INSECT ART

HONEY BEE OASIS

HONEY BEE FLOWER HOPPER

HONEY BEE PINK FLOWER INSPECTOR PINK

HONEY BEE PINK FLOWER INSPECTOR PINK

HONEY BEE FLOWER FURY

The honey bee (Apis mellifera) is responsible for approximately 80% of the pollination of fruits, nut, grains, and vegetables in the United States today. Honey bees are not native to North America; they were brought here by European settlers in the colonial days to pollinate their crops and for the products created or gathered by the honey bees-honey, propolis, royal jelly, pollen, and beeswax. But their contribution to mankind does not end there. More recently, research indicates that honey bee venom therapy may ultimately provide treatments for a variety of medical conditions in humans, including arthritis. The greatest value of honey bees is in their service as pollinators which far outweigh their value as honey producers. The honey bee is well adapted for pollination. Each colony contains thousands of individuals which are available to forage for the food (pollen and nectar) that's required to rear their young. Like other bees, their sense of smell, eyes, mouthparts, and numerous branched body hairs are ideally suited for finding food sources, sipping nectar, and collecting and distributing pollen. Honey bees visit a wide variety of flower types. In a single day, one bee makes 12 or more trips from the hive, visiting several thousand flowers. On each trip, it confines its visit to one plant species, collecting one kind of pollen. Honey bees have a complex communication system that enables the colony to find and collect food with maximum efficiency. These characteristics make honey bees a most valuable agent for cross-pollinating crops.

HONEY BEE FLOWER INSPECTOR

LIFE IS BUT A DREAM... MONARCH BUTTERFLY

Whether your lifetime is long or short lived... always reach to achieve your dreams. You may not be successful, or you maybe granted one wish, but you will have lived with purpose in being true to yourself... They taste with their feet and have a suction tube for a mouth. Their eyes are made of 6,000 lenses and can see ultraviolet light. They drink from mud puddles and transform from caterpillars to fluttering adults. These fascinating magicians are butterflies! There are about 165,000 known species, found on every continent except Antarctica, and they come in a wide variety of colors and sizes. The largest species may reach 12 inches (30 centimeters) across, while the smallest may be only 0.12 inches (0.3 centimeters). Technically speaking, butterflies are types of moths. But there are some ways to tell them apart. Butterflies generally have long, smooth antennae that are rounded on the ends, while most moths have thick, feathery antennae. Moths also tend to have larger, fuzzier bodies than butterflies. Most moths fly at night, while most butterflies fly during the day. Because of when they're active, butterflies tend to be more colorful than moths, but that's not always the case. One of the most incredible things about butterflies is the way they change from crawling caterpillars into winged beauties. This process is called metamorphosis, and it has fascinated and perplexed people for centuries. In fact, scientists still aren't sure exactly how it works! What we do know is that when a caterpillar seals itself into a chrysalis, chemicals are released from its body that change and rearrange all the cells to create the butterfly's new shape, including its wings. So how does the caterpillar know when it's time to change? Its brain produces a chemical called "juvenile hormone." As long as the level of this hormone in its body is high, it keeps eating, growing, and shedding. But when the hormone level drops, then the caterpillar "knows" that it's time to move on to the next stage.

BLUE CHINA MOUNTAINS

BLUE CHINA MOUNTAINS Chinese Mountains, old mission dam mission trails

Butterfly Cave

MONARCH APPETIZER ECHINACEA FLOWER

They taste with their feet and have a suction tube for a mouth. Their eyes are made of 6,000 lenses and can see ultraviolet light. They drink from mud puddles and transform from caterpillars to fluttering adults. These fascinating magicians are butterflies! There are about 165,000 known species, found on every continent except Antarctica, and they come in a wide variety of colors and sizes. The largest species may reach 12 inches (30 centimeters) across, while the smallest may be only 0.12 inches (0.3 centimeters). Technically speaking, butterflies are types of moths. But there are some ways to tell them apart. Butterflies generally have long, smooth antennae that are rounded on the ends, while most moths have thick, feathery antennae. Moths also tend to have larger, fuzzier bodies than butterflies. Most moths fly at night, while most butterflies fly during the day. Because of when they're active, butterflies tend to be more colorful than moths, but that's not always the case. One of the most incredible things about butterflies is the way they change from crawling caterpillars into winged beauties. This process is called metamorphosis, and it has fascinated and perplexed people for centuries. In fact, scientists still aren't sure exactly how it works! What we do know is that when a caterpillar seals itself into a chrysalis, chemicals are released from its body that change and rearrange all the cells to create the butterfly's new shape, including its wings. So how does the caterpillar know when it's time to change? Its brain produces a chemical called "juvenile hormone." As long as the level of this hormone in its body is high, it keeps eating, growing, and shedding. But when the hormone level drops, then the caterpillar "knows" that it's time to move on to the next stage.