18 October 2019 - THE WORLD MUSEUM OF INSECTS AND NATURAL WONDERS, THAILAND

THE WORLD MUSEUM 

OF INSECTS

 AND NATURAL WONDERS, THAILAND

G'day folks,

This extensive collection of dead bugs may be the world's most idiosyncratic and personal insect museum. 

 

 This Thailand insect museum might not be the largest or most extensive collection in the world, but what it lacks in scale, it makes up for in homespun (not a spider joke) charm.

 

 

  The World Museum of Insects and Natural Wonders is the work of husband and wife team Manop Ratana Rittirong Gul, and Rattana Rumpa Rittirong Gul, both former contributors to the Smithsonian. Rattana is a world leader in mosquito research and has contributed almost 500 species of mosquito to the world record, while her husband is a malaria expert. 

 

 

Together they are a husband and wife bug superteam. The walls of their small, multi-floor museum are covered in glass frames full of pinned insects of all varieties including stick insects, beetles, butterflies, and more. Each of the displays is annotated both by scientific info and personal asides. 

 

In addition to the insectoid taxidermy, the museum features a number of surreal works of art by the duo. There are paintings of women and horses cavorting with giant mosquitoes and rocks that are described as the eyes and meteors. Together, the eccentric collection is both surreal and a bit creepy. The pieces of art are also given informational plaques, but they are mostly filled with personal bits of mysticism that relate to the making and meaning of the works. 

It’s not every museum that allows such an unvarnished look into the minds of its curators, and the combination of the clinical and personal at the site make for a strange, and unforgettable mixture. 

  

Clancy's comment: Nice to see mosquitos skewered with pins.

 

I'm ...

 

 

 

 

 

 

6 September 2018 - FACTS ABOUT THE COMMON FLEA

FACTS ABOUT 

THE COMMON FLEA

G'day folks,

Welcome to some facts about a worldwide  pest.

Quick Facts

• Type: Insect
• Diet: Blood
• Lifespan: 2 to 4 months
• Size: 1.5 – 3.3 mm long
• Weight: 0.45 mg
• Scientific name: Ctenocephalides
• Habitat: On the skin of warm-blooded animals.

•  Fleas can jump around 30 thousand times in a row!
• They can also jump very high. If they were human-sized then they would be able to jump over the Eiffel Tower with an acceleration force of 140G… That’s an acceleration rate 50 times greater than a rocket taking off into space!
• Fleas can lift objects 150 times heavier than their own body weight.
• Once adult fleas emerge from their puparia, they have approximately 7 days to find a blood meal or they will die.

• Females can consume 15 times their own body weight in blood on a daily basis.
• Female fleas can lay about 2,000 eggs over the course of their lives, but are incapable of laying eggs until after their first meal.
• Once they have had their first blood meal, female fleas will lay their eggs within 35 to 48 hours.
• Flea eggs are usually laid directly on a host, often falling off and spreading the infestation to the surrounding environment.
• Over 2500 species of fleas have been identified by entomologists but many more are thought to exist. Entomologists are scientists who study insects.

Clancy's comment: Mm ... Amazing little guys, eh? 

I'm ...

20 May 2018 - SOME INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT GRASSHOPPERS

SOME INTERESTING 
FACTS ABOUT 

GRASSHOPPERS

G'day folks,

Welcome to some facts about the best bait I've ever used to catch trout.

The grasshopper is a medium to large sized insect and the grasshopper is found (close to grass) all over the world. Grasshoppers are best known for their ability to jump incredible heights and distances.

Most grasshopper individuals grow to about 2 inches long although larger grasshoppers are found on a fairly regular basis that grow to more than 5 inches in length. The grasshopper has wings meaning it can migrate over long distances when the weather gets too cold.

There are 11,000 thousand known species of grasshopper on Earth, that live in grassy areas such as fields and meadows and forest and woodland. Like all insects, all species of grasshopper have a three-part body that is made up of the grasshopper's head, it's thorax and the abdomen. Grasshoppers also have six legs, two pairs of wings, and two antennae. 

The antennae of the grasshopper are known to be remarkably long and can often be longer than the grasshopper's body, although the grasshopper's antennae and the grasshopper's body are normally about the same size. Grasshoppers use their long antennae in order to make sense of their surroundings.

 Grasshoppers have six jointed legs that are incredibly powerful for such a small creature, as grasshoppers are able to jump extraordinary distances. The two back legs of the grasshopper are long and powerful and are just for jumping, where the four front legs of the grasshopper are primarily used to hold onto prey and to help it to walk.

Despite their large size, grasshoppers are herbivores animals and have a diet that consists solely of plant matter. Grasshoppers eat grasses, weeds, leaves, shrubs, bark and numerous other species of plants that surround them.

The grasshopper is also a stable food source for many predators around the world including reptiles, insects, small mammals and birds. It is common for humans to eat grasshoppers in places like Asia and Africa where the bigger species of grasshopper are found, and there is a less readily available alternative protein source. 

The female grasshopper lays an egg pod that contains a couple of dozen grasshopper eggs in the late autumn to early winter depending on the area. The female grasshopper inserts her egg pod into the soil so that it is a couple of inches underground. The grasshopper eggs can take up to 9 months to hatch as they wait until the weather has warmed before breaking into the outside world. 

When the first baby grasshopper (known as a nymph) hatches out of it's egg, it tunnels through the soil and up to the surface, and the remaining grasshopper nymph follow. As they get older, the grasshoppers will increase in size until they are adults. The grasshopper only remains in this stage (young and adult) for a few months before it dies meaning that most grasshopper individuals spend the majority of their lives inside an egg.

Clancy's comment: And, if you are in South East Asia, they taste good too. 

I'm ...