moths in the order Lepidoptera, most members of which have long, narrow forewings, broader hindwings, and a wingspan of 18 to 35 mm (0.75 to 1.5 inches), although a few reach to 75 mm (3 inches). Coloration is dull except for bright metallic markings. Both adults and larvae vary greatly in habitat....
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Pyralidae (insect)
any of a group of moths in the order Lepidoptera, most members of which have long, narrow forewings, broader hindwings, and a wingspan of 18 to 35 mm (0.75 to 1.5 inches), although a few reach to 75 mm (3 inches). Coloration is dull except for bright metallic markings. Both adults and larvae vary greatly in habitat....
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Pyralididae (insect)
any of a group of moths in the order Lepidoptera, most members of which have long, narrow forewings, broader hindwings, and a wingspan of 18 to 35 mm (0.75 to 1.5 inches), although a few reach to 75 mm (3 inches). Coloration is dull except for bright metallic markings. Both adults and larvae vary greatly in habitat....
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Pyralis farinalis (insect)
Cosmopolitan pests of stored products include the larvae of the meal moth, Indian meal moth, and Mediterranean flour moth. Meal moth (Pyralis farinalis) caterpillars are white with black heads and live in silken tubes that they spin in such grains as cereals, meal, and flour......
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Pyraloidea (insect superfamily)
...disruptive, or aposematic coloration; some protected by toxic secretions; posterior prolegs often modified or aborted; chiefly foliage eaters.Superfamily PyraloideaApproximately 17,800 species in 2 families worldwide; most with a pair of tympanal organs on the first abdominal segment; adults usually slender-b...
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Pyrame et Thisbé (work by Viau)
...Paris, where he soon won a reputation as the leader of the freethinkers (libertins). He was briefly house dramatist to the Hôtel de Bourgogne in Paris, writing one important tragedy, Pyrame et Thisbé (1623). This period of prosperity ended when he was charged with irreligious activities. He fled, was sentenced in absentia to death, was rearrested, and was finally......
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pyramid (architecture)
in architecture, a monumental structure constructed of or faced with stone or brick and having a rectangular base and four sloping triangular (or sometimes trapezoidal) sides meeting at an apex (or truncated to form a platform). Pyramids have been built at various times in Egypt, The Sudan, Ethiopia, weste...
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pyramid (mathematics)
in architecture, a monumental structure constructed of or faced with stone or brick and having a rectangular base and four sloping triangular (or sometimes trapezoidal) sides meeting at an apex (or truncated to form a platform). Pyramids have been built at various times in Egypt, The Sudan, Ethiopia, weste...
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Pyramid Lake (lake, Nevada, United States)
lake within Pyramid Lake Indian Reservation, western Nevada, U.S., between the Lake Range and the Virginia Mountains. A remnant of ancient Lake Lahontan, Pyramid Lake was formed during the Pleistocene Epoch (which began about 1.6 million years ago). It is the largest natural lake in the state, about 30 miles (48 km) long and 7 to 9 miles (11 to 14 km) wide, an...
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Pyramid of the Moon (pyramid, Teotihuacan, Mexico)
The north end of the Street of the Dead is capped by the Pyramid of the Moon and flanked by platforms and lesser pyramids. The second largest structure in the city, the Pyramid of the Moon rises to 140 feet (43 metres) and measures 426 by 511 feet (130 by 156 metres) at its base. Its main stairway faces the Street of the Dead....
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Pyramid of the Niches (pyramid, El Tajín, Mexico)
...at the great centre of El Tajín, placed among jungle-covered hills in a region occupied by the Totonac Indians, whose capital this may well have been. Its most imposing structure is the Pyramid of the Niches, named for the approximately 365 recesses on its four sides. In this and other buildings at El Tajín, the dominant architectural motif is the step-and-fret. There are a......
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Pyramid of the Sun (pyramid, Teotihuacán, Mexico)
The Pyramid of the Sun is one of the largest structures of its type in the Western Hemisphere. It dominates the central city from the east side of the Street of the Dead. The pyramid rises 216 feet (66 metres) above ground level, and it measures approximately 720 by 760 feet (220 by 230 metres) at its base. It was constructed of about......
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pyramid piano (musical instrument)
...was eventually replaced by the upright. In the 18th and early 19th centuries, upright pianos (i.e., pianos with vertical strings and soundboard) took three different forms. In the “pyramid piano” the strings slanted upward from left to right, and the case above the keyboard took the form of a tall isosceles triangle. Or a grand piano was essentially set on end with its......
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Pyramid Texts (Egyptian religion)
collection of Egyptian mortuary prayers, hymns, and spells intended to protect a dead king or queen and ensure life and sustenance in the hereafter. The texts, inscribed on the walls of the inner chambers of pyramids, are found at Ṣaqqārah in several 5th- and 6th-dynasty pyramids, of which that of Unas, last king of the 5th dyn...
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pyramidal composition (art)
...and wrote extensively. “The Virgin of the Rocks” (Louvre), painted in Milan about 1483, stands at the threshold of the High Renaissance. In this painting Leonardo introduced the pyramidal composition that was to become a hallmark of the High Renaissance. The placement of the Madonna, the Christ Child, the young St. John the......
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pyramidal number
...arithmetic sequences but are seen to be the polygonal triangular and square numbers. Polygonal number series can also be added to form threedimensional figurate numbers; these sequences are called pyramidal numbers....
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pyramidal tract (anatomy)
...the internal capsule and is a major constituent of the crus cerebri in the midbrain. As the fibres emerge from the pons, they form compact bundles on the ventral surface of the medulla, known as the medullary pyramids. In the lower medulla about 90 percent of the fibres of the corticospinal tract decussate and descend in the dorsolateral funiculus of the spinal cord. Of the fibres that do not.....
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Pyramidellacea (order of gastropod)
...CephalaspideaShell present, often capable of containing whole body; head shield developed; Acteonidae with operculum; 14 families.Order PyramidellaceaSpiral shell; operculum present; gill and radula absent; long proboscis with stylet; ectoparasitic; in warm oceanic areas; generally......
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Pyramidenflügel (musical instrument)
...was eventually replaced by the upright. In the 18th and early 19th centuries, upright pianos (i.e., pianos with vertical strings and soundboard) took three different forms. In the “pyramid piano” the strings slanted upward from left to right, and the case above the keyboard took the form of a tall isosceles triangle. Or a grand piano was essentially set on end with its......
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pyramids (game)
British pocket-billiards game in which 15 red balls are arranged in a pyramid formation to begin. Players use a white cue ball in attempting to pocket the reds, scoring one point for each; the player who scores the highest number of pocketed balls is the winner. Players lose a point and respot a red ball each time they pocket the cue ball or fail to contact a red ball. A player shoots until he fa...
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Pyramids, Battle of the (Egyptian history)
(July 21, 1798), military engagement in which Napoleon Bonaparte invented his one significant contribution to tactics, the massive divisional square; it was fought during his Egyptian campaign near Embabeh (Imbābah), on the west bank of the Nile River. Napoleon’s 25,000-man...
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