Nerds Republic

We get that insects and other crawling beasties might not be your favorites. But when they’re made by hand out of glass, they become infinitely more charming. And that’s why we love the work of Nikita Drachuk, who runs Glass Symphony over on Etsy.

The shop sells these adorable, lifelike figurines.

They’re the right amount of creepy-crawly, but they’ll stay put on your shelf.

And if spiders and insects are still too creepy for you, even in glass form, there are plenty of other critters to choose from.

Drachuk uses a technique called lampworking to create his animals.

It involves heating rods of colored glass until they become soft and malleable. Then, using a variety of tools, he bends, stretches, and molds the glass into any shape.

And we do mean any shape.

Differently colored glasses are also used to create stunning patterns and textures.

They’re even more impressive when you consider that most of Drachuk’s pieces are only about two inches long.

And this little rat is even smaller, not counting the tail.

But they don’t have to be complex to be impressive.

(via Colossal)

You can see much more of Drachuk’s work on his Etsy shop, and maybe even pick up a critter of your own!

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Take a good look at the sumptuous wallpaper in this room. Take a really good look. The bright magenta hue itself is inviting, but once you get past that, get right in there and have a look at those details.

When you get close enough, you might want to recoil.

That’s because these designs are all made from dead insects.

Yep. Those are all bugs.

This installation is the work of Jennifer Angus, an artist and professor of apparel and textile design at the University of Wisconsin. She was inspired by the beauty of insects after a trip to Thailand, where she encountered “singing shawls,” which are traditional shawls with tassels made from the iridescent green shells of beetles. Combined with her fascination with textile patterns, the shawls became the foundation of this installation.

The inspiration resulted in several installations, the most recent of which is housed in the Smithsonian’s Renwick Gallery.

In this installation, Angus used the bodies of over 5,000 weevils, cicadas, green stag beetles, and other insects to create the pattern seen here.

So many bugs…

Angus is careful to use farmed insects when possible to avoid damaging ecosystems.

She also reuses as many insects as possible, keeping them carefully pinned and stored between projects.

If they become too damaged to display, Angus also donates them to schools so that kids can explore insect life.

In case you’re wondering, this vibrant pink background also has buggy origins.

It’s created from the cochineal — an insect that produces a vibrant red-purple pigment.

But if you’re worried about the ecological repercussions of using once-living creatures for art, Angus discusses these concerns on her website.

In fact, Angus hopes that educating people about the huge variety of insects on our planet will inspire more people to support the conservation of rainforests around the world.

(via Slate)

If you’ve only thought of bugs as being gross, artwork like this is here to change your mind. They might be creepy and crawly, but the insects with which we share a planet can also be strikingly beautiful, and they remind us that there are habitats beyond our own that need to be protected.

You can see more of Angus’ work on her website (which includes some pretty awesome games, too).

Many people think that bugs can’t threaten humans. After all, we can usually just step on them if they become a problem. But don’t let their small size fool you, because bugs can pack a seriously painful punch.

Take this fuzzy caterpillar, for example. It may look innocent enough, but if you touch it, you could be in for a world of pain.

The hickory tussock moth is commonly found on the eastern half of North America.

If you come into contact with one of these little guys, you could find yourself suffering from a massive rash. According to people who have fallen victim to these unassuming bugs, the experience is pretty painful.

And if you get any of these hairs near your eyes, things could get ugly.

You don’t want to end up like this guy’s son:

There’s something so magical about butterflies, even though science has proven that they don’t exactly live up to their romantic standards. But if watching their velvety little wings flutter through the air is your thing, then you should consider taking a trip to Petaloudes, also known as Butterfly Valley. Located on the western side of the Greek island of Rhodes, this valley is home to a subspecies of the Jersey Tiger Moth, and each May, they appear by the tens of thousands and cover the valley in a living carpet of wings.

During the rainy season, as caterpillars, they live in the Mediterranean’s forests, feasting on leaves. When they metamorphose at the beginning of the dry season, they follow the humidity down into the valley.

Their numbers are impressive — the thousands of them don’t even look like butterflies.

The butterflies’ wings appear as this brown and white striped pattern when their wings are folded.

But when they open, they show off a flash of orange.

When they reach Petaloudes, the butterflies land, well, everywhere.

They can crowd so thickly that they completely blanket trees and rocks. They’re beginning to cover this tree.

They’re espcecially big fans of the valley’s fragrant Oriental sweet gum trees.

But they don’t eat it — as adults, these butterflies don’t actually have stomachs. Instead, they live off the fat reserves they stored up as caterpillars. As adults, they simply mate, lay eggs, and die.

(via Amusing Planet)

Sadly, increased tourism has out a strain on the valley and the butterflies. Since they can’t eat, the butterflies have to conserve as much energy as possible. If they are frightened by humans, they waste precious energy reserves getting away. Therefore, visitors are advised to stay in designated areas and not to make loud noises that could startle the butterflies.

Dealing with mosquitoes all summer is terrible. There are few things worse than going inside after a nice cookout and realizing that you’re covered in bug bites. But even though mosquitoes are irritating, the itchiness associated with their bites is nothing compared to the havoc wreaked by the jigger, which is a flea-like insect that has a seriously nasty habit.

When they come in contact with humans, female jiggers latch on, burrow inside of their hosts, and lay their eggs. Once those eggs hatch, they burrow in alongside mom, which can lead to a slew of horrible side effects — including death.

The jigger is the world’s smallest flea.

Before attaching to their hosts, these bugs live in sand and soil, waiting for something to step on them so that they can make their move.

That’s when jiggers attach themselves to human feet.

They bury their heads into the flesh and leave their abdomens exposed, almost like a tick. After about two weeks, the abdomen becomes engorged with eggs.

The eggs multiply, destroying soft tissue, nerves, and blood vessels.

The result is quite painful if left untreated. Once the eggs hatch, the mother dies, which often leads to infection.

Although the parasite can be removed by doctors, there is a certain social stigma associated with the infection that keeps people from reporting infestations.

Because of this, subsequent infections can lead to the amputation of limbs, and in the worst cases, even death.

I wear shoes pretty much all the time, but after seeing this, I might just start wearing them to bed. It’s not worth the risk, so I’ll just go ahead and leave my shoes on forever.

There’s nothing quite like hiking to make you appreciate nature in all its glory. All that fresh air and sunshine can make even the most diehard office worker feel human again. However, being in nature carries its own set of risks. Most of them can be mitigated if you take proper precautions and don’t needlessly put yourself in harm’s way.

For example, if you come across a pit full of angry, deadly rattlesnakes, what you shouldn’t do is stick your camera inside the pit to make a memorable video for people online. But this guy went ahead and did it anyway.

Live Leak

(via: Reddit)

I really, really hope this guy was using a selfie stick or something to get that close to those snakes. None of them look very happy with his intrusion. It seems like a miracle that he didn’t get bitten.