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Really, Really Freaky Insects [PICS]

Hydra vs Leviathan

00:36 / 04.08.06

As there seems to be a general proliferation of bug threads here...

Some incredible photos of bugs

I have no clue what the text at the top says, or even what language it's in (maybe Russian?)...

But these are some really, truly amazing photos, of some really, really freaky and cool looking (and almost impossible to believe) creatures...

Incidentally, does anyone else think some of these look extremely like some gnostic conceptions of angels and/or demons?

H.R. Giger meets Henry Darger on acid...

lekvar

00:43 / 04.08.06

Mantids!

Sqeeeeeeeeeee!

Hydra vs Leviathan

01:03 / 04.08.06

I think the first one is a mantid (tho i've never previously seen, or even heard of, a mantid with wings like that... i considered the possibility that it was a composite photo made using a mantid and butterfly wings, but i don't think so), and the second is actually a really weird type of (possibly mantid-mimicking) caterpillar (note the "true" and then "false" legs)...

But yes, definitely squeeee...

(Mr (or Ms?) Mantid does look sort of camp tho...)

lekvar

02:51 / 04.08.06

Yes, that's a real live mantis. She's a P. wahlbergii. There's a bigger & better selection of the photographer's work here*. His name's Igor Siwanowicz and he's fantastic.

More shots of the same type of mantis.

"Whadda you wanna do?"
"I dunno, whadda you wanna do?"
"I asked you first."
"So?"

*Warning: site contains pictures of lovely bugs, including some pictures of fuzzy moths.

illmatic

06:35 / 04.08.06

It's a strange world. Great photos, guys.

All Acting Regiment

10:40 / 04.08.06

Hmm, I'd be interested in hearing more about this gnostic connection. Did they make illustrations, I thought all their scriptures were just words?

Cloned Christ on a HoverDonkey

12:57 / 04.08.06

Now this guy goes to the same outfitter as the Bolivia Bug.

Reminds me of Bungle off Rainbow.

Hydra vs Leviathan

13:37 / 04.08.06

The symbolism that could be read into some of these is amazing:

Good & Evil playing cosmic chess for souls?

Legba - the angel/demon thing comes from a friend, who knows a hell of a lot about gnostic/other xtian heretic stuff (she's one who i want to get on Barbelith, but doesn't have an internet connection atm)... apparently, there are desriptions (rather than visual depictions, tho i'm sure artists have interpreted them) in some gnostic or otherwise heretical stuff of angels and demons* as more insect-like than vertebrate-like in appearance - angels having multiple pairs of wings and limbs, demons resembling "locusts" i think that in the "official" version of the Bible, there are partial bits of such descriptions in Ezekiel(?) and Revelation, but possibly very mangled in translation...

*which are distinct, as i understand it, from fallen angels, tho things get a bit blurred/overlapped...

/possibly-more-suitable-for-Temple digression

Phex: Dorset Doom

14:44 / 04.08.06

There's a passage in Revelations that describes some sort of being (we're not told whether they are angels or demons or neither) with the body of a horse-sized locust, the head of a man and women's hair- oddly enough Charles Manson, not exactly a well renowned Biblical scholar, interpreted this to refer to The Beatles.

Phex: Dorset Doom

14:49 / 04.08.06

(Also in a Temple-y vein: didn't Aleister Crowley describe some of the beings he contacted, which I believe he described as possibly being aliens from Sirius, as being insect-like? I vaguely remember the image of a 'pink praying-mantis'-like demon/alien)

ONLY NICE THINGS

14:49 / 04.08.06

And if you're going to quote from the Book of Revelation,
Don't keep calling it the Book of Revelations.
There's no "s"; it's the Book of Revelation,
As revealed to St. John the Divine.

See also Mary Hopkin.
She must despair.

Chiropteran

15:05 / 04.08.06

Siwanowicz doesn't just do close-up nature photography, he does portraits.* Of insects. It's awesome. And he - "humanize" isn't the right word, but I think you might know what I mean if I use it - humanizes his subjects in a way that I don't think I've seen before. It's not just a question of natural beauty magnified, but of presence.

And hell - look at the paws on this one!

*if you look at the background, you'll notice that the esoteric associations aren't lost on him, either.

Kali, Queen of Kitteh

15:13 / 04.08.06

You people are determined to make sure I live in a constant state of heebie-jeebies.

