Category Archives: Literature

Insect Poetry

Posted on September 15, 2011 by

Eric Schmidt, Chairman of Google, looks back on the Victorian Age as the glory days of British science when poets and scientists not only worked together but were one and the same. Schmidt said, It (The Victorian Age) was a … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Education, Environment, Invasive Species, Literature | 1 Comment

The Gilgal Grasshopper

Posted on May 31, 2011 by

A cool rainy day is not great weather for photographing insects, so I did the next best thing, photograph insect art. Looking for something to do before an afternoon flight from Salt Lake, City, Utah, I visited the small, eclectic … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Literature | 1 Comment

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Eats Healthy

Posted on March 15, 2011 by

Last Fall, I posted about the Eric Carle classic book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Children’s books are a good way to teach about insects. Caterpillars, for anyone who has raised one to an adult butterfly, do grow very fast. Now … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Education, Food, Health, Literature, Policy | 2 Comments

Anthropomorphism, Irritation, Ethology

Posted on March 7, 2011 by

There are several ways to view insects and their behavior. The Pearls Before Swine Comic Strip below illustrates two of them. Pig has a romantic and anthropomorphic view, assigning human motives and emotions to the behaviors of the ant. Anthropomorphism … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Environment, Literature | Leave a comment

Beetles on the Fringe

Posted on February 15, 2011 by

The TV show, “Fringe” has an episode, “Immortality” that features beetles as a weapon used by a bio-terrorist. These particular beetles will lay their eggs inside humans and cause a ghastly death. In a scene scripted to elicit fear and … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Health, Literature | 2 Comments

The Flight of the Bumblebee

Posted on February 1, 2011 by

The Flight of the Bumblebee was originally scored by Russian composer, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, in 1900 as an interlude in the Opera, The Tale of Tsar Saltan. In the tale, the Tsar is separated from his son and does not know … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Literature, Music | 22 Comments

Living With Insect Old Age

Posted on January 16, 2011 by

Occasionally, an insect story will capture the media imagination and attention. Recently, we learn that “The Ants Also Retire”, “Leaf-cutter Ants Retire When Their Teeth Wear Out” and “Some Ants Eventually Retire”. Why all the attention? The idea of ants … Continue reading →

Posted in Biomaterials, Environment, Literature, News | 2 Comments