With those kempt whiskers and that smile – not to mention those baby blue eyes – the dragonfly seems to be asking sweetly to be anthropomorphised. Still, putting the “Gillette, the best a man can get” jests to one side for the moment, there does seem to be something extra-specially human about the dragonfly.
Continue reading...Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Insects make perfect movie monsters. There’s something about the mix of cruel claws, impenetrable exoskeletons and bulging compound eyes that has continued to chill audiences for decades. It’s easy to conclude that mankind’s lot would be a pretty poor one if insects were much bigger than they are. But on a scientific level, how plausible are they?
Continue reading...Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Who hasn’t dreamed of being invisible, at least for a day? Well, insects are already miles ahead of humans, some of them playing with invisibility every day. Called clearwing or glasswing insects, parts of their wings seem to be transparent. Which made us wonder – why do they do it? Do they wait for smaller insects to fly against them and then laugh devilishly? Or do they pretend to be a stick and then fly away? Let’s find out more about these rather cheeky little fellows…
Continue reading...Friday, September 19, 2008
While out for a stroll in the UK’s Peak District, Mark Manders discovered this happy-looking dragonfly and quickly snapped some shots on his camera phone (good advert for the phone, eh – and no, we don’t know what make it was).
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Wednesday, June 3, 2009
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