It’s Tuesday, August 26.
How do you eat your greens?
Nearly half of salad eaters drench it in dressing to the point where the calorie count can exceed that of a cheeseburger.
The average person eats salad more in summer, but sales of pre-bagged salads spike in January (New Year’s resolution season).
The word “salad” itself comes from the Latin salata, meaning “salted things.” Early salads were more about salted greens than vegetables with dressing.
Photo by Patrycja Jadach
A daily dose of wonder + design
Today’s marvel feels like a tiny work of art. 🪲
Beetles are one of nature’s most diverse groups, coming in an astonishing range of forms and colors.
This chrome-like beetle is a truly remarkable species.
Among them, the scarab family alone boasts over 30,000 known species, many with shells that shimmer in iridescent greens, fiery reds, or jewel-like blues.
This beetle is nature’s chrome sculpture.
But few are as mesmerizing as the one photographer Michael Farmer recently spotted on his property in Costa Rica.
At first glance, the insect looks less like a living creature and more like a sculpted object.
Its body appearing to be cast in polished chrome. In Farmer’s photographs, the beetle’s mirrored surface is so flawless that even his own reflection, camera in hand, shines back from its shell.
This remarkable species, known as Chrysina limbata, is a rare jewel scarab. Its dazzling, mirror-like exoskeleton makes it one of the most striking insects in the world, a perfect fusion of natural wonder and metallic brilliance.
This remarkable species is found only in Mid‑elevation forests in Costa Rica and western Panama.
What makes this beetle so reflective?
Unlike any metal plating, Chrysina limbita’s gleaming silver appearance comes from its exoskeleton’s microscopic structure. Layers of chitin create a natural thin-film interference that reflects up to 97% of visible light.
🌱 Nature’s science
Up to 97% of visible light bounces off this beetle’s shell, making it one of nature’s most reflective surfaces.
Nature fact of the day
This dragonfly travels literally across the globe.
Some species of dragonflies can migrate thousands of mile. Indeed, the globe skimmer dragonfly (Pantala flavescens) holds the record for the longest insect migration in the world, traveling up to 11,000 miles across oceans.
That’s farther than many bird species fly.
CC Images by Jee & Rani Nature Photography
While they weigh less than a paperclip, this species nonetheless travels extraordinary distances, and is considered the longest non-stop migration compared to body size in the entire animal kingdom.
Until tomorrow, may you find beauty in the unexpected.
- Moss & Fog
“If insects were to disappear, the environment would collapse into chaos. If humans were to disappear, the environment would flourish.”
Pulitzer Prize winning entomologist E.O. Wilson.