Ticker

17:14 / 04.08.06

I'm madly in love with this one!

Kali, Queen of Kitteh

17:52 / 04.08.06

That...was...the...creepiest...thing...I've...ever...seen...

(curls into foetal position at desk)

Mistoffelees

19:20 / 04.08.06

Wow, I like these more and more! The green caterpillar got me inspired, and I created this picture.

Click here for the 1024*768 version.

penitentvandal

19:42 / 04.08.06

Aren't insects one of the oldest species on the planet? Maybe the Gnostic stuff is some kind of contact with the Insect Egregore, which as one of the oldest group minds on the planet would have some serious mojo?

Liger Null

22:33 / 04.08.06

I'm madly in love with this one!

FUZZY MOTH!!!!

Ooofy fuzzhy wuzzhy fuzzlemoth!

SNUGGISNUG!!!

Ganesh

23:17 / 04.08.06

That photographer aaalmost succeeds in making the face of evil vaguely cute. I'm not buying it, though.

-- Ganesh --

grant

00:18 / 05.08.06

>worship Ganesh.

astrojax69

02:18 / 05.08.06

worship fuzzy moths...

astrojax69

02:20 / 05.08.06

so wait...

i just imagined...

ganesh is a fuzzy moth...

see? grant is right again.

09:43 / 06.08.06

I just wanted to celebrate that yesterday I saw a hummingbird hawk moth. It was the most incredible thing - I seriously wondered if a miniature tropical bird had escaped into an English garden. It was elegant and huge and its curling proboscis filled me with joy.

Not my picture, but here is a relative:

Ganesh

11:09 / 06.08.06

They're beautiful, aren't they? And are frequently mistaken for hummingbirds, apparently.

Chiropteran

12:24 / 07.08.06

Mistoffelees, thanks for my new desktop! The colors are formidable.

Ex, hummingbird hawk moths are one of my favorite creatures in the whole entire world.

And are frequently mistaken for hummingbirds, apparently.

A lot of people, it seems, take pictures of them thinking they're hummingbirds, and only realize later when they look at the photo. That has to feel a little strange, like "and here's my Uncle Charli- oh, no, wait, that's an alien."

All Acting Regiment

12:37 / 07.08.06

Scroll down slowly, my little kittens. Scroll down slowly.

Mistoffelees

12:46 / 07.08.06

You know Legba, I wonder:
When was the last time, Sweden was on the news? Those pictures are from last year, and they didn´t even attend the football championship, I believe. Sweden hello, anyone still up in Stockholm?

Mistoffelees

12:53 / 07.08.06

Mistoffelees, thanks for my new desktop! The colors are formidable.

Thank you, Lepi! I did some further work on that, fused it with another painting (that I also mirrored a few times), and now you can hardly tell, there are four giant caterpillars:

1024*768 version

Chiropteran

12:17 / 08.08.06

I did some further work on that

One desktop for home, another for work. Very good.

Meanwhile, that was... a lot of caterpillars.

mondo a-go-go

16:09 / 09.08.06

This seems as good a place as any on here to ask about an insect that I found in my room yesterday. It's got a head like an ant but with really long antennae, a black carapace that looks a bit like a wasp, but not fuzzy, yellow legs that look like a grasshopper's and short wings which fold neatly over its back. And a stinger that's half an inch long. I've never seen anything like it before, and suspect that it's not native to Britain but has come in on the heatwave (I've already seen giant hornets in my neighbourhood).

I'll try and post a pic tomorrow, but does anyone have any idea what it might be?

grant

16:13 / 09.08.06

Sounds like some kind of wasp. Possibly a cicada killer. If the head was a little different, I'd guess robber fly, though.

grant

16:25 / 09.08.06

Nix cicada killer.

Ichneumon wasp.

Kali, Queen of Kitteh

16:29 / 09.08.06

Those are pretty nasty little beasties from what I understand.

Mistoffelees

20:45 / 09.08.06

I found a spider in my bed when I came home this evening. Take that, bed bugs!

mondo a-go-go

14:55 / 10.08.06

grant, that looks pretty much like it but with a smaller stinger. Still a bloody long stinger, half an inch, but not that long.

None of my pictures came out very well, and my camera's kind of kaput at the moment.

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