There are a over a million different species of them, and you will find more in one square mile of soil than make up the human population of the entire world. Without them, our eco system would completely fall into destruction and life as we know it would probably not be possible. They are insects... those creepy crawlies, those things with wings, and the inspiration for my post today!
Before I show you my finds, I thought I'd share a few fun facts about the insect world.
Did you know -
- Mayflies have the shortest adult lifespan of all insects - approximately 3-4 hours - because they don't have the ability to eat!
- The African mound building termite queen has the longest known insect lifespan at 50 years - although some entymologists believe they may live up to 100 years.
- While spiders aren't technically insects - they're arachnids - most people think of them as the scariest creatures in the insect world. Fear of spiders (arachnophobia) is the third most common fear - coming in only behind fear of public speaking and heights.
- The largest insect is the Phobaeticus chani or Chan's megastick. One specimen measuring 22.3 inches with the front legs fully extended is on display in London's Natural History Museum.
- The heaviest insect is the Little Barrier Island giant weta. One female specimen was found in 2011 weighing 2.5 ounces - that's about the weight of three house mice combined!
- The largest flying insect is the Atlas Moth with a wingspan of up to nearly 8 inches.
- If you think 8 inches is large for a flying insect, consider this - in prehistoric time, the Permian Dragonfly had a wingspan of approximately 75cm. That's nearly 30 inches! I'd hate to think how big mosquitoes might have been back then!
Luckily, all of my finds today are simply inspired by insects, so rest assured that no insect life was directly harmed simply for the creation of the items. I can't, of course, attest to the fate of the annoying gnat or fly that made its way into any of the artist's or artisan's studio! I can attest that these are all beautiful bits of insect imagery. Enjoy!
I hope I haven't driven you *buggy* with this post, but I do hope you'll take some time to visit all of these shops to see the rest of their offerings too! I'll be back tomorrow with a spotlight on timepieces, so please be sure to stop by again.
Blessings~
