Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Science/2019 January 14

= January 14 =

Etymology of oxime
Our article on oxime doesn't say where the name comes from, and it is one of those rarely thought about functional groups that a person can get mixed up in their minds. Thinking about it, I would assume that the old nomenclature described at aldimine is the root of it, where the carbonyl is substituted with imine and optional side chain: our article has butyraldehyde -> butyraldehyde imine, acetaldehyde -> acetaldehyde N-methylimine as examples. Logically then, something like phosgene oxime could originate from "phosgene N-oxo imine" by the old nomenclature. I want to mention in our article then that oxime = N-oxo imine but I need a source for it and it isn't an easy thing to think how to search for. Can anyone point to a usable source (ideally, one we can access?). Note: this doesn't have to be the real historical etymology; it would be good enough to have a source to say that "this is the way you can remember it". Wnt (talk) 02:46, 14 January 2019 (UTC)
 * Well Wiktionary says it is a blend of oxygen and imide. This is also supported by my Collins dictionary. oxygen + imide. Graeme Bartlett (talk) 02:59, 14 January 2019 (UTC)
 * The big Oxford Dictionary (Draft Third Edition entry of March 2005) says that it come from German oxim (oxy- + im- from imid imide). The first use of the German term seems to be V. Meyer & A. Janny 1882, in Berichte der Deutsch. Chem. Ges. 15 1324.   Dbfirs  09:41, 14 January 2019 (UTC)

Mantises praying on birds and reptiles
How do praying mantises kill large prey such as birds and reptiles? I have seen videos of them capturing such prey and videos of them eating it, but I still cannot figure out how they kill such prey. Surtsicna (talk) 19:39, 14 January 2019 (UTC)
 * Mantises aren't venomous and it seems they kill prey by eating it. Their forelegs are powerful and equipped with spikes that can hold a prey item in position while the mantis eats it alive, often starting with the head first. According to this news piece on a recent study of bird-eating mantises, they are ambush predators that "strike out and grasp their unsuspecting meal with their two front legs, while holding onto a leaf or grass with their four back legs. Then, while their food is still alive, they begin their feast. There is no poison involved." PaleCloudedWhite (talk) 20:32, 14 January 2019 (UTC)
 * See also this. Ruslik_ Zero 20:41, 14 January 2019 (UTC)