Tag Archives: Insects

Beautiful insects that roam the earth

I can’t remember the last time I saw a butterfly. Then again, I can’t remember the last time I saw a live chicken or cow. Living in the city does have its benefits, but sometimes we forget the beautiful living creatures on mother earth. These three butterflies remind us of how simple things can easily be forgotten in nature and how wonderful LEGO bricks are, how the simplest of things can bring color to remind us of life. Johan Alexanderson didn’t make these random-colored, but instead takes their shape and color from actual butterfly species. The green foliage, though made of seemingly random parts and elements trick my vision into thinking I can almost smell the morning dew.

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Butterfly mimicry: the marriage of LEGO art and scientific ideas

Brothers Brick regular Alanboar explores the link between LEGO art and science in his latest Butterfly Mimicry creation; his exquisite case of mounted butterfly specimens being made in honour of pioneering naturalist Henry Walter Bates. The concept of Batesian mimicry argues that harmless species, such as these butterflies, evolve the markings of poisonous animals avoided by predators.

Tracing the subtle differences in pattern across these beautiful LEGO butterflies, each created from a limited set of elements, reminds me of our understanding of the malleability of genetic code and the way Bates’ work foreshadowed these discoveries.

Aedes from Hades

Interestingly enough, Benjamin Cheh Ming Hann starts the description of this creation of a mosquito with a questionable choice of words, “Hate them or love them”. I am either oblivious to a huge mosquito fandom or perhaps I’m right that nobody can love an annoyingly high-pitched flying sound and the endless itching of their bites, not to mention the far more serious world health issues. I understand if many of you are turned away from this creation due to very well justified hatred towards mosquitoes, but you can just imagine it as a male mosquito, which does not suck blood, as the builder very informatively points out in the picture’s description.

All anatomical characteristics of Aedes aegypti are captured perfectly, of which the most difficult looks the subtle curve of the abdomen. Most notably though, the model can stand on its legs as a true insect would, which is hard to do at this scale and with legs as thin as these while still keeping them poseable.

Click to see the mosquito up close, with zero itch risk!

Always bee creative!

The new beehive piece, which appeared this January in a couple of the new City police sets, was wholeheartedly approved by LEGO fans. Its simple shape is instantly recognizable, yet it has some great potential for truly creative applications. Grantmasters starts exploring the new piece with this amazing little bee — and the beehive piece looks just fantastic here. By the way, the fairy wings piece contributes a lot to the bee’s adorable character.

Like a cold-weather moth drawn to the flame

In spite of its delicate features, this mechanical LEGO moth by Mitsuru Nikaido looks sturdy enough to brave the sub-zero temperates of the Arctic. At least, that’s what its wings would lead me to believe. Mitsuru took what many might consider to be a pretty useless part and turned it into a beautiful (and surprisingly natural-looking) creature. Nicely done.

Who is your favourite beetle?

Ringo is mine. Wait, we’re not talking about the band? Jokes aside, while the stag beetle may not be amongst my favourites, this one by Grant Davis must be one of my favourite LEGO recreations. There is lots to like about this scaled-up insect, from the detailed legs to the realistic head and the Iron Builder competition’s seed part used as the wing covers – with the base placed just deep enough in the inverted tire for their curve to flow naturally.

The only gripe I have with it are the wings’ supports, the kind of which I have never seen in a real beetle before.

We’re gonna need a bigger rolled-up newspaper...

I always love builds that use a specific part to great effect. Case in point is Takamichi Irie‘s utilization of the wings from an Ant Man LEGO set on his macro scale hornet. The shaping of the segmented body and precise colour blocking is expertly done. Not to mention the lovely combination of technic parts and robot arms for the legs.

The model appears to have a fair amount of articulation, allowing for some realistic poses. Couple that with some nicely presented photographs and these shots almost appear to be out of an entomology journal.

Calosoma australodrepa

Insects and other arthropods lend themselves surprisingly well to be built from LEGO. There are many elements like hinge pieces and wedge slopes that are oddly appropriate for building creepy crawlies. Olga Rodinova (Ольга Родионова) uses such pieces very well to create this (probably very smelly) beetle.

Like a moth to a flame

I always feel a deep sympathy for moths stuck indoors at night, attempting to flutter straight somewhere but instead circling a nearby electric light they mistake for the far-off moon or stars. LEGO lepidoptery enthusiast Revan has constructed a gorgeous white moth alighting on a patch of ground, complete with sprigs of grass enlarged to great proportions. Revan has captured the big black eyes and stubby little legs of these adorable fuzzy night-time creatures.

Next time you see a moth trapped indoors, be gentle and help it, won’t you?

Anyone who thinks that they are too small to make a difference has never tried to build a mosquito

Did you know Iceland is the only country in the world that has no mosquitoes? I bet our readers from the North have not a single idea how pesky and horrid these little monsters are. Luckily, this outstanding insect by Mister N perfectly depicts everything we ‘love’ so much about them. Long needle-shaped legs? Check. Tiny belly full of warm blood? Check. A pair of cold soul-less eyes? Oh, yes.

The great Steambug migration has begun

You may have heard of the great migration of the Serengeti wildebeest, who migrate over 1,600 kilometres each year in search of grass and water. Well, the dust is rising over Butcher Paper Canyon, and it’s due to the massive Steambug Migration heading across the land, thanks to Ted Andes’ imagination and building skills. There are 7 initial species of Steambug present in this migration, but Ted hopes that many more will join by the time the migration reaches BrickWorld later this year.

Let’s get the magnifying glass out and take a closer look at these Steambugs.

See all of these LEGO critters up close

Bug eyed monsters

Current followers of Manga will recognize this as the Terra Formar, a humanoid evolution of cockroaches that lives on Mars (…hmmm, ok). I’m terrified enough of the domestic variety, so this is the stuff of nightmares!

This LEGO version is the work of our favorite Japanese builder Moko, who decided he should pit it against one of his other bug-eyed creations, Kamen rider. At first, Kamen Rider does well by delivering an effective wound to the thorax:

But then he decides to karate-chop off the Terra Formar’s head. Big mistake! Because as we all know, that move is basically ineffective on cockroaches and their kin. The thought of this brute running around headless for two weeks is just too horrible to imagine. Hopefully Moko’s next creation will be some kind of giant boot.