Fun Animals Wiki, Videos, Pictures, Stories: bugs

Showing posts with label bugs. Show all posts

Tuesday, April 11, 2017

5 of the Most Beautiful Bugs on the Planet

Some of the most beautiful creatures on Earth are living right under our noses. I’d like to take a moment and share with you all some of the most beautiful bugs on the planet. You won’t believe what you see!

Jewel Beetle – Chrysochroa fulgens

All hail the glorious Jewel beetle (Chrysochroa fulgens)! This species is native to Thailand, sporting a stunning technicolor dream coat with a golden yellow waistband. They grow to a maximum length of 40mm but you can bet your butt that every mm is packed with a pretty punch!

Flower Beetle – Smaragdesthes africana oertzeni

These opalescent Flower beetles (Smaragdesthes africana oertzeni) look like they’ve been crafted out of stardust and galaxies, rather than insect… stuff. Found in the afrotropical region, which includes the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, Tanzania, Ivory Coast, Ghana, and Togo, they are popular as “pet insects” because of their breathtaking iridescent green, red or purple colors, depending on subspecies. They are also easy to breed, highly fertile and their development is relatively fast (for a beetle).

Rainbow Shield Bug – Calidea dregii

I have a theory about what you’ll find at the end of a rainbow… but only if you’re in Mozambique, Tanzania, and/or Cameroon, that is. These Rainbow Shield Bugs (Calidea dregii) look like tiny pieces of the rainbow that have broken off! They’re absolutely dazzling with their kaleidoscope of colors. However, they’re actually considered a pest to the area, as they feed on Jatropha plants. In 2007 Goldman Sachs cited Jatropha curcas as one of the best candidates for future biodiesel production and the Rainbow Shield Bugs are affecting biofuel projects utilizing the plant.

Picasso Bug – Sphaerocoris annulus

Apparently Picasso used other materials besides canvas to do his work: this is a Picasso Bug which is a species of Shield-backed Bug (Sphaerocoris annulus) and its ornate exterior looks as if it had been painted by the master artist himself.

According to the tumblr blog rhamphotheca, “These beautifully patterned true bugs (order Hemiptera, family Scutelleridae) are found throughout much of sub-saharan and northeastern Africa. They feed on the nectar and internal juices of a wide variety of plants with their sucking and piercing proboscis (straw like mouth part). Eggs are deposited on the under sides of leaves. The young nymphs spend most of their time in flowers feeding, and they take a little under 2 months to molt and grow into adults (when they will become more generalized feeders).” You can find them from South Africa, Ethiopia, to Cameroon.

Frog-legged Leaf Beetle – Sagra buqueti

Last but certainly not least on our list of most beautiful beetles is the Frog-legged Leaf Beetle (Sagra buqueti). The common name comes from the male’s characteristic strong hind legs that are almost frog-like in appearance. Females, on the other hand, are smaller and have comparatively much smaller legs. You can see the difference between the two in the last photo (above) which shows the smaller female on the left and the larger male on the right.

These beetles look like they are formed out of the shiniest, most spectacular wrapping paper on the planet. That’s why they top off our list of 5 of the most beautiful beetles on the planet.

Friday, July 18, 2014

Save the World. Eat Bugs!

Business Insider - Will Wei

The world's population is projected to grow from 7.2 billion to 9.6 billion people by 2050. So, what needs to be done to feed an extra two billion mouths?

We need to eat more bugs.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations makes a compelling case that insects are key to our future food security. Insects are chock-full of protein, good fats, calcium, iron, and zinc — making them viable alternatives to chicken, pig, and cow meat. Bugs are also much easier on the environment.

toffee worm vanilla ice cream - Don Bugito

Much of the world has already discovered this. Eighty percent of nations, from Southeast Asia to Latin America, already consume more than 1,900 different insect species. Fried locusts and grasshoppers, for example, are extremely popular street foods in Thailand. The Western world has been the only holdout, but that is perhaps starting to change.

Restaurants in New York and other major cities are featuring items such as grasshopper tacos. Meanwhile, Tiny Farms, Bitty Foods, and Don Bugito are three startups in San Francisco betting on bugs. Tiny Farms offers open-source farm kits encouraging individuals and businesses to raise their own insects, Bitty Foods makes baked goods using flour made of ground-up crickets, and Don Bugito sells flavorful cooked insects in snack-size packages.

These startups are leading the way in putting insects on your plate.

Source: Here

Sunday, June 3, 2012

Lady Bugs

Lady Bugs are among the most iconic of insects in the world, defined by their glossy red wing covers spotted over by distinct black spots. Often found in gardens, crop fields and in the canopies of different trees, they are popular not just in terms of their looks, but also for their status as non-pests.

The 1998 hit A Bug’s Life featured a Lady Bug character, one which sported a character twist where the lady bug wasn’t a lady but a guy. Though the movie didn’t exactly boost the world’s interest in Lady Bugs, it did lead a lot of viewers in asking about Lady Bugs, with most inquiries revolving around how male Lady Bugs differ from female Lady Bugs.

Another question delved into the feasibility of keeping them as pets. Here are quick answers to those questions:

Male-Female Lady Bugs – as insects Lady Bugs aren’t exactly “bugs” but are a type of beetle, which basically makes up the coccinellidae family of beetles. They are defined by varied color patterns, with orange, yellow and red with black spots on wing covers being the most commonly encountered.

As a species, there are male and female lady bugs, and their physical difference isn’t really all that different.

Lady Bugs as Pets? - as pets, lady bugs are often kept temporarily, but a number of “long term” lady bug pet owners are known to be around, particularly those who maintain terrariums, which are miniature gardens, maintained in various types of cases.

Lady bugs are typically kept as terrarium fixtures because of their small size. . Moist paper towels or alternative modes of keeping a terrarium moist would be one requirement in keeping lady bugs, along with feeding them with non acidic fruits.

“Pet” lady bugs are also known to respond well with raisins, and their upkeep isn’t really all that challenging.

One thing about lady bugs is that they’re not prone to consume fabrics or paper, or cause damage on plants, so lady bug pet owners don’t have anything to worry about when lady bugs get out from their enclosures.

If you own a terrarium and feel that it could do with some splashes of color, adding in a lady bug may be a good idea.

Who knows, you just might well become a “long term” lady bug pet owner.

Lady Bug Pictures