Gigantic bugs

The above animated video show insect sizes in comparison to each other. To portray the insects at a human scale, he concocts a scenario where space aliens land, zap the bugs with an embiggening ray, where they then rampage about causing mayhem. I felt sorry for the poor office workers who got stuck in the spider's web. 

Come to think of it, this would make a pretty good plot for a Sci-Fi channel movie of the week. They might even be able to top the CGI of this video. They would need a washed-up actress to play the female lead. Rachel Zegler comes to mind, now that she tanked her career, she probably could come for cheap.

      

Bug art

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The English artist Damien Hirst, who has a fascination with mortality, has created a work called Capaneus which is a mandala made of insects, spiders and other creepy-crawlies. I doubt, considering the colorful sheen a lot of insects have, that pictures do it credit. Via Oddity Central.

Insects covered with dew

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David Chambon has taken a series of photographs of insects covered with dew. They're quite striking. These are just a few samples, there are more at his link.

they led me to wonder how dew effects the physiology of insects. Insects breathe via openings in their exoskeletons called spiracles. These are connected, not to lungs, but to a series of tubes called trachea that spread through their bodies and deliver oxygen. One would think the dew would starve parts of the body of oxygen every morning (not to mention when it rains). I wonder if dew and rain just slows their metabolism down?  

(found via Wall to Watch which also has pictures)

Insect faces

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These are a series of insect portraits, taken with an electron microscope by the photographer Steve Gschmeissner.  There are more examples after the jump.