“bug facts”
by Mazzaroth Carroll :-) (@snaildry)
“Ladybugs (Coccinellidae)”
There’s actually a religious connection to ladybugs in most languages, specifically a connection to Mary. This is because the most common European ladybug (Coccinella septempunctata) has 7 spots, and they associated that to Virgin Mary’s seven sorrows. In German, they call them marienkäfers or Mary’s beetles, and the ‘lady’ in the English word ‘ladybug’ refers to Mary.
In most Slavic and baltic languages, the word for ladybug translates to ‘god's little cow’
There’s over 5,000 species of ladybugs, they can come in orange, pink, white, striped, yellow, and even metallic blue (the Steelblue Ladybug)
They lay extra eggs for their babies to eat when they hatch.
Ladybugs produce light toxins that make them taste bad to birds and other predators. This toxin can’t harm humans (unless you eat several pounds of ladybugs for some reason)
However, this toxin can be processed with grapes and can affect the taste and aroma of wine. This phenomenon is called ‘ladybug taint’ and it makes ladybugs a nuisance to vineyards.
A single ladybug can eat 5,000 aphids in its lifetime (1 year)
mazzy’s favorite ladybugs :
Halmus chalybeus , Coleomegilla maculata , Psyllobora vigintimaculata , Coccinella transversalis , Paranaemia vittigera
illustrations & bug facts
“Isopods (isopoda)”
the st. Helena spiky yellow woodlouse (pseudolaureola atlantica) is my favorite isopod. It’s the rarest isopod in the world, can glow under uv light, and is critically endangered. it's only found on st helena, a 47 square mile remote island in the south Atlantic ocean. It’s bright yellow with spikes covering it’s back. I’m very sad that it, and other wildlife on st. Helena, are endangered.
Isopods can drink out of their anuses
Their blood is blue. This means sick isopods turn bright blue.
They are crustaceans, which means they breathe out of gills and taste like shrimp
They cant pee :(
Females have a pouch for their young
There are over 10,000 species of isopod worldwide, with around 4,500 species found in marine environments
The name Isopoda derives from the Greek roots (iso-, meaning "same") and (podos, meaning "foot")
isopods first appeared in the fossil record during the Carboniferous period of the Paleozoic some 300 million years ago
Cymothoa exigua, or the tongue-eating louse, is a parasitic isopod of the family Cymothoidae. It goes into fishes gills and replaces their tongues.
Terrestrial isopod eyes are just a couple of seeing cells at the top of their head, they can’t see very well at all
“Bees (Anthophila)”
Bees fly at about 20 mph
Out of 4,000 bee species native to North America, more than 800 have been identified in Texas
There are 20,000 bee species worldwide
Bees never sleep
A productive queen can lay up to 2,500 eggs per day.
Mead, which is made from fermented honey, is the world’s oldest fermented beverage.
In Greek mythology, Apollo is credited as being the first beekeeper.
Aristotle loved bees, he accurately figured out that baby bees grew in the cells of the honeycomb. He also knew there were three groups of bees, but while he got the worker bees and drones right, he mistook the Queen to be a King.
The word “honeymoon” is derived from the ancient tradition of supplying a newlywed couple with a month’s supply of mead in order to ensure happiness and fertility.
Worker bees have barbed stingers, while a queen has a smooth stinger, which she mostly uses to kill other queens.
If two queens hatch at once, they must fight to the death
For every pound of honey produced, a hive must collect 10 pounds of pollen.
Honey bees have 170 odorant receptors and have a sense of smell 50 times more powerful than a dog.
During the winter, some worker bees take on the job of “heater bees,” where they vibrate their bodies in order to keep the hive at the optimal temperature of 95ºF.
They also use this tactic to ward off murder hornets.
Bees communicate through ‘dancing’ and pheromones.
In 1984, honeybees on a space shuttle constructed a honeycomb in zero gravity.
Bees (and wasps) can recognize human faces