Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Infinitely Incredible Insects

Infinitely Incredible Insects...and little Irishmen in spring green

I love insects, their diverse colors, shapes and alien appearances. I really love to photograph them, and am always trying to improve my insect photography skills. I am so looking forward to Spring and Summer…Insect Season.

There are an estimated 10 quintillion insects alive on our planet (that number should make you feel better about CDS and Budget Deficits). There are over 1 million known species, with many experts thinking there might be as many as 10 million. Insects are Arthropods, divided into 32 Orders. The largest Order is Coleoptera(beetles). Approximately 1 in 4 animals on Earth is a beetle.

Scientists estimate that 10% of the annual biomass on the planet is made up of ants, with another 10% made up of termites. Some 20% of the Earth’s annual biomass is in social insects…maybe we could learn something from them.

Insects are found pretty much everywhere, even the extremes of the Arctic and Antarctic. They are in the soil, air, water, plants, on and in the bodies of animals, even you. They are not commonly found in oceans.

Insects are important in the decomposition of plants and animals. They are a major foodsource for many animals.

Insects are not “bugs”, although “true bugs” are insects comprising some 35,000 species of the Order Hemiptera.

Some other Interesting Insect Information…Painted Lady Butterflies migrate over 3000 miles from Africa to England. Desert Locusts travel about 2800 miles, and our well-known Monarch Butterflies migrate over 2000 miles from Canada to Central Mexico. These Monarchs can travel over 600 miles without stopping. The oldest insect fossil is a 390 million year old “bristletail”. The oldest butterfly fossils are from the Cretaceous (dinosaur) Period…about 130 million years ago. The largest insect fossil is of a prehistoric dragonfly with a wingspan of 30 inches on an 18 inch body. Would that not be cool to have those flying about your pond? We would have to wear helmets. The largest, currently living insects are the Great Walking Sticks. Record specimens of some 22 inches have been found in Malaysia.

In summary…when the warm months ahead seem all too “buggy”, and the gnats, no-see-ums, and skeeters seem too much to bear, remember that without insects, without the bees to pollinate our fruits and veggies, without all the myriad of beneficial things that insects do…we simply could not survive.

Insect Haiku

Summer dreams will fly

Free on Odonata wings

Wake from winter sleep.


Peace and blessings on this fine St. Patrick’s Day…

Please click on the pictures to enlarge...































little Irishmen in spring green
Happy St. Patrick's Day!

May the road rise to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
The rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of his hand.

May God be with you and bless you:
May you see your children's children.
May you be poor in misfortune,
Rich in blessings.
May you know nothing but happiness
From this day forward.

May the road rise up to meet you
May the wind be always at your back
May the warm rays of sun fall upon your home
And may the hand of a friend always be near.

May green be the grass you walk on,
May blue be the skies above you,
May pure be the joys that surround you,
May true be the hearts that love you.


I am participating in Jenny Matlock's Alphabe-Thursday. You should check it out!
Jenny Matlock

31 comments:

  1. What a truly fantastic collection of critters you have here !
    I like them all, especially the brightly colored ones, that look like ladybugs, and the green ones which look like Irish ladybugs for today at least ;)
    Lovely Irish poem, one of my favorites, and a Happy St. Paddy's Day to you too.

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  2. Your photographs are stunning! I love ladybugs and butterflies, oh and bees too! Not so fond of some of the others, but I do understand their place and that we could not exist without them. I would just prefer if they stay outside :) Some of those beetles are really quite beautiful. I hope the bees are more abundant this year, we saw hardly any last year. Kathy

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  3. Very nice shots indeed!!~ Some insects I do like, some well I do not, they bite, they hurt!~ What an informative post!

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  4. Beautiful pictures!! I know that there are some insects that are quite beautiful and are totally misunderstood--But I however don't understand why a wolf-spider has taken up residence on my porch the last few days...I took its picture, now it's time to leave!
    Hope you have a great day!!

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  5. Your photographs are breathtaking...such clear and vibrant colors of mother nature!
    Thank you for sharing.

