insect facts
Strongest Bug in the world revealed
Mar/24/2010
Imagine being able to lift a 6-double decker buses! Well, if you were a certain type of beetle - you could, in theory. The world record no longer goes to the Rhino Beetle, which is still one of the strongest, but to a type of scarab beetle. Learn more here. STRONG INSECT
0 Comments
The Caterpillar Diet
Feb/14/2010
Caterpillars grow to about 27,000 times the size it was when it first emerged from its egg. If a human baby weighed 9 pounds at birth and grew at the same rate as a caterpillar, it would weigh 243,000 pounds when fully grown!
Swallowtail Tails
Jan/06/2010
The interesting fact about these “tails” is their evolutionary feature. Birds love to eat butterflies and when they attack butterflies they go for the neck or body, which would be a clear-cut kill instead of a piece of wing. In response to this, swallowtails have evolved tail extensions that resemble their necks and body. Therefore, a bird will see these extensions as a “body or neck” and be directed away from the butterfly’s vital organs and fly away with a piece of wing, leaving the butterfly with its life.
Monarch Butterflies
Nov/28/2009
Monarch butterflies are probably the best-known species of butterfly in North America. They are famous for their long migrations south before the northern winter frosts kill their eggs and adults. These migrations are one of the most amazing in nature and individuals can travel up to 2,000 miles from home. In North America, the migration patterns differ depending on where the butterfly lives. Monarchs living in the western part of the US migrate to a small number of sites scattered along the coast of California. One of these sites is close to where I live in San Francisco, called Pacific Grove. The most famous travelers come from the eastern US where an estimated 100 million butterflies head south to Michoacan in central Mexico.
These journeys are very tough on the Monarch and most of them do not make it the whole way. However, many stop to breed along the way and the butterflies that make the reverse migration in spring are often five generations removed from those that originally migrated in autumn. Along these migrations, Monarchs lay eggs on milkweed, which is the only plant their caterpillars will eat. It is from this milkweed diet that the butterfly gets its toxic defense. Milkweed contains poisonous cardiac glycosides that the Monarch sequesters when the caterpillar eats the plant. These glycosides cause severe vomiting in most animals that eats either a monarch caterpillar or the adult butterfly.
It is fun to learn about nature and Bug Under Glass creates a museum quality Monarch Butterfly display from farm-raised butterflies. Art that has a story is much more fun!
These journeys are very tough on the Monarch and most of them do not make it the whole way. However, many stop to breed along the way and the butterflies that make the reverse migration in spring are often five generations removed from those that originally migrated in autumn. Along these migrations, Monarchs lay eggs on milkweed, which is the only plant their caterpillars will eat. It is from this milkweed diet that the butterfly gets its toxic defense. Milkweed contains poisonous cardiac glycosides that the Monarch sequesters when the caterpillar eats the plant. These glycosides cause severe vomiting in most animals that eats either a monarch caterpillar or the adult butterfly.
It is fun to learn about nature and Bug Under Glass creates a museum quality Monarch Butterfly display from farm-raised butterflies. Art that has a story is much more fun!
Ant of the month
Oct/23/2009
