My husband and I recently returned from a scientific collection trip to Guatemala. We are research associates with the University of Florida, gathering a variety of insects for their collections. Very rarely do we find insects as awesome as this particular beetle, Megasoma elephas. Normally, you would only see these bugs in collections or if you were lucky enough (and not too freaked out), in a tropical rainforest. This is just one of the millions of reasons why we should care so much about biodiversity and the health of our forests. They represent untapped riches that can, and should, be conserved and preserved by us. Believe it or not, we have an intrinsic need to emotionally connect with nature. Speaking for myself, I know that I feel personally hurt when I see rainforests disappearing at such an alarming rate. How do you feel about that? Please share your thoughts.

Posted by Cynthia Druckenbrod

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 13th, 2008 at 8:18 am and is filed under Conservation, Cynthia Druckenbrod, Exotic Insects. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.