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THIS IS OUR LOGO--AN ABSTRACT BUG OF OUR OWN DESIGN
Welcome to our About insect page. Here we present some brief information about many of the insects we use as models for our jewelry. The information is gathered from many sources such as Wikipedia and books and articles we read about insects. If you would l like to read more about insects, just put the name of the insect into your favorite search engine, and you will find many great references.
The insects are presented in alphabetical order. More will be added so please come back.
CARPENTER ANTS are
large ants (ranging from one-quarter inch to 1 inch long) indigenous to many parts of the world. They prefer
dead, damp wood in which to build nests. They do not eat the wood, but sometimes
carpenter ants will hollow out sections of trees. The most likely species to be
infesting a house in the United States is the Black Carpenter Ant. However,
there are over a thousand other species all over the world.
CICADAS are part of an insect superfamily called Cicadoidea. They have large eyes set wide apart on
the head and usually transparent, well-veined wings. There are about 2,500
species of cicada around the world. Cicadas live in temperate to tropical
climates where they are among the most widely recognized of all insects, mainly
due to their large size and remarkable acoustic talents. Cicadas do not bite or
sting, but can cause damage to cultivated crops, shrubs, and trees. Many people
around the world eat cicadas. The name is a direct derivation of the Latin cicada, meaning "buzzer,” because of the
buzzing noise they makes.
COCKCHAFER
often called may bug, is a European beetle, in the
family Scarabaeidae. It is a major garden pest. and was thought to have
been
eradicated in the middle of the 20th century through extensive use of
pesticides. However, its numbers are starting to increase since there
has been
more control over the use of pesticides. They were a major pest in the
potato
famines of the 1800s.
Male cockchafers have seven 'leaves' on their antenna, females
have six.
Common cockchafers
live for about 5 to 7 weeks. The
grubs develop in the earth for three to four years, even five years in
cold
climates, and pupate in early autumn. It takes another six weeks for
them to
develop into adults
LUNA MOTHS are beautiful, pale green, nocturnal moths. They have a wingspan of up to four and a half
inches, which ranks it as one of the largest moths in North America. They are attracted to lights at night, but are rarely sen in the Northern hemispheres.
LONGHORN BEETLES (Cerambycidae; also known as long-horned beetles or longicorns) are a cosmopolitan family of beetle, typically characterized by
extremely long antennae which are often as long as or longer than the beetle's
body. The family is large, with over 20,000 species described, largely from
Eastern Europe. They are found in the western part of the US.
MAYFLIES are insects that belong to the Order
Ephemeroptera because the adults have a very short life span.They are part of an
ancient group of insects, which also contains dragonflies and damselflies. They
are aquatic insects whose immature stage (called naiad or, colloquially, nymph)
usually lasts one year in freshwater. The adults are short-lived, from a few
minutes to a few days depending on the species. About 2,500 species are known
worldwide, including about 630 species in North America. They are also called 'dayflies'. Mayflies are pollution sensitive, so that if they are in or around the water, the water should be of a good quality.
POTATO BEETLE (COLORADO) (Leptinotarsa decemlineata) is a ten striped potato bug. Colorado potato beetle females can lay as many as 800 eggs. They are usually deposited in batches of about 30 on the underside of host leaves, and then they feed on the leaves. The Colorado beetle is a serious crop pest of potatoes. They may also cause significant damage to tomatoes and eggplants. Both adults and larvae feed on foliage and may completely eliminate the crop.
PRAYING MANTISES (Mantodea) are an order of insects that contains approximately 2,200 species in
nine families worldwide, in temperate and tropical habitats. A common name for
the order is praying mantises,
because of the typical "prayer-like" stance; although the term is
often misspelled as "preying mantis" since mantises are predatory.
They are carniverous, and eat other insects. The female eats the male after mating and the babies,
when they emerge from their cocoon eat each other. They also eat birds and small animals.
SWALLOWTAIL BUTTERFLIES are large, colorful butterflies. There are at least 550 species, and though the
majority is tropical, members of the family are found on all continents except Antarctica.
The family includes the largest butterflies in the world, the birdwing
butterflies of Australia The adults are often tailed like the
forked tail of some swallows, giving the insect its name. A beautiful example in the US is the Parsley Butterfly, shown here.
UNICORN BEETLE (DYNASTES TITYUS), is a species of rhinoceros beetle. This beetle
is distinguished by horns on its head and thorax. The name "Unicorn
beetle" has also been applied to the Hercules beetle, which is in the same
genus. It is one of the two species of rhinoceros beetles found in the south of
the United States.
VIOLIN BEETLE-
(MORMOLYCE PHYLLOIDES) These beetles are ground beetles are found mainly in the
Malayan Archipelago, where they live under bark and in clefts in wood. Violin
beetles are carnivorous and use their elongated heads to search crevices for
small larvae. Their larvae have been found living in tunnels in the large
bracket fungi that are common in the humid forests of Malaysia. They have a
very flat or depressed body form and are found in soil cracks, under bark, or
in the axils of bromeliads. The flattened form allows the beetles to move more
freely below the soil. Their common name comes from the fact that
their outline resembles the musical instrument. The beetles are 4 inches long,
and have large, flat, translucent expansions on each side of the body. These
expansions are projections of the wing covers, or elytra
We hope you enjoyed this informational page. If you detect any errors, or have any questions or comments, please let us know. Come back soon. We will be adding more insect information until we include all the insects in out jewelry collection.
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