Science

Moby Beetle!

No, not a techno insect, but a white beetle which is awesomely cool. It’s discovery and description was announced recently. It apparently has scales with an odd reflective structure all over it, which creates the whiteness.

I wanted to find a nice article to explain the nature of insect color–it’s mostly reflection, not pigment–but instead I found this nifty page with info about all sorts of color.

Enjoy!

Bug_girl

Bug_girl has a PhD in Entomology, and is a pointy-headed former academic living in Ohio. She is obsessed with insects, but otherwise perfectly normal. Really! If you want a daily stream of cool info about bugs, follow her Facebook page or find her on Twitter.

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3 Comments

  1. Creepy little cool thing. I want a blue one though. A giant flying blue one.

    Oh my nerdness shows at all times.

  2. Did they name it Moby after the whale or after the weird singer guy? Both are quite white.

    I'm surprised that the beetle is considered exceptionally white. It doesn't look THAT extraordinary to me. The white 'gators we have in the New Orleans Zoo look just as white, to me.

    Those articles were way cool and definitely gave me my geek fix for awhile. But I've seen butterflies flutter by. Their colors don't seem iridescent like peacocks', or some other beetles I've seen. Would they look vastly different under black light, or if I pointed a laser at one?

    Hmm. Suddenly I have a desire to listen to my Sgt. Pepper's cd.

    "Try … to see you're really only very small, and life flows on within you and without you."

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