10 Admirably Beautiful Insects

We would never usually associate insects and creepy crawlies with beauty. In fact, many of us find them more annoying creatures with painful bites or stings. However, if we take the time to really look at them, they do have a few physical features that make them beautiful.
Here are 10 insects that you might not mind admiring.

Stick Insect

At times, beauty isn’t measured with gorgeous colors. With stick insects, you can find their appeal in how they are shaped. They have top rating in camouflage since they look exactly like a stick and are almost impossible to spot when mixed with twigs and leaves.

Christmas Beetle

Imagine a bug that comes in all the colors of the rainbow. The Christmas Beetle’s shell has a shimmering, metallic quality to it that makes it shine and reflect different colors. They may not look the prettiest, but they are the most colorful.

Honey Bee

Something about their stripes and furry bodies make them a favorite subject for photos. Honey Bee are very well loved by gardeners since they help pollenate plants, plus they produce honey, which can make any baked good taste so much more awesome.

Signature Spider

Although most of us hate spiders because they just look scary, signature spiders come in different lovely colors that you’d forget that they make your skin crawl. These are found all over Asia and are generally harmless.

Grasshopper

You might think of these insects as boring because they are commonly seen in either green or brown, but some species of grasshoppers are actually quite colorful. They’re a visual surprise when seen in a group.

Caterpillars

Most prefer to wait for these bugs to turn to butterflies before calling them beautiful, but caterpillars can be a stunning surprise to see on a leaf. They come in all different colors and patterns, some even having textured bodies that just add to their appeal.

Ladybugs

Also known as ladybirds, these insects are probably one of the first things we think of seeing in gardens filled with flowers. They come in vivid yellow, orange, and the most common, red. Although they’re tiny, a closer look on their glossy colorful shells and black spots will make you appreciate them more.

Dragonfly

Delicate and colorful, anyone can say that a dragonfly is beautiful when they spot one. You can see iridescent greens and blues on their wings and thin, long bodies. But since they’re very fast and small, you get to see their full beauty when they’re resting.

Praying Mantis

It sound crazy to call a praying mantis beautiful, but some species come in an array of wild, colorful wings that look amazing when they flutter them. These insects are strangely beautiful.

Butterfly

You can argue that butterflies are the most spectacular insects on the planet. From something that looked more like a worm, to a hard shell that hung from a twig, they emerge with wings that have vivid and outstanding colors and patterns. There’s something calmingly beautiful abut butterflies which makes them even more welcomed in gardens.

read more "10 Admirably Beautiful Insects "

Caterpillar

The caterpillar is the larvae (the baby) of both a butterfly and a moth. After around 2-3 weeks, the caterpillar builds itself into a cocoon where it remains a pupa for a further 2 weeks. The caterpillar then emerges having grown wings.

 

The moth caterpillar is well known for being a pest particularly in the fabric industry. One species of caterpillar has destroyed reams of silk in the far east, known in China as a silk worm.

Generally, most species of caterpillar are considered to be agricultural pests as they can munch their ways through fields of crops, often leaving enormous holes which result in unhealthy or inedible plants.

Some species of caterpillar are also highly poisonous, particularly those species that live in the tropical rain forests. Other species are only poisonous in their caterpillar form, meaning when they turn into a moth or butterfly, they no longer have venom.

There are more than 20,000 different species of known caterpillar found all around the world and it is estimated that there are many more that are undiscovered as new species of butterflies and moths are regularly found in regions where there is little, of any, human presence.

Caterpillars difference in size, colour and appearance depending on their species. Some caterpillars are very brightly coloured where other caterpillar species are quite dull-looking in comparison. Some species of caterpillars are very hairy, where others are very smooth. The main aim of the appearance of the caterpillar is to intimidate it's predators and to deter them from eating it.

The caterpillar, like the butterfly, is a herbivorous animal but the diets of the caterpillar and the butterfly are very different. Butterflies use their long straw-like tongues to drink the nectar out of flowers, which is an adaptation that occurs in the process where the caterpillar becomes a butterfly. Caterpillars mainly feed on leaves, plants and flowering plants and big holes can often be found in leaves indicating the presence of a caterpillar.

A number of species of caterpillar are known to be carnivorous and eat a variety of insects that pass them. One caterpillar species found in Hawaii, hooks itself onto a leaf where it stands very straight trying to catching passing bugs.

Due to their small size and worm-like shape, caterpillars are preyed upon by numerous different species of animal but the main predators of the caterpillar are birds and large insects such as wasps. Caterpillars are also commonly preyed upon by small mammals and reptiles.

read more "Caterpillar"