Travel

10 FAB PLACES TO SEE BEAUTIFUL BUGS

Photo: by Patrick Emerson. Hummingbird Moth.

If you’ve seen our other posts this week so far, you’ve gotten a taste of how extraordinarily beautiful bugs can be. So you might just want to go and see the real things, alive and fluttering in their own respective necks of the woods. Check out these cool places to visit Beautiful Bugs below.

MOTHS

Sure, moths can do some wicked damage in your closet and pantry, but many moths are beautiful in extraordinary ways. They play an important role in the food chain.

According to National Moth Week, there are more than 10,000 moth species in North America. But Ohio, in particular, is a great place to check out these beauties. Experts believe there may be as many as 2,500 different species of moth in Ohio, alone.

To promote appreciation and understanding of moths, Battelle Darby Creek Metro Park in Ohio is hosting its first Moth Mania event on July 28th as part of National Moth Week, from July 23-29. Be sure to visit the official website for more information.

National Moth Week will showcase the important ecological role of moths, both as links in the food chain and as pollinators of pollen. And the event organizers hope to raise awareness that these beautiful bugs are important indicators environmental health.

Check out some more places to see the most amazing insects below.

BELIZE

Belize is known worldwide for its jaguars and scuba (and being the birthplace of bubble gum), but it ought to be equally renowned for the myriad of bugs that call it home. It may be tiny, but its unique location between two continents and two oceans has made it a hotspot for ecological diversity and a profusion of bug species.

The Tiger Grasshopper is indicative of the beauty that characterizes many of the species in Belize. Its color and spiny legs make it an exotic delight while also notifying predators to keep away.

Other creatures in Belize are less prickly, like the “White Peacock,” or Anartia Jatrophae, which wows us with its beautiful white wings. Anartia Jatrophae known for fiercely defending its territory, so don’t expect to see many of them in one place.

COSTA RICA

Costa Rica boasts some 1,250 known species of butterfly - that’s 500 more than the entire U.S. There are likely many thousands more yet to be discovered.

Many of the butterflies feature unbelievable hues and sheens.

In addition to butterflies, Costa Rica is also home to a wide variety of other bugs that run the gamut from beautiful to bizarre. There are a number of dragonflies that boggle the mind with their beauty, in particular.

THAILAND

Thailand is a bug enthusiast’s nirvana, all aflutter and abuzz with a profusion of beautiful butterflies, dragonflies, beetles, and spiders.

They flourish in the warm climate, humid forests, and tall highlands. This dragonfly (above) is named Neurothemis fluctuans. It is exemplary of the level of exotica found here.

VIETNAM

Vietnam has a number of national parks that offer sanctuary to all forms of wildlife, including stunning varieties of butterflies and other insects. Vietnam is a particularly rich habitat for insects, perhaps this is why they have a huge number of bug based foods to feast on.

Among the most beautiful insects to spot in Vietnam are dozens of unique species of praying mantises, grasshoppers and ants.

Vietnam is full of colorful bees and dragonflies. We especially love the stunning pink grass moth, Ischnurges Gratiosalis (above).

Be sure to include Cat Tien near Ho Chi Minh City and Cuc Phuong in the north in your itinerary whenever you plan your visit!

SURINAME

The most exciting thing about visiting the lush jungles of Suriname is that you might be the first human ever to have done so. Huge tracts of the rainforest there are some of the last that remain unexplored in the world, and if they have the typical biodiversity of the rainforest that means they’re just teaming with undiscovered wildlife.

You’ll find bug beauties like the breathtaking Orchid Bee, for example.

Just recently, as we talked about on Tuesday, a team led by Trond Larson discovered 60 new insect species, including the strange but beautiful planthopper nymph. If you hurry to travel down there, you might stumble on a new species as well!

The tiny South American country of Suriname offers an ecological living smorgasbord that keeps serving up new species.

MEXICO

Mexico’s natural areas aren’t quite what they used to be, but the country is still home to a wide variety of beautiful and exotic bug species. One example is the Golden Tortoise Beetle, a marvel of evolution. It can change its color when disturbed by moving liquids beneath its translucent shell. Not exactly your garden variety beetle!

But one of the most beautiful sights in Mexico is the migration of the monarch butterflies. Each year, the whole species makes its way down south from the United States, arriving in mid-October and nesting in the trees.

These butterflies can number up to a billion, so go and immerse yourself in a wall of fluttering beauty.

FIJI

Like other island countries, Fiji is home to an idiosyncratic collection of bugs and animals that evolved separately from their mainland counterparts. As a result, visitors who make the trek can enjoy the sight of a unique array of dragonflies and damselflies, two thirds of which cannot be found anywhere else. Certainly worth the journey!

AMAZON RAINFOREST

The Amazon Rainforest is famous for its unparalleled ecological diversity. It is the single most diverse biosphere on the planet, meaning that it has more variety of plant and animal species than anywhere else.

With an estimated 30 million species of insects, the most diverse group in the most diverse region, there simply is no better place to go to see beautiful bugs.

One example is the Titan Beetle, the forest’s longest beetle and a draw for more adventurous travellers to the region. Its mandibles are capable of breaking wood, and it is recognized by locals for the hissing sound it emits when threatened.

AUDUBON NATURE INSTITUTE

The Audubon Nature Institute in New Orleans has a spectacular insectarium. It is America’s largest, taking up 23,000 square feet of the city’s 170-year-old U.S. Customs House building.

Inside you’ll find a recreated Louisiana swamp to view insects in a somewhat natural habitat. But the real gem is the butterfly garden filled with thousands of the beautiful flighted bugs.

Read more about Beautiful Bugs, as it relates to Arts/Design, Nature/Science, Food/Drink, Place/Time, Mind/Body, and Soul/Impact including 10 New Beautiful Bug Books, 10 Beautiful Bug Discoveries, Eat Bugs. Love! and Beautiful Bug Art.

Enter your own images and ideas about Beautiful Bugs in this week’s creative Photo Competition. Open for entries now until 11:59 p.m. PT on 06.08.14. If you are reading this after that date, check out the current BN Creative Competition, and enter!