Рет қаралды 65,102
The countless forms and colours that can be adopted by the different species of insect that inhabit the world show us that, far from being a caprice of Nature, they are the result of a long process. The success of these creatures began after the first forms of life made the leap from the sea to the land, which forced Nature to develop the most varied morphologies. These physical modifications directed adaptation to the planet’s different environments. Some species of butterfly are able to refract the light that reaches their wings’ scales, creating beautiful shades of colour due to their pigments’ structure; but the presence of scales is not only aesthetic, they serve as effective indicators while flying. Certain species of beetle have such spectacular external skeletons that they look like authentic war machines; others, because of their coloration, seem to be designed to enrich the most wonderful jewellery collection, jewels assembled by some visionary craftsman committed to finding new and prodigious forms of beauty … The possibilities of the visual language that contains their dazzling designs and colours create an endless spectacle. All the Earth’s cultures have drawn on the insects’ image. The Egyptians attributed a fabulous power to certain beetles, considering them to be symbols of immortality and of the forces that governed the stars. The Maya, fascinated, worshipped and turned them into the centre and focus of innumerable legends. There are references in Greek mythology, in Christian culture…
In the wars of medieval Europe, German peasants thought, as tradition affirmed, that fire was spread by beetles, the Flying Deer that carried in its powerful jaws burning cinders with which to inflame the night … Insects have been the source of thousands of stories, myths and legends; we only have to look to our childhood memories for a forgotten story … The wings of a butterfly, like a lighthouse placed at one of the Earth’s limits, take us back in our memories.