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  6. You have become such a good photographer! I especially like the ladybug and the praying mantis. i know we will get to take lots of photos this summer, love ya! wifey

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  7. I almost did a post on how much I dislike insects LOL. You sure put a different spin on it then I would have. I'll guess I'll have to rethink my dislike of them ;0)

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  8. Beautiful photographs. I love the one of the little girl holding the butterfly. They're all so clear. Come here and you can get photos of every kind of roach known to man. Your photos are so good I bet you could even make a roach look good. Very interesting post too.

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  9. Wow.

    I thought I'd find two or three links up but instead there are 13 already!

    Holy my goodness!

    Now.

    What an Incredible I post. I am really Impressed with the depth and scope of this post.

    And your photos are wonderful!

    I think you should probably be the hall monitor this week!

    A+

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  10. The macro and detail of your photos are amazing. I think the butterfly hanging the pink flowers is my favorite; although the one above it is sure cute. We sure have plenty of insect specimens on our side of the world. My oldest son created a bug club when he was in elementary in honor of them all.

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  11. great pics...I keep telling my husband that we need to start a bee farm because I just love beeswax.. Those bees are something!

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  12. Beautiful shots! Interesting post.
    I'll give you honey bees. No-see-ums, skeeters, cockroaches, hornets, wasps? I'm not buying it.

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  13. Wonderful macro shots, I love them all. The honey bees and ladybug are my favorites. And the praying mantis reminds me of the one that spent the summer on my patio.
    The Road to Here

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  14. WOW.. great picture, fantastic post, wonderful Haiku.
    Bravo!

    I have been very busy, sorry I have been visiting as often as I would like.

    Here from Jingle!
    Welcome to the Rally!

    Happy Thursday!

    Did you know that I am now hosting a new meme? Find out more Blog of the Week Please join us for the WEEKEND FUNNIES. Week #2 is this Friday to Sunday (March 26-29). See you there? hugs shakira Oscar Wilde-The IRISH Gentleman ART OF GENEROSITY

    UNSPOKEN BREAKFAST FOR THE SOUL

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  15. Insects make me cringe, so although your photos are beautiful I had a tough time looking through them! Although of course I love butterflies! :-)

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  16. A post that is both Interesting and Informative. We had a wasp spider in our garden a few years ago and I got some half decent photos but I would love to have a proper macro lens one day. If you have time to pop by Here is My I

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  17. Insects. ICK!!

    but your photos are lovely!

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  18. I love the name of your blog and am loving the haiku. Have you ever considered hooking up for the Sensational Haiku Wednesday meme? Here's a link to this week's theme (which was generosity): http://youknowthatblog.com/2010/03/17/sensational-haiku-wednesday-38/

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  19. Your posts are very interesting and the pictures are so gorgeous. You are a really talented photografer.

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  20. Icky icky bugs .... yet somehow they make beautiful photos ... i love the shot of the dragonfly, it is perfection!

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  21. Wonderful! Having two little boys, I've come to be much more closely acquainted with bugs. I had the most gorgeous striped stocking spider mistress in my garden last year. I thought about trying to preserve her in alcohol, but I didn't have the heart to do it.

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  22. I love inch worms. They rock.. Have a great day. Thanks for stopping by..

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  23. I do know how beneficial insects are but I do not care for too many of them. I am not a screamer just need to keep my distance. Great post Jeff we certainly learn something new when we come to visit your letter of the week!

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  24. well..now those insects don't look scary at all! such beautiful photos and great haiku

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  25. While I understand the need for insects in our ecosystem, I still think that there are enough other types of insects that we could get rid of mosquitoes and not miss them much ;)

    You have some wonderful photos, but my favorites are the honeycomb and the fuzzy caterpillar.

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  26. The pictures are great......and some type of insects I dont mind...The rest I am just going to continue to call bugs, cause they bug me........

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  27. Can we please just get rid of the mosquitos, cockroaches and wasps? Everything else can stay. :-) Or at least make them elusive creatures like the sasquatch.

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  28. What amazing shots of bugs and insects! I love the music too.

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  29. great poems and photos, the photos shows us such wonderment and joy

    thanks for your visit

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  30. Interesting insect information! ...perfect, pretty photos and poetry!
    There are such an amazing variety of insects...I agree with GardenofDaisies...no more mosquitos, cockroaches, wasps...and um...no more vicious Georgia sandgnats, please!

    Blessings & Aloha!